The Second Battle for the Stronghold - (15-17 April 1873) - History - http://maxpages.com/modocwar/2nd_Battle_for_the

A warm, bright morning opens with the rattle of musketry, telling us that the long looked-for engagement has opened and that now the massacre of General Canby and Dr. Thomas will be avenged. Yesterday tents were struck and drawn to the center of the camp; three days rations and one hundred rounds of ammunition were issued to each man.

THE PLAN OF ATTACK.

Orders were for Colonel Mason's force to move from Hospital Rock at 1 o'clock this morning and take a position as near the Indian camp as possible and hold it. The Warm Spring Indians, D. McKay, Captain, were to deploy to Colonel Mason's left, and by circling to the south and west form a junction with the right of the troops from this camp, Colonel Miller commanding the battalion.

It was not expected the junction would be made the first day, as the plan of attack was to hold each point gained, and to safely clear the ground ahead without needless waste of life and by fighting under cover.

AN AMBUSCADE PREPARED.

The Cavalry from this camp, Troops F and K, Colonel Perry andn Lieutenant Cresson commanding, were ordered to move from camp at 2 o'clock this morning, by the right flank, and after going as far as prudent for an ambuscade, to conceal themselves and wait the arrival of the infantry and artillery, who would leave camp in the morning.

It was expected that the Modocs, on discovering the advance of the infantry, would come down to dispute the ledges at the head of the cave, where they could be taken at an advantage by Perry's troops.

ESCAPE OF LONG JIM.

The moves were made in accordance with orders, and somewhat hastened, perhaps, by the escape of Long Jim, a Modoc who has been confined in the guard-house. At midnight he made a spring for life, and though a dozen shots were fired by the guard he escaped.

THE BATTLE COMMENCED

At a quarter past 4 A.M. the firing on the skirmish line of Colonel Mason began. At 6 precisely the first shell was fired from his howitzers, bursting apparently directly over the Modoc camp. A few more followed, doing good work, and causing the picket guard of the Modocs to cease firing for a while. The Warm Spring Indians improved this opportunity soon. On Colonel Mason's left was heard the

SHARP RATTLE OF MUSKETRY,

The puffs of smoke showing us the position of the contestants. At 7:30 A.M. the infantry and artillery left headquarters, taking their line of march so as to encircle from the south the camp of the Modocs, and join their right on the left of Colonel Mason's line to the Warm Spring Indians.

Major Trimble's detachment, Troop H, composed of twenty-six men, was temporarily left behind in charge of the camp, and Lieutenant Greer, Acting Quartermaster, in charge of stores.

Colonel Miller commanded the battalion, composed of Major Wright's and Captain Eagan's Companies E and G, Twelfth Infantry. Lieutenant Leary commanded Company E. Captain Throckmorton and Lieutenant Harris commanded Batteries K and M, forming a part of the line. Major Thomas, with a detachment of Battery A, remained in camp to bring out and work the four mortars.

THE FIRE FROM THE HOWITZERS.

At 8:45, Col. Mason having moved his howitzers and opened fire on the caves, caused a great commotion in the camp. The line from this side then was at the head of the main cave, facing the bluff on which the Modoc camp is situatedÄÄabout eleven and a half miles to the northward by the lake's edge. At this time the bluffs around the caves were alive with Modocs, and the occasional flashes of the guns showed that they were alert and active.

TWO MODOCS KILLED.

A signal dispatch has just come across. The Modocs say the Warm Spring Indians are hell. They called to each other and two Modocs were killed.

9 A.M.ÄÄMiller and Perry's men have just connected lines and are marching down. Their flank is thrown out to the right, ready to lap with the Warm Spring Indians when they scale the bluff. The advance pickets have not yet been fired on. Miller is on the extreme right, then Harris and Throckmorton's companies forming with Perry's command a line three-fourths of a mile in length. A signal, said to be General Canby's coat, is waving in Jack's camp, and the rocks seem alive with his murderers. A party of half a dozen Modocs have just charged down toward Mason's line, and five were driven back at the first fire.

A HALT ORDERED.

Miller's bugle calls a halt, and a message is sent. All is still, not a gun being fired.

At 9:20 every Indian was under shelter and awaiting the advance. The pack teams, with stretchers, follow close behind. The message says: "All well; no shot fired yet. In half an hour the mortars will move for the front." At 9:30 A.M. the Modocs opened fire on Miller's line, at long range, which is returned with interest now. At 9:40, the troops are deploying from the eastern left to reinforce the right, and the whole line is advancing. About 10:30 firing was general along the line from center to left.

HEAVY FIRING REPORTED.

