Below are portions of a history of the Sixth Regiment written by Captain
William H. Carter, of the 6th U. S. Cavalry, probably sometime after 1890.
The parts selected here are those relating to the service of this
Regiment in New Mexico, and specifically those paragraphs relating to
the likely source of the place name, "Camp Henely", and the tragic
happenings that perhaps resulted in the use of that name.
Captain Carter wrote:
The Sixth Regiment of Cavalry was organized as the Third Cavalry, under
the President's proclamation of May 3, 1861; and the proclamation was
confirmed by Act of Congress, July 29, 1861. It was provided that its
officers should take rank from May 14, 1861.
The headquarters were ordered established at Pittsburg, Pa., and the
following officers were appointed to constitute the commissioned force of
the new regiment:
Colonel David Hunter, Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Emory, Majors D. H.
Rucker and E. H. Wright.
Captains I. N. Moore, A. V. Kautz, A. W. Evans, Wm. S. Abert, D. McM.
Gregg, J. H. Taylor, J. I. Gregg, John Savage, G. C. Cram, C. R. Lowell, J.
S. Brisbin, and H. B. Hayes.
First Lieutenants J. K. Mizner, W. W. Averill, H. M. Enos, I. W.
Claflin, S. H. Brown, B. T. Hutchins, H. T. McLean, Tattnall Paulding,
Frederick Dodge, J. B. Johnson, J. F. Wade, M. H. Leavenworth.
Second Lieutenants J. W. Spangler, Peter McGrath, Hugh McQuade, and C.
B. McLellan.
Major Rucker having declined, Major J. H. Carleton was appointed second
major, to date from September 7, and Major L. A. Williams was on the same
date appointed the junior major. Captain Moore having declined, Captain
William P. Sanders was appointed.
The designation of the regiment was changed to "Sixth Cavalry", August
10, 1861, the Mounted Rifles becoming the Third Cavalry.
The regiment was recruited principally in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and
western New York, under the supervision of Lieut. Col. Emory, and on
October 12, 1861, Companies B, D, E, F, G, H, I and K having been organized,
the regiment was transferred to the camp of instruction east of the Capitol
at Washington.
...after extensive service in the Civil War...
In October, 1865, the regiment left its camp near Frederick, Md., and
proceeded via New York and New Orleans, to Austin, Texas, where camp was
established November 29. The headquarters remained at Austin until August
24, 1868, when station was changed to Fort Richardson, Texas. The troops
were distributed about the Department of Texas, at Forts Richardson,
Belknap and Griffin, and Camps Austin, Sherman, Buffalo Springs and Sulphur
Springs.
During the period from 1865 to 1871, while the regiment was stationed
in Texas, the duties falling to the officers and men were of the most
dangerous and varied kinds. After the close of the Rebellion the country
was overrun with desperadoes and outlaws who were even worse than the
hostile Comanches, and the officers and men were continually called upon to
guard the courts of justice, to assist revenue officers, aid in executing
convicted criminals, supervise elections, pursue outlaws and murderers, and
in general to institute lawful proceedings where anarchy reigned. Many
soldiers were assassinated for their devotion to law and order, and nothing
but incessant vigilance and unflinching courage, prevented the guerrilla
community from running the border counties of the State. The records for
this period are very unsatisfactory, and important actions, in the light of
to-day, are entirely omitted and remain only as traditions from the
generation of war service men, who have almost entirely passed away from
the regiment.
As it soon became evident that desultory scouting, and chasing war
parties which had a good start, were equally unprofitable, expeditions were
organized in Texas, New Mexico and Kansas, to pursue the Indians even to
the canyons of the Tule and the bare, waterless plains of the Pan
Handle.
The regiment took part in the operations against the Cheyennes, Kiowas
and Comanches in 1874, under Colonel N. A. Miles. This expedition was
organized at Fort Dodge, Kansas, in August, two battalions of four troops
each, under Majors Compton and Biddle, representing the Sixth.
...the commands meet at Santa Fe...
After a brief space of active scouting again, the regiment proceeded to
relieve the Fifth Cavalry in Arizona, the order having been issued the
preceding year and suspended on account of the Indian troubles. The first
half of the regiment, with the headquarters and band, assembled during the
early part of May, and marched under the command of Captain McLellan from
Fort Lyon, Colorado. The 5th Cavalry moved from Arizona at the same time,
and the two commands met at Santa Fe, NM, where horses were
exchanged and old acquaintance renewed. As soon as these troops had reached
their respective Departments, the remaining troops of the outgoing
regiments were relieved, and a similar meeting and exchange of horses was
made at Fort Union, NM.
Upon arrival in the Department of Arizona, the troops were widely
scattered. Headquarters and Troop B went to Camp Lowell; A and D to Camp
Apache; C, G and M, to Camp Grant; E and I to Camp Verde; H to Camp Bowie;
L to Camp San Carlos; K to Camp McDowell, and F to Fort Whipple. The troops
marched an average of 1064 miles from their old stations to the new.
