The Battle of Bear Valley
Arizona, 9 January 1918
Something a little different as this is a skirmish game I`ve written to try and simulate this interesting historic engagement on my tabletop. I don`t claim it is a historically accurate recreation my plan is to create a playable, enjoyable game.
Readers please note in the text I often refer to the US 10th Cavalry (the famous Buffalo Soldiers) as US 10th Cavalry (colored), this isn`t meant as a racist slur, but is the units actual full title in this period of history.
Background
The Battle of Bear Valley was a small engagement fought in 1918 between a band of Yaquis and a detachment of US Army soldiers. On January 9, 1918, elements of the American 10th Cavalry Regiment (colored) detected about thirty armed Yaquis in Bear Valley, west of Nogales, Arizona, a large area that was commonly used as a passage across the international border with Mexico. A short firefight ensued, which resulted in the death of the Yaqui commander and the capture of nine others. Though the conflict was merely a skirmish, it was the last time the US Army and indigenous natives engaged in combat and thus has been seen as the final official battle of the American Indian Wars!
By 1918 the Yaqui people had been at war with Mexico for several years, the former hoping to establish an independent state in Sonora, centered on the Rio Yaqui and its confluence with the Gulf of California. Many Yaquis were driven north by the war and some crossed the Arizona border to work in Tucson`s citrus groves. After receiving payment, the Yaquis would spend their money on weapons and ammunition and then return to Mexico to continue fighting. The fact that Yaquis were buying arms in Arizona and smuggling them across the border became so well known that the military governor of Sonora - General Plutarco Elias Calles, informally requested help from the United States government in dealing with the problem. Furthermore, Arizona ranchers began reporting in larger numbers their encounters with armed Yaquis on their ranch land or the finding of butchered livestock on the range. Since there was no United States Border Patrol at the time, the task of protecting the border was that of the army, which operated out of Fort Huachuca.
The Nogales, Arizona sub-district commander, Colonel J.C. Friers, 35th Infantry, responded to the reports by issuing orders to increase patrolling in the area. American forces in the area included the 35th Infantry Regiment, stationed at Camp Stephen D. Little in Nogales, and the 10th Cavalry (colored), the famed Buffalo Soldiers, who were spread out to protect the various towns near the international border. A squadron size force from the 10th Cavalry was encamped about a half mile from the 35th Infantry at Nogales and a second squadron split up to occupy Lochiel and Campini. Smaller posts were also established at Arivaca and Oro Blanco and finally a troop of about thirty men maintained a camp at Atascosa Canyon, a "strategic natural crossing" within Bear Valley
On January 8, a local cattleman and owner of the Ruby Mercantile, Philip C. Clarke, rode into camp and told Captain Ryder that his neighbor found the body of a cow in the mountains to the north and that pieces of its hide had been removed for making sandals.
Capt. Ryder sent 1st. Lt. William Scott and First Sgt. Samuel H. Alexander with their men to watch the trails, and about midday the following day, Scott signaled that the Yaqui were in sight and on the move. Troopers rode out to the location, dismounted, and advanced in a skirmish line through a draw but didn’t see the Indians. Heading back to the horses using a different route, Ryder stumbled upon a cache of discarded packs. The Yaqui were in the immediate vicinity and knew they were being pursued. The U.S. troops continued up the canyon until suddenly the Yaquis fired on them!
My scenario
I decided to field 2 groups of Yaqui, one with pack animals carrying the arms and ammunition and the other a covering party. The US Cavalry get 3 patrols – 2 on foot and the last mounted.
The Yaqui start at the end of the arroyo (roughly in the center of the table) which was about 2ft from the southern edge of the table (I played on a small table roughly 4 x 4ft) and must get the weapons off the table moving at 3” per turn.
The cavalry commander positioned on top of a colina (hill) overlooking the river crossing directs his patrols towards the fugitives, I randomised the arrival directions of the three US patrols using the D8 system I used in my earlier games; at which point the game is on.
