Battle of Placito

Battle of Placito
Part of the American Civil War Apache Wars
Date September 8, 1861 Location Placito, Confederate Arizona Modern Day: Placito, New Mexico Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
Confederate States	Apache
Commanders and leaders
Lieutenant John Pulliam	unknown
Strength
15+ cavalry, militia	unknown
Casualties and losses
unknown	5 killed, unknown wounded

The Battle of Placito or Battle of the Placito was an engagement between ethnic Mexican settlers, Confederate soldiers and Apache warriors. The battle took place at the now abandoned village of Placito in Confederate Arizona. The action is apart of the Apache Wars of the mid to late 1800s.

Battle

Following the Gallinas Massacre, Lieutenant John Pulliam of the Confederate garrison at Fort Stanton, returned from his patrol in the Gallinas Mountains where he searched for the three dead soldiers, massacred a week earlier. He arrived at Fort Stanton on September 8, 1861. That same evening a dispatch arrived from the Placito, a Spanish era colony, occupied by Mexican settlers. The dispatch detailed a current Apache assault on the town. Pulliam was ordered to procede to the village with fifteen men to help protect it's citizens. Apon arrival, at night, the force of Pulliam, his fifteen men and an unknown number of Mexican men, drove the Apaches out of town and then fought off the Apaches all night at a further range. Eventually the natives gave up and retreated back into the surrounding desert. Casualties are unknown, except for the Apaches who suffered at least five men killed by Pulliam's squad. An unknown number of Apache wounded escaped the fighting. The Lieutenant and his men arrived back at Fort Stanton the following afternoon.

See Also

• American Indian Wars
• American Civil War
• New Mexico Campaign

References

• Thompson, Jerry Don, Colonel John Robert Baylor: Texas Indian Fighter and Confederate Soldier. Hillsboro, Texas: Hill Junior College Press, 1971.
• Katheder, Thomas, The Baylors of Newmarket: The Decline and Fall of a Virginia Planter Family. New York and Bloomington, Ind., 2009.
• Josephy, Alvin M., Jr. (1986). War on the Frontier: The Trans-Mississippi West. Alexandria, Va.: Time-Life Books. ISBN 0-8094-4780-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)