At 11 o'clock the firing was continued and heavy, the men sought cover and gradually drew near the bluff, a half mile distant from a cleft in the rocks where the first shot came from. A Modoc plied his deadly weapon as often as a soldier exposed his person. A sagebrush flat intervened between the troops and the rocks, across which the men gradually forced their way, firing in return at any object resembling an Indian. It appeared that but few Indians were there at first, but they probably have been reinforced from the central part of the lava bed, as the fire grows heavier. The guns are silent on Mason's side. Slowly and steadily the right is swinging around their circle and crawling up the rocky ascent, getting within easy range of the redskins, who seem to fall back higher up the bluff.

A BRILLIANT DASH.

At 11 A.M. the main body of the troops rose from their place of rest and deployed in double quick time along the lake shore, in front of the bluff, and to support the skirmish line preparatory to storming the first high bluff, up which the skirmish line is slowly creeping. Suddenly a sheet of fire leaps out along the rocks on either side of the ravine, followed by a continuous roll from our lines. The bugles sound forward, and the men spring up the rocky steep amid the crashing of arms and the demonical yells of the savages, creeping from rock to rock no longer, but erect and dashing forward with a cheer.

THE RAVINE CARRIED.

The right hand side of the ravine was carried after fifteen minutes of great fighting. From the left bank of the chasm volleys are still poured in. The troops, who now have silenced the fire on the right front, turn their attention to the mouth of the gorge, into which a steady stream of bullets is poured. Two of the boys in blue have just scaled the bluff, and now from right to left the muskets glisten in the sun as the brave boys mount the precipitous sides of the rocky ridge.

THE MODOCS FALLING BACK.

From the left-hand bank of the gorge the Modocs retire in dismay, and now our troops hold the position after fifteen minutes desperate fighting. The charge was gallantly made, each vieing with the other to be first on top. Up to this time, the beginning of this desperate fight, we have had but one man, Private O'Connor, wounded, but many I fear have suffered in this desperate charge. The possession of this point is of great advantage. From it the caves and fortifications can be shelled.

MASON'S MEN GOING IN.

As the firing lulled on this side it opened on the other, Mason's men forcing the fight whil swinging his line around in the attempt to unite with our right. A desperate fight is in progress there now (12:30) the firing being continuous and heavy; volloy follows volley in rapid succession, in which is mingled the single shots of the Warm Springs and Modocs. Their terrible yells are heard over the lava bed, almost curdling one's blood with horror. The fight extends now from the water's edge along the north side for half a mile. All is quiet on our side, and the men are bringing out the wounded from thta terrible gorge, while the hospital boat is being pulled with vigorous arms toward the bloody point.

A HALT FOR DINNER.

Now and then a stray shot breaks the almost painful silence hovering over the lava bed. Both parties are gathering their energies for another conflict. Behind the rocks the soldiers are eating their dinner and resting from their fearful struggle.

Had it not been for the gallantry of the charge they must have lost heavily, but they waited not. After they crept within good range, rising as one man at the word "charge," they ran over the rocky steeps like deer, driving the Indians before them like terrified sheep. General Gillem, at this point, sent a message to Colonel Mason to

"STIR THEM UP ON THAT SIDE."

And this division assisted materilly in completing the rout of those guarding this point. So eagerly did the troops press forward that the buglers were compelled to sound the recall to prevent them going too far.

THE WOUNDED.

In this charge Captain Eagan, who had behaved with great gallantry, was wounded, but would not leave the field. Corporal Kilbeck, Battery K, Fourth Artillery, scalp wound; private O'Dooly, Battery M, Fourth Artillery, shot in the forearm; Sergeant Zeely, Company G, Twelfth Infantry, leg broken; McManus, private, Battery E, Fourth Artillery. Capt. Eagan's men fought like tigers, emulating the example of their gallant Captain, and what I say of him and his men applies to all engaged. Men never behaved better, and their prompt daring alone saved many lives. P. McManus, well known in Yreka, who had ventured too close, had his mule shot under him, and was himself wounded, and up to this hour, 2 P.M., he has not been recovered. McKay reports that his Warm Spring Indians have killed two Modocs. McManus was shot through the belt, as is supposed by the way the mule is shot while passing from the reserve to the advance line, a distance of five hundred yards, and must remain until the high bluff is cleared, that being the place from which he was shot. The lower bluffs are now held by Captain Miller, who with his men so gallantly charged and carried them. When the mortars open to shell the high bluff McManus may be removed, but not sooner.

THOMAS' BATTERY GOING INTO ACTION.

2 P.M.--The battery started for the front, Major Thomas commanding. Lieutenant Cranston, Lieut. Howe, both of the artillery, Sergeant Romer and nineteen men of Battery A compose the squad--a fine set of officers and men.

