Battles between Europeans and Native Americans in North America started
with the first landfall and continued until the late 19th Century.
Typically, the wars were limited in duration as the mass of European
immigrants expanded into and pacified new areas. Tribes decimated by
war and disease had few alternatives. In most parts of what is now the
United States, peace followed settlement by not too many years.
The deserts of the West were another story. Vast distances and
non-arable land meant that for many years more people transited the land
than settled in it. What the land lacked in agricultural potential, it
made up for with mineral wealth. That is what brought first the Spanish,
then the Mexicans, and finally the Americans to the land of the Apache.
Their range extended from Arizona to West Texas and from Southern
Colorado to Northern Mexico.
An Apache warrior was minimalist and efficient. Reflecting the
harshness of their land, the Apaches had none of the splendid head
dresses, painted tepees, or beaded parfletches of the Plains Tribes.
Additionally, there was no cult of the horse; Apache saw horses as tools
first and food when necessary. Even on foot, an Apache warrior could
travel 70 miles per day in the harsh terrain they called home. Given
their numbers, they were arguably the most effective guerrilla warriors
in history. At the time of the Geronimo campaign, one-quarter of the
U.S. Army (5000 men) were deployed looking for 50 Apache warriors.
One anecdote from 1876 is informative. In 1876 the Chiricahua
reservation was to be closed and the tribe was divided on whether they
should peacefully go to a new reservation, or leave in armed rebellion.
Lacking agreement, it escalated to an armed battle and the “peace
faction” literally shot down the more militant tribesmen. All members of
the tribe had to be tough and capable of hard travel in austere
conditions. Men were warriors and Apache boys were trained from an early
age to fight and apprenticed in war as adolescents. Apache society was a
meritocracy. Leaders were successful guerrilla fighters who exhibited
and inspired toughness and patience. For that reason, many renowned
Apache chiefs were in their 50s or older. Success was valued, but risk
taking was not. A raid is simply a surprise attack against an immobile target. The
attacker chooses the time, and the location is fixed. Apache raiding was
largely to procure livestock and other booty. This was not warfare for
the Apache. Raiding was to gain property and warfare was to take life.
Studying their engagements show this clearly. Northern Mexico suffered
more from Apache raiding than did the Americans. Inevitably, on both
sides of the border, Apache raids caused pursuit and attempts at
reprisal. In response, the Apaches would seek to evade or ambush their
pursuers.In an ambush, the attacker chooses the location, and the time is
whenever the target enters the kill zone.
The planned ambush required real-time intelligence to establish patterns
and find “exploitable weaknesses.” Many of these attacks were to
capture livestock. Other categories of ambushes are: the killing
ambush, seeking retribution against the enemy; ambush by decoy, using
false trails/simulating panic/etc.; and ad hoc ambushes. These quick
ambushes relied on Apache trade-craft to hide where there seemed to be no
concealment and spring a deadly trap at close range. Often these would
be set before or after a perceived danger area when the enemy was less
alert. Watt makes the case that the Apaches understood psychological
operations and used it to their advantage. In one instance an Apache war
party was particularly brutal. This incensed responding miners and the
Apaches goaded them on with distant gunfire. Thinking another attack was
taking place; the miners ran pell-mell into an ambush and were killed.
Like all great guerrilla warriors Apaches avoided direct attacks and
were famously risk adverse. Disparity of numbers and technology led to
the inevitable failure of the Apache resistance, but students of
guerrilla war can learn much from their efforts.
No comments:
Post a Comment