Page 166 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

three (Sergeant Henry Holmes and Privates William Dwyer and John W. Hill) captured. The remainder of the picket party escaped to warn Hunter. 180
West’s men arrived in force in Tucson on May 20,
at least two weeks after Hunter and his men had
departed. Carleton had wanted West to trap Hunter
and prevent him from retreating to the Rio Grande
with up-to-date information regarding the Califor-
nia Column’s progress. In connection with his other
orders, Carleton instructed West to make sure that
his men had their cavalry sabers sharp for close-
quarter work (he was aware that the Confederate
cavalry at Tucson had no sabers). Carleton further
advised West that if Hunter’s men fortified them-
selves in asdobe buildings, he should follow the pro-
cedure used against the New Mexicans and Indians
at Taos in February 1847. The assault there was
enhanced by cutting holes from room to room and
throwing in cannon shells on which the fuses had
81
been lit.
There was no further confrontation with the Con-
federates, but a more dangerous enemy threatened the Californians. Lieutenant Richard Hudson was in charge of one of the 600-gallon water wagons Carleton had ordered constructed of wood and lined with the tin from ammunition boxes. On one of the worst stretches of desert he was ordered to give each man one pint of water every 10 miles. One company tried to take over the water wagon which, if they had been successful and had depleted the supply prema- turely, might have spelled death for the whole group of 300 men. Hudson had his men fix bayonets and push the others back from the water wagon. He indicated in later years that it was one of the hardest
guide known only as Chavez, were detailed to carry the information regarding Carleton’s status, strength, and progress. To accomplish this they had to pass through the Apache stronghold and Con- federate lines to the Federal troops at Fort Craig. Each man carried copies of two unclassified docu- ments. The third critical message was rolled and placed in an empty chamber in their pistols.
Each man rode one mule and led another loaded with supplies, which was also to be used to spell the other mule. They left after dark and progressed over the old stage road without incident until, on the evening of June 18, about 16 miles east of Apache Pass, they discovered signs of more than a dozen Apaches. The express riders had been traveling in an extended single file, several hundred yards apart so that if one was intercepted, the others could either quickly come to their aid or make a run for it, as the circumstances dictated. With the discovered proximity of the Indians, they closed their intervals to 100 yards.
The Indians sprang their ambush and in the dis- mounted fire-fight the Mexican guide was hit in the hip and was unable to ride. Wheeling and Jones made a tough decision and left him to stand off the Indians while they attempted to break through. However, Wheeling was hit in the side by an arrow and fell to the ground, leaving only Jones to make the escape. Fortunately for Jones, Wheeling’s mule ran with him, and he had a relief mount for the ensuing chase. The Apaches closely pursued Jones until sundown. During the chase he wounded two of them.
Having forced the Indians to give up the chase, Jones’ remaining problems were water shortage and Confederate patrols. He exhausted his two canteens long before reaching Ojo la Vaca, approximately an hour before noon on June 19. Jones stabled the mules in the abandoned stage station and rested for six hours so he and the mules could eat and fill up on water. At the Mimbres crossing, he avoided a Con- federate patrol but had to go without water because the stream was dry. Again, at Cooke’s Spring he went without water because, when he arrived at five in the morning on June 20, a Confederate patrol was camped there.
After surviving the problems of the harrowing ride, Jones was captured near Picacho. He blundered into a Confederate outpost and was taken prisoner. Nevertheless, he made contact with a Union partisan
J
things he was ever required to do.
1 o?
Colonel Carleton and his escort reached Tucson on June 7 and remained there more than two months. On about June 15 Carleton received word that he had been promoted to Brigadier General of
183
Volunteers as of April 28.
made another in a series of attempts to get news of his progress through to General Canby. A first courier had been turned back by an impassable tributary of the Gila River, and a second attempt was also foiled when the men were too afraid to make the journey through the Mexican borderlands.
On June 15, 1862, General Carleton sent three men eastward with messages for Canby regarding his disposition and troops. Civilian express riders John Jones, Sergeant William Wheeling, and a Mexican
On the same day he
The California Column
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