The bluffs now in front of those taken by Miller are very difficult of access, and can hardly be carried except by shelling. We expect every moment to hear Colonel Mason's guns as guides for us while we charge or shell these bluffs, but now (4:15 P.M.) all is still as death.

WAITING FOR THE MORTARS.

The men are holding their positions until the mortars arrive under close cover. At 4:30 the mortars arrived on the ground and took a position, and the reserve line deployed to the loft on the double quick nearly opposite the cave and clared the open ground between thelow bluff cleared by Captain Miller and the shore lodge, without receiving a shot. They are now in readiness to charge the bluff where the mortars have done their work, or hold the ground until morning. Long Jim was seen fighting to-day.

THE BATTLE RESUMED.

5 P.M.--None killed or wounded on Col. Mason's side. Heavy firing now heard on Mason's line. Continued and rapid volleys. Hot work is going on there now. The pack train of the Warm Springs Indians has arrived, consisting of seventeen mules and fifteen horses.

5:10 P.M.--The first shot has been fired from the mortar planted opposite the cave, and about one thousand yards distant from the outskirts of the main stronghold. The shelling will be continued all night. It is a magnificent sight, the flight and explosion of the shells, and wild consternation to the Modocs. The third shell burst in one of the ravines right in the Modoc air, on the extreme right of the line, a mile and a half from the bed.

MORE LEDGES YET TO SCALE.

Miller's and Wright's men have possession of the bluff, but there are more ledges to scale before the level of the main plateau is reached. Our line now extends along the bluffs, fully a mile from the end of the cave south. Mason's line is unbroken on his side, and the Warm Spring Indians held the enemy well in check and will probably unite with our right to-morrow, when I hope this terrible contest will be ended. I shall be unable to learn the full particulars of the killed and wounded in time for the runner. The troops are eager and can hardly be restrained, and vengeance for General Canby is their war-cry and they will not pause while an armed Modoc is in the lava beds.

6 o'clock P.M.--The mortars are being moved to a new position further in advance, where the shelling will be resumed during the night. Not a Modocs is now to be seen. There are no answering guns save now and then one from the topmost bluffs.

FRESH AMMUNITION SENT OUT.

Lieutenant Green has just forwarded a fresh supply of ammunition. Our men are steadily advancing, crawling up the low ledges, and many of them are now within six hundred yards of the point where we expect the hottest fighting. It may be that Mason's men have driven them from the lake point, but more probably they are waiting for the troops at short range, hoping to ambuscade them. There will doubtless be heavy fighting to-night.

Alvan Cullem Gillem (15 April 1873)

[Report to Schofield]

Have fought the Indians all day and driven them to the immediate vicinity of their strongholds. Our losses are one officer, Lieutenant Egan, wounded, not seriously; three enlisted men killed and nine wounded. We hope to surround them to-morrow.

Edward Fox (16 April 1873)

[The Second Day]

CAMP ON LAVA BEDS,
April 16, 1873.

The whang of the mortar and the crack of the muskets are still the only music enjoyed by the Modocs, and General Gillem may be congratulated on the success he has thus far achieved, although the Indians are not yet conquered. The General has succeeded to-day in connecting his line on the left and thus securing the water front, which naturally deprives the Modocs of a necessity of life. They have also, I am satisfied, been forced to leave the stronghold and take up a position further south in order to escape the hot shelling they received from Major Thomas' battery of mortars.

THEIR FINAL DESTRUCTION IS NOW ASSURED,

and, although it may take a few days longer than at first anticipated, the result will be obtained with a smaller percentage of killed and wounded. As a dernier ressort they may break out to the southward--a consummation, in my opinion, much to be desired, as it would be impossible to find a worse country to whip them in than that they now hold. They could not go far, as they are without horses, and we have seventy mounted Indians and five troops of cavalry to put on their trail.

THE POSITION IN THE MORNING.

I left this camp this morning shortly after six and rode out to the front. The troops were in about the same position as I left them on the previous evening. Excepting the play of the mortars there was very little going on along the line. Looking through the glass I could discover no signs of Modocs in the neighborhood of Jack's stronghold, and I then learned that

THE SHELLING DURING THE NIGHT

had been a complete success, eventually driving the enemy from that position. During the night a shell burst in the vicinity of their camp fire, and the domestic circle dispersed, venting their wrath in frantic war-whoops.

