Second Battle of Fort Defiance

The Second Battle of Fort Defiance was a military engagement fought during the United States period of the Navajo Wars. On April 29, 1860,[3] about 1,000 Navajo warriors assaulted the United States Army garrison of Fort Defiance in New Mexico Territory,[1][4] now within present day Arizona. The Navajo achieved a surprise attack but was ultimately repulsed by 150 American defenders of the 3rd Infantry under Captain Oliver L. Shepherd. The Americans formed in the center of the buildings and withstood the Navajo attack. The natives retreated with a loss of around seven dead and several wounded while the Americans suffered four men killed in action and three wounded.

Second Battle of Fort Defiance
Part of the Navajo Wars

Fort Defiance in 1873, by Seth Eastman.
DateApril 29, 1860[1]
Location
Fort Defiance, New Mexico Territory
Modern Day: Fort Defiance, Arizona
35°44′49″N 109°04′07″W[2]
Result United States victory
Belligerents
 United States of America Navajo
Commanders and leaders
United States Oliver Shepherd Manuelito
Barboncito
Strength
150 infantry
1 fort		 ~1,000 warriors
Casualties and losses
4 killed
3 wounded		 ~7 killed
unknown wounded

The second Navajo assault on Fort Defiance was the only instance of hostile natives attacking a heavily garrisoned fort subsequent to occupation during the Mexican–American War.[3] It was one of the largest battles fought within the borders of Arizona. It was also one of the reasons why the militia commander Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Antonio Chaves ordered an unauthorized campaign into Navajo territory in 1860 and 1861.

See also

References
  1. The Book of the Navajo Raymond Friday Locke, Mankind Publishing Company, Los Angeles, 1992, page 333. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Fort Defiance Census Designated Place
  3. "The Leading Facts of New Mexican History, Volume 2 Ralph Emerson Twitchell, Torch Press, 1912, page 316. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  4. "The Regular Army Before the Civil War 1845 - 1860" by Clayton R. Newell, Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 201, page 31. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  • McNitt, Frank. Navajo Wars. Univ. New Mexico, 1972.
  • Lavender, David. The Rockies, Revised Edition. New York: Harper & Row, 1975.
  • Limerick, Patricia Nelson. The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West. New York: W.W. Norton, 1987.
  • Locke, Raymond Friday. The Book of the Navajo. Los Angeles: Mankind Publishing Company, 1992.
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