Yaqui
Mules train – 5 Yaqui plus mules
Cover party – 10 Yaqui (rifle armed)
US Cavalry
Elements of “E” Troop 10th Cavalry (colored) under the command of Captain Frederick H.L. "Blondy" Ryder
1st foot patrol – 1st Lieutenant William Scott & 9 troopers
2nd foot patrol – First Sgt. Samuel H. Alexander & 9 troopers
Mounted patrol – 5 mounted troopers commanded by a corporal
My table
I re-set the Yaqui as before and rolled for US entry, this time we get 7, 6 and 3 – so Sgt. Alexander`s men once again come in from the west, but the mounted squad are entering from the north west and Lt. Scott`s men coming in directly from the east.
Again turns 1 & 2 sees the Yaqui moving down the arroyo whilst the cavalry close in.
Turn 3 the first long range shots, the Yaqui this time draw first blood and one of Alexander`s men is hit!
Turn 4 the Yaqui continue to move down the arroyo towards the border and safety, the cavalry move closer, more shots are exchanged, another of Alexander`s men is hit, but two Yaqui also go down!
Turn 5 Lt. Scott`s men are now in the fight too, they lose a man but take two Yaqui. Alexander`s patrol loses another man in exchange for another Yaqui. The mounted squad bursts out of the arroyo into the Yaqui rear.
Turn 6 the first mule reaches the river. The Yaqui covering group are totally overwhelmed by the cavalry with both foot patrols and the mounted squad charging through them! Another of Alexander`s men is hit, but the Yaqui lose 5 men, some to close range pistol fire others to horsemen riding past.
Turn 7 the remaining Yaqui break and run, the mounted squad gallops on towards the mules.
Turn 8 the mounted squad falls upon the pack mule train, those Yaqui left north of the river flee abandoning the last mules.
A complete victory for the 10th Cavalry, though as with the first game a bit more bloody than history.
Obviously I`ve run these games solo, but I think it would work well with 2 players using blinds and maybe also with an umpire running the Yaqui again using blinds.
Historic AAR
A 10th Cavalry historian, Col. Harold B. Wharfield, interviewed fighters from both sides of the fight and wrote the following: The fighting developed into an old kind of Indian engagement with both sides using all the natural cover of boulders and brush to full advantage. The Yaquis kept falling back, dodging from boulder to boulder and firing rapidly. They offered only a fleeting target, seemingly just a disappearing shadow. The officer saw one of them running for another cover, then stumble and thereby expose himself. A corporal alongside of the captain had a good chance for an open shot. At the report of the Springfield, a flash of fire enveloped the Indian’s body for an instant, but he kept on to the rock.”
The troopers finally overtook a group of ten, who were covering for the escape of the rest of the band into Mexico, and took them captive. Ryder later wrote of the engagement that it “was a courageous stand by a brave group of Indians; and the Cavalrymen treated them with the respect due to fighting men. Especially astonishing was the discovery that one of the Yaquis was an eleven-year old boy. The youngster had fought bravely alongside his elders, firing a rifle that was almost as long as he was tall.”
One of the prisoners, the chief of the group, had been grievously wounded. “This was the man who had been hit by my corporal’s shot,” Ryder wrote. “He was wearing two belts of ammunition around his waist and more over each shoulder. The bullet had hit one of the cartridges in his belt, causing it to be exploded, making the flash of fire I saw. Then the bullet entered one side and came out the other, laying his stomach open.”
The Cavalry troopers recovered rifles, a mix of 30-30 Winchester carbines and German made Mausers, a lot of ammunition, plus powder and lead, and bullet molds.
The wounded man died the next day and the remaining nine prisoners were later sent to Tucson for trial in federal court. Charged with "wrongfully, unlawfully, and feloniously exporting to Mexico certain arms and ammunition, to wit: 300 rifle cartridges and about 9 rifles without first procuring an export license issued by the War Trade Board of the United States".
The Yaquis pleaded guilty and claimed they had not realised soldiers were US cavalry and thought they had been attacked by Mexican troops! They claimed that, they would not have fired upon the Americans if they had realised their mistake as they had no hostility to the US Army or US citizens. The prisoners were sentenced by judge William Henry Sawtelle to a mere thirty days in jail, excluding the boy whose charges were dismissed. Colonel Wharfield wrote that "the sentence was preferable to the Yaquis who otherwise would be deported to Mexico and face possible execution as rebels.
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