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Posted on 06/12/2005 10:08:19 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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General Nelson Miles summoned Lieutenant Charles Gatewood to Albuquerque in July 1886 and ordered the reluctant veteran of the Apache wars to go find the elusive Chiricahua leader down in the mountains of Mexico.  2nd Lt. Charles Gatewood On March 27, 1886, Geronimo and Naiche, the hereditary Chiricahua chieftain, along with the remnants of their band of Chiricahua Apaches, surrendered to General George Crook at Cañon de los Embudos, Sonora, Mexico. That surrender should have ended the last Apache war. Should have. It did not. Instead, it set in motion a series of events that would resurrect a lieutenant's career that had all but ended when he stood up for Indian rights. Geronimo began drinking after the surrender. At the second camp on the trip back to the United States, he, Naiche and 34 other men, women and children slipped into the night and vanished. In short order, Crook resigned as commander of the Department of Arizona (April 1), and General Nelson Miles, who had campaigned for his assignment, replaced him (April 11). Miles immediately dumped Crook's strategy of using Indians to defeat Indians. Reducing Indians to auxiliary duty only, Miles assembled 5,000 U.S. troops to patrol the international border and guard all known water holes. Using the U.S. 4th Cavalry as his primary offensive weapon, he began sending seek-and-destroy missions into Mexico. Three months passed. Geronimo and those with him were worn out, hungry and shot up. Even so, they avoided capture. Miles had no intention of sharing Crook's fate. While continuing the hunt, he decided to send an officer into Mexico to negotiate with Geronimo. Although he was unsure who to select, he knew the officer had to be a Crook man (none of his own men knew the Chiricahuas). Unfortunately, two of the three men perfectly fitted for the assignment were no longer available: Captain Emmet Crawford was dead, and Lieutenant Britton Davis had resigned his commission. That left the Crook outcast--Lieutenant Charles Gatewood.  General George Crook The Apaches called Gatewood Bay-chen-daysen, which translates to "Long Nose." Tall, slender and Southern born, Gatewood graduated from West Point in 1877. Shortly after reporting for duty with the 6th U.S. Cavalry at Fort Apache, Arizona Territory, in 1878, he became a veteran Indian campaigner. By 1884, Gatewood had emerged as one of Crook's handpicked subalterns to bring peace to the Southwest. An experienced commander of Apache scouts, he also served as military commandant of the White Mountain Indian Reservation, headquartered at Fort Apache. His career looked promising. Then he arrested Thomas Zuck, a territorial judge, for defrauding his wards. When Crook asked him to drop the charges, Gatewood refused. This set off a series of litigations that led to the end of Gatewood's working relationship with Crook and the Apaches but ultimately to his participation in the last Apache war. On July 13, 1886, Miles summoned Gatewood--who knew every member of the hostile band--to his office in Albuquerque, New Mexico Territory. He ordered the lieutenant to take two Chiricahua guides, find the elusive warring Apaches in Mexico and demand their surrender. Gatewood balked. The mission sounded like a fool's errand. Besides, he was not healthy; his arthritic body could not handle a prolonged campaign in the wilds of Mexico. Miles offered to eventually make the lieutenant his aide-de-camp. The position appealed to Gatewood. After outfitting at Fort Bowie, Arizona Territory, he set out with Martine (a Nednhi Chiricahua) and Kayitah (who was either a Nednhi or a Chokonen Chiricahua), both of whom were related to members of the hostile band; interpreter George Wratten; and packer Frank Huston. Everyone rode mules. Courier Tex Whaley joined Gatewood before he dropped into Mexico on July 19.  General Nelson Miles Gatewood traveled eastward in Sonora, cut through the Guadalupe Mountains and into Chihuahua. The trek south played havoc with his health. His joints ached, he suffered from dysentery, and he had an inflamed bladder. When he reached Carretas on July 21, Lieutenant James Parker, who had supposedly followed Geronimo's trail, told him there was no trail to follow. Gatewood refused to quit. After resting for six days, he set out to find Captain Henry Lawton (U.S. 4th Cavalry), who was leading Miles' primary seek-and-destroy column in the field. Lawton was somewhere to the south in the Sierra Madre. After traveling 150 miles, on August 3 Gatewood found Lawton on the Aros River. Lawton--who also had no idea where the hostiles were--was not pleased with Gatewood's appearance. After making it clear he intended to "hunt Geronimo down and kill him," Lawton allowed Gatewood to join his command. Rains pounded the earth nightly. During daylight hours, a merciless sun reached 117 degrees. Days passed. Lawton meandered one way and then another. He found nothing. During this time, Gatewood's health continued to deteriorate. On August 8 he asked Leonard Wood, Lawton's surgeon and second-in-command, to medically discharge him. Wood refused. While moving northward, on August 18, Lawton and Gatewood heard that two Apache women had opened negotiations for peace at the pueblo of Fronteras, some 70 miles to the northwest. Gatewood, with Kayitah, Martine, Wratten, several packers and six of Lawton's men, set out for Fronteras the next morning at 2 a.m. He rode and walked 55 miles, arriving at Cuchuta late that night.  Geronimo and Gen. Crook at Cañon de Los Embudos, Sonora, March 27, 1886, photo by Camillus S. Fly. On August 20, Gatewood pushed on the remaining 15 miles to Fronteras. He presented himself to Jesus Aguirre, the prefecto of the Sonaran district of Arispe, to which Fronteras belonged. The meeting did not go well. Aguirre did not support Gatewood's mission. After his interview with Aguirre, Gatewood camped with an assembly of American troops three miles below Fronteras. After dark, Aguirre visited the American camp. Although Aguirre told several officers he did not want them present when he negotiated peace with Geronimo, he told Gatewood he hoped to get the Apaches drunk and then massacre them.