About nine A.M. firing commenced on the extreme right, and we found that the Modocs had taken up a new position some three-quarters of a mile to the southward and were actively

ENGAGED WITH COLONEL MILLER'S BATTERY

and our allies, the Warm Spring Indians. During the morning the whole line was advanced from the left, and in the attack Bugler William Smith, of M battery, Fourth artillery, was shot through the neck and killed. The cavalry on the line finally succeeded in connecting with the Twenty-first infantry, on the right of Colonel Mason's command, and we thus secured the water without loss of life. This was mainly owing to the

VIGOROUS SHELLING OF JACK'S STRONGHOLD,

a point commanding the water front. There was a slight fire from that point, but I feel convinced it came from some wounded or infirm members of the tribe that had been left on garrison duty in the fortress while the rest of the party went to hold their new position. During the evening Colonel Miller's command, on the extreme right, and the Warm Spring Indians had some pretty severe fighting with the Modocs. As far as I can learn it resulted in about

AN EQUAL LOSS ON BOTH SIDES.

Colonel Miller had advanced pretty far in the face of the ridge towards Jack's stronghold, and was holding a strong point, assisted by about a dozen of his company, when a shell burst near his position and forced him to fall back. In his retreat he lost one man killed and one wounded. The Warm Spring Indians also lost a man, but they claim three Modocs killed.

The troops held their line on the bluffs commanding the left shore, and during the evening I paid

A VISIT TO A COMMANDING POINT

held by Colonel Perry, of the First cavalry. When I arrived Captain Burton, of the Twenty-first infantry, was chatting with the Colonel, they having succeeded in gaining the line. They were then sitting on a rocky bluff, about two hundred yards from Jack's cave, and, from what I could ascertain, they intended to remain on the defensive, as the Modocs would, probably, attack them in their efforts to get at water.

A FIGHT FOR WATER.

At three o'clock this evening, after my return to camp, I heard heavy firing in the direction of the water front, which I surmised must have been occasioned by a visit from the thirsty redskins in search of a drink. They were, however, driven back, as the firing soon ceased, and nothing now disturbed the solitude of the night except the occasional whang of a mortar and crack of a solitary musket shot.

WHY THE MODOCS MUST FIGHT.

To-morrow will probably settle the Modoc war, unless they beat a retreat during the night. I rather fancy, however, they will fight it out on this line, as, if they take to the country, they will have to travel twenty-five miles before they strike water, which would be rather a long journey to carry their squaws and pappooses. I also am satisfied that they fully appreciate the strength of the lava beds, and with the proverbial love of an Indian for his old home

THEY WILL STICK BY THE ROCKS

to the last. From what I could learn to-day I am satisfied they must have lost ten or twelve men killed or wounded.

OUR CASUALTIES TO-DAY

were Bugler William Smith, Battery M, Fourth artillery, gunshot wound through neck.

Private Harmon, Battery E, Fourth artillery, gunshot wound through breast; dead.

Private Wiggan, Battery E, Fourth artillery, shot through leg; seriously wounded.

Alvan Cullem Gillem (16 April 1873)

[Report to Schofield]

TO MAJOR-GENERAL SCHOFIELD: We have had some very severe fighting to-day, and have driven the Indians about four hundred yards, and have succeeded in cutting them off from the water.

They must now break through our line or evacuate their stronghold. Our lines are not more than four hundred yards from the Indian caves.

I can give no adequate description of the ground over which we have fought. Mortar shells were thrown into the Indian camp yesterday, and during last night.

I find it will be impossible, owing to the nature of the position, to surround the Indians with my present force. I have 54 Warm Spring Indians, under Donald McKay. Our loss to-day is 2 killed and 4 wounded.

Alexander McKay (21 April 1873)

Events of the Third Day

Having been at the front the two preceding days, we concluded to remain at the signal station above camp to-day, and gather what information we could from that point. Shortly after breakfast, Fox of the New York Herald and Dr. McEldery started for the front, followed by Atwell of the Sacramento Record and Mr. Ticknor of Yreka. The last named gentleman had proceeded but a short distance beyond where Gen. Canby was murdered, followed by Sam Watson and Eugene Hovey, with a litter train, when the two latter were fired on by eight Indians who were in ambush, which resulted in the killing of Hovey, Watson making his escape to camp. This was seen from the signal station and reported to Col. Gillem who had gone to the front in a boat. Major Green still believing that the majority of the Modocs had abandoned the lava bed, ordered K troop, 1st Cavalry, under command of Lieut. Cranston, to move forward and develop the correctness of the news. This order was immediately carried into effect, and the troops moving up at the same time met at the stronghold. Lieut. Cranston's command charged and captured the Medicine Flag which had waved so long in front of Jack's cave. This position was held until an order was given to fall back, and the Modoc stronghold was ours. In the cave was found two Modocs who were killed, and we presume they are now good Indians.

The Cavalry returned on the afternoon of the 17th and, on the morning of the 18th, under command of Capt. Perry, made a scout from this cammp entirely around the lava bed, but failed to find any Modocs. This occupied four days.

modocwar@hotmail.com

Visitors: 01855

Page Updated Sat May 30, 2009 2:32am EDT