During the summer of 1876, while the great Sioux war was progressing in
the north, the entire regiment was called to the field to put down the
Chiricahua Apaches, and later to assist in removing them to San Carlos
Agency. Before the arrival of the regiment at the scene of operations
several parties were sent out to stop the numerous raids. Lieutenant Henely
went from Camp Bowie with a detachment and had an engagement April 10, 1876,
and subsequently assisted about 200 friendly Chiricahuas to the agency
adjoining the post in Apache Pass. The regiment arrived and during June was
sent around the Indian reservation to drive in the Indians, but many of the
worst had fled to the rocky fastnesses of the Mexican mountain peaks, and
remained a thorn in the side of the army and the settlers for more than ten
years.
Such Indians as were willing were moved to San Carlos Agency, the
troops sent back to their stations and soon the dangerous country was
filled with daring prospectors seeking the fine mines located thereon. Many
of these hardy miners have paid with their lives for the privilege of
prospecting that section.
In September, 1878, the department commander finally decided to put a stop
to the incessant raiding of small parties from Mexico, and Lieutenants
Rucker and Carter with their companies of scouts were ordered to establish
a supply camp near the border and to remain there patrolling.
...Lieutenant Austin Henely joins the camp in September, 1878...
Lieutenant Henely joined the camp with a company of scouts, and a few days
later the regiment was horrified by the news of his death by drowning, and
that of Rucker while trying to save his friend and classmate, at their camp,
by a sudden rush of waters resulting from a cloud burst. Henely was being
carried away by the torrent, when Rucker boldly plunged his horse in the
stream to save him, but the raging waters carried him down also. The loss
of these officers, especially of Rucker, who was better known to the border
people than any other officer of the regiment, was universally lamented.
Two of these young officers deserve special mention--Lieutenant John A.
Rucker, whose station was always "in the field," and who during his service
with scouts followed nearly every hostile trail between the Gila River and
the Sierra Madres in Mexico within a few hours after it was made, and who
finally laid down his young life in a seething mountain torrent in which no
being could live for a moment, in an unsuccessful effort to save the life
of his friend and classmate, Henely.
...the Regiment's later service in New Mexico after 1885...
Upon arrival in New Mexico again, the headquarters were located at Fort
Bayard, some troops going to Forts Wingate. Stanton, Cummings, NM, and
Lewis, Colorado. Captain H. P. Perrine, with Troops B and F which went to
Colorado, took the field from Fort Lewis in pursuit of hostile Utes, and
engaged them, July 15, 1885, at Wormington Canyon. One packer and one
volunteer were killed.
The regiment settled down to garrison life, building quarters, putting in
water works, and improving the posts generally, which continued until the
spring of 1885, when nearly all the troops were hurried to the field in May,
to head off their old enemies, the Arizona Apaches, who broke away from
Fort Apache and fled towards Mexico. Active but unsuccessful efforts were
made to overhaul these renegades before they reached Mexico. Troop A
followed the Indians about 500 miles into Mexico. The troops were placed in
camp at the various water holes along the border, and patrols were kept out
watching all the border country for hundreds of miles. This lonely and very
disagreeable duty of watching for "signs," continued for more than a year,
and the fact that very few Indians succeeded in getting back into the
settled country, indicates great vigilance. The troops returned to their
posts during June and July of 1886, but made frequent scouts subsequently
after these same renegades.
Aside from frequent scouts on the Navajo reservation and vicinity to
keep peace between citizens and Indians, the troops were not called into
the field for any large operations until danger threatened among the far
away Sioux in 1890. The scattered condition of the army at that time
necessitated the gathering of troops from almost every department, and
included the Sixth Cavalry, which was transferred by rail from New Mexico
to South Dakota, arriving at Rapid City, December 9, 1890.
The regiment is now, as it has been ever since the Rebellion, "standing
to horse" near an Indian reservation ready to participate in quelling
disturbances after the Indian Bureau fails.
In following a cavalry regiment for thirty years by means of its
retained records, the trail is often found dim and rough, sometimes
completely obliterated. It would be impossible in so brief a sketch to name
all the heroes and heroic deeds that these years have developed. The names
of the officers participating in actions even, cannot be given because so
many records have been lost in battle and flood. To illustrate the
difficulties surrounding this labor it is only necessary to quote from one
morning report where the naive remark is duly entered, that "the company
clerk was captured yesterday with the muster roll in his saddle pocket."
Many incidents of great interest have been brought to light through the
kindly offices of the Sixth Cavalry Association, an organization of
veterans who followed the fortunes of the regiment during the war, and who
still meet annually to keep alive the friendships and memories of those
eventful days.
This sketch is confined as nearly as possible to things historical, but
the search for facts has developed a perfect mine of interesting incidents
and regimental tales which have no place here. The pressure of other duties
has made it impossible for the writer to do full justice to the subject,
and it was only the fear that it would be entirely neglected by those more
competent that caused the preparation of this imperfect narrative.