Page 194 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

dered to Fort Bayard and was relieved by another Black Infantry company that was to impugn the otherwise excellent reputation of Black soldiers. Foutt’s reports documented that no men had been arrested or confined for several months. After the arrival of the Thirty-Eighth Infantry, the new com- mander, Captain Charles Edward Clarke, reported
16 men in arrest or confinement, fully 15 percent of
either to the sutler’s facility or to a Mr.
97
the entire garrison.
brewing in this outfit for some time.
92
Obviously, trouble had been
Whatever the difficulties were in his command, Captain Clarke had to focus much of his attention elsewhere. On November 7, a mail carrier, Charles Young, was killed by Apaches nine miles west of Fort Cummings. A short time later, John Slater, another mail carrier, suffered the same fate in the
vicinity of Apache Pass.
Indian attacks on the
go
southern mail route had become so commonplace
by 1867 that mail contractors were having difficulty
securing riders to carry the express. The agents
eventually found it necessary to pay $150 a month,
in gold, for the men to ride between Las Cruces and
94
Fort Bowie.
The Fort Cummings area was not the only place
troubled by the Apaches. On November 23, 1867, the Indians struck the Fort Selden Quartermaster’s beef herd. A quick response by the Third Cavalry resulted in two Apaches killed, but mistakenly a Mexican hay cutter was also killed. Eighteen days
95
later, the Indians struck the herd again.
Serious trouble, initiated by an incident on Decem- ber 1, developed for the garrison at Fort Cummings. Second Lieutenant Henry Field Leggett discovered that some of his money had disappeared from his quarters. He had the enlisted men searched, but the money was not found. First Lieutenant William Edgar Sweet’s female servant, Mattie Merritt, was also searched, and although nothing was directly stated, she was apparently suspected of stealing the money. The officers took no immediate action ex- cept to refuse to let her stay with the company laundresses.96 On December 7 Lieutenant Leggett sent a detail to remove Merritt from the fort. Some men of the Thirty-Eighth Infantry interfered with the guard detail and allegedly made sufficiently grave threats, against their White officers and Black non-
commissioned officers, to warrant charges of mutiny.
When Captain Clarke returned from Fort Selden, hetoldMerrittthatshewouldhavetogoelsewhere,
Indian Fighting and Post War Emigration
180
As a result of interference with the guard detail and other threatening activities, charges were preferred against several men. Five were later tried, but only one, Corporal Robert Davis, was found guilty and sentenced to reduction to private, forfeiture of all pay due, dishonorably discharged^
and confined for 10 years in a federal penitentiary. Perhaps Davis would have fared better if his defense, like some of the other defendants, had been handled by Thomas Benton Catron who later became a United States Senator and one of the most influen- tial men in New Mexico.
The post returns for the month of December listed two pieces of mountain artillery. Previously there had been no mention of this category of weapon at Fort Cummings. Perhaps there was a relationship between the mutiny and the introduction of these
• 99 arms in the fort’s inventory.
Indian harassment continued at the post. On January 22, 1868, Indians broke into the stage company’s corral and killed one mule and shot another horse with an arrow. Six days later, several shots were fired near the fort. At the end of the month, three men from the Thirty-Eighth Infantry were reported to have died during the month. Private Thomas Crawford died from wounds, and Privates James Bell and Moses Alexander suc-
100
cumbed to an unnamed disease.
The inadequacy of trying to combat the Apaches
with infantry was reinforced on February 20. The Apaches attacked an emigrant train at the entrance to Cooke’s Canyon, about one mile from the fort. Lieutenant Leggett and 20 men went to the rescue,
101
but the Indians had already left.
The aftermath of the mutiny was evidenced at Fort
Cummings in two ways. First, the number of men in
arrest or confinement reached an all time high of
nearly 19 percent. Second, a serious work detail was
organized for the men not in confinement, and plans
were laid for more in the future. Corporal Frederick
Wormley was put in charge of a detail assigned to
construct a wall around the post cemetery. The wall,
built of rock from nearby hills, was 1,000 feet long
(250 feet square) and was 5 feet high; so it was a time
consuming task. In addition, lumber to repair the
men’s bunks and quarters was ordered from Pinos 102
Altos.
At Pinos Altos, more trouble was in store for Virgil
Mastin. Aftersettlinghisbrother’sestate,hehad
Harrington’s