Topic summary
Apache Wars
United States
Confederate States(1861–1865)
Apache allies:
John Davidson
James H. Carleton
Kit Carson
Philip Cooke
John G. Walker
George Crook
George Jordan
Eugene Asa Carr
Philip Sheridan
Nelson A. Miles
Alfred Gibbs
Henry Lawton
James W. Watson
Sherod Hunter
Granville H. Oury
Thomas J. Mastin†
Jack Swilling
James H. Tevis
Chacon
Black Knife†
Mangas Coloradas†
Iron Shirt †
Cochise
Francisco
Juh
Delshay
Victorio†
Nanni Chaddi †
Na tio tish †
Geronimo
Chatto
Apache Kid
Massai
Little Wolf (Mescalero)
Te-He-Nan †
Nana#
Saguaro
Coronado †
Santos
Red Dog
Lobo Blanco†
The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. After the Mexican–American War in 1846, the United States annexed conflicted territory from Mexico which was the home of both settlers and Apache tribes. Conflicts continued as American settlers came into traditional Apache lands to raise livestock and crops and to mine minerals.
The U.S. Army established forts to fight Apache tribal war parties and force Apaches to move to designated Indian reservations created by the U.S. in accordance with the Indian Removal Act. Some reservations were not on the traditional areas occupied by the Apache. In 1886, the U.S. Army put over 5,000 soldiers in the field to fight, which resulted in the surrender of Geronimo and 30 of his followers. This is generally considered the end of the Apache Wars, although conflicts continued between citizens and Apaches. The Confederate Army briefly participated in the wars during the early 1860s in Texas, before being diverted to action in the American Civil War in New Mexico and Arizona.