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This is just my lack of knowledge of the period, but I thought Mexico didn't allow the Army to chase Indians in Mexico.
Don't forget the airholes now, ya 'ere!!!
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
I'm off work tomorrow...my quilt guild day. I'm glad I don't have to get up at 5:30 am.
Yep. IMHO, one of the best Westerns ever made.
There were also several westerns that used parts of the Geronimo story for plots. Fort Apache and Rio Grande come to mind.
Originally, they didn't. But the Apaches played the border like the VC played Cambodia. Eventually, the Mexican and US govts agreed to let each other's troops chase Apaches over the border in hot pursuit, and several states (Sonora, Chihuahua) allowed US troops to operate in their territory. Nor was the concept one-sided. The Nedni Apache lived in the Sierra Madres in Mexico. By all accounts they were some of the toughest Apaches on the planet. On two separate occasions, their chief, Juh [pronounced Whoa] led war parties into the US for the specific purpose of killing two Army officers who were having success against the Apaches here.Juh, who was related to Geronimo by marriage, killed both of them.
LOL
Cute picture.
Hey it's 4PM in Virginia . . . that means I'm posting early for the Foxhole. ;^)
Sure wish I had time to read this, it's an excellent read.
Here are some early pics of our visit to Gettysburg.
From where I'm standing is the woods where Gen. Reynolds was fatally shot. The Trostle Barn in the background.
Day 1, July 1st Lt. Cmdr. Rufus Dawes of the 6th Wisconsin counter attacks at the RR tracks near Willoughby Run River NW of Gettysburg against Col. Edward Fowler of the 2nd Mississippi Infantry.
Starting point along Seminary ridge of Gen. James Pettigrew and Isaac Trimbles advance on Cemetery Hill.
Further down the line of Seminary Ridge, the starting point of Pickett's charge. The group of trees on the right are the target. The tree in the center is where the CSA temporarily broke through.
I walked out to the half-way point of Pickett's charge where the line started to severely brake. The statue of Lee on Traveler is the starting point.
Where I'm standing is where Lee rode out to say "It has been all my fault" to his retreating bloodied troops. (FWIW, at this point of the tour I lost it)
Okay, gotta head out for dinner, I'll post more later.
A head in a box. Somebody's gonna get a long sentence over that one.
Wonderful pictures sweetie and I'm sure it was emotional. Looks like a great day weather-wise.
How about adults?
FedEx only. Sorry
I received telegraphic instructions to report at once for duty to General Miles at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. for duty against the Apache Indians which had gone on the war path in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. This was Geronimo and his band.When I arrived at Fort Huachuca my previous military experience was again serviceable. For on reporting to the adjutant he started to say I will assign you to troop so-and-so, but I spoke up quickly and said that the men of the Signal Corps on duty outside of Washington did not participate with the troops but would take care of themselves, as he could judge by the fact that I wore no uniform. "All right," he said, "there is a hotel," and promptly forgot all about it. So I took quarters at the hotel and there I found also all the young unmarried lieutenants and other officers, and as they did not know me I was not disturbed, and remained at the hotel for some time until I found more reasonably priced lodging and board with a married commissary sergeant. I was the only man apparently who had so far been ordered to Huachuca for heliograph duty, ... By the time the new men arrived, I had already completed a permanent heliograph station on a pretty high hill close to Huachuca. This station used a large round heliograph mirror which tipped backward and forward slightly by means of a key at the back, making a click just like a telegraph sounder. No screen was required as the flash of light was simply lifted far above and dropped down to the station to make the dots and dashes. I had had a very firm stand or table made with heavy posts let into the ground, and the outfit worked wonderfully well. ...
Here there occurred an illustration of the effect of the clearness of the atmosphere in the west, which was well known to me. The young fellows from Ft. Myer [Va] had none of them ever been west. When they first visited my heliograph station I pointed out to them a town in which the houses could be very clearly seen. I asked the boys how far away they thought it was. One spoke up and said, "You can't fool us on that proposition. We have heard all about the deceptiveness of distances in this country, and so although that place looks to me to be about 2 miles distant, I'll say it is 5 miles." With this the others mostly agreed and were astonished when they found the place was 25 miles away.
When I reported to General Miles the morning after my arrival, he informed me that the plan was to establish signal stations on prominent peaks for the purpose of watching the country thoroughly by telescopes and transmitting intelligence of the movements of troops and of hostile Indians by the heliograph which would be the instrument chiefly used. I was able to inform General Miles that I had had considerable success in the use of the heliograph while at the school of instruction at Fort Myer, Va. and that I could instruct men in the use of the instrument. Classes for instruction were at once assigned to me. We practiced across the parade ground and the officers, I could see, had but little belief that the instrument could be of any service.
As the altitude of Huachuca is very considerable, the sun was very powerful, and being obliged to be in bright sunlight practically from sunrise to sun set, my face burned terribly and the skin peeled off not once but continually, as I unfortunately do not burn brown but rather burn up. Finally the adjutant of the post took compassion on me, and gave me an oddly made shade. It had a strong wire frame which was secured around the body, and above it an umbrella like structure covered with white canvas, which could be folded over the back when not in use. I wore this all the time and it was certainly a comfort, but it was conspicuous and I became a notorious character.
During May, 1886, before there were any other heliograph stations established excepting the one at Huachuca, I made my big flash move continually around the country trying to stir up something, and especially I directed it on every little collection of houses that I could see through the telescope, so that the natives were generally more or less wonderstruck. At last one day I got an answering flash very faint from a party in the field, and after careful adjustment took a message to the commanding office requesting the immediate dispatch of forage and other supplies to a place some fifty miles away. When I delivered this telegram to the Commanding office, the fact became known shortly and a crowd of officers came up to the heliograph station to see it work. The supplies were sent at once. I have seen the heliograph flash as far away as Ft. Bowie, 90 miles distant.
Huachuca was station No. 7, and communicated west with Mt. Baldy, about 40 miles, on which my friend Neifert was in charge. The heliograph line ultimately attained a length of over 200 miles from Mt. Baldy, to stations in New Mexico, and undoubtedly aided the troops in capturing Geronimo and his men who were frightened by the flashes of light which appeared everywhere. But this story has no doubt been fully told in public reports.
The time I spent at Ft. Huachuca was very pleasant. The work was interesting, the climate was fine, and the skies so clear at night, that having an excellent book on astronomy with me with some good charts of the constellations, I spent a good part of every night in studying the heavens and learned much about the "friendly stars."
The heliograph stations were discontinued in September, 1886, and I was ordered to take charge of the station at LaCrosse, Wis. I got on the train at Huachuca station with a straw hat and linen duster, and as the country was uninteresting and besides familiar to me, I hardly left the car, reading novels most of the time until I reached Omaha. Here I got off the train and for a moment was surprised to have everybody at the depot staring at me, until I began to feel that it was very cold, and presently saw a cold wave flag flying and found that the temperature was 3 degrees below zero. I bought an overcoat, quick.
*from A National Weather Service Publication In Support of The Celebration of American Weather Services...Past, Present and Future on the NOAA website, http://www.nws.noaa.gov/pa/history/herrmann.php
The complete document by Herrmann can be found at the above web address. If you are interested in learning more about the heliograph you should check out James Riddle's site, Heliography, (Communicating with Mirrors) by James Riddle - KD7AOI The web address is http://myweb.cableone.net/kd7aoi/
e^{pi i} + 1 = 0
Pal Erdos said that this Euler identity was proof of God's existance. The question is, was Erdos serious? Of vastly greater importance, is God?
(Don't ask me to prove e^{pi i} + 1 = 0 without Google to help. Headache, whew!!)
Thank you.
My very serious intention of visiting Gettysburg is now more serious.
Charging across that field of fire you show very well, Pickett and the lads, is death. Maybe Lee should have waited for night.
Large scale night attacks, can't recall any in that war. Stonewall was trying to set one up when he was shot.
I never made it to Gettysburg :-(
...at this point of the tour I lost it
I know the feeling, the sunken road at Antietam did it to me.
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