Horses Worn to Mere Shadows

This study, following on from the author's acclaimed book 'I Will Not Surrender a Hair of a Horse's Tail', commences with Victorio’s return to New Mexico in January 1880. The US army’s January to February campaign illustrates the operational decoy strategy employed by Victorio to protect his own logistic support whilst simultaneously undermining that of his opponents. The Hembrillo Canyon operation in April 1880 saw the largest battle of the Victorio Campaign. By the end of May 1880, Victorio’s warriors have rendered the Ninth Cavalry unfit for field service. This was achieved through the Apache strategy of directly and indirectly targeting the US army’s horses and mules. Yet the Apaches also suffer their first major defeat of the campaign at the end of May. After regrouping and engaging in widespread raiding in northern Mexico, Victorio engaged the Tenth Cavalry in Western Texas during July-August 1880. Failing to break through that regiment’s defences he retreated back into Mexico. This allowed the US army in New Mexico to rest and recover. By September 1880, the US army had negotiated a cross border operation of questionable legality. Known as the Buell Expedition, the aim was to coordinate with Mexican state troops to destroy the Apaches. This volume will end with Mexican state troops, led by Colonel Joaquin Terrazas’, inflicting a major defeat upon the Apaches at Tres Castillos. It will be argued that the setbacks in Western Texas and at Tres Castillos demonstrate the employment of strategies and tactics by the Apaches which came very close to succeeding.

Horses Worn to Mere Shadows annex can be downloaded here.

 

“This is a fascinating account of a relatively unknown campaign. The degree of research is impressive, with a vast source of support material. The author really knows the subject and he certainly conveys a real feel for the world that these forces were living and fighting in…This is a must-read book.” Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 

 

"...a must read for anyone interested in Native American history, the Apache Wars, or the Southwest." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 

 

"Taken as a whole, these three volumes are a labor of love, constituting the most detailed summary and comprehensive analysis of small-scale conflict between the Native Americans and the United States we may well expect to read in our lifetimes. That should be achievement enough to satisfy any historian." Journal of Military History

 

"...a richly detailed account superbly illustrated by photographs, many taken by the author." HistoryNet.com

 

"Beyond his detailed narrative of movements and battles, the author also provides a thought provoking and expansive analysis of the politics behind this and every military confrontation, driven by the participants’ need to meet the requirements imposed upon them by forces both internal and external." The Journal of America’s Military Past