Battle of the North Fork of the Red River

Battle of North Fork of Red River, 1872
Part of the Indian Wars
DateSeptember 28, 1872
Location
near McClellan Creek in Gray County, Texas
35°24′41.8068″N 100°40′19.10″W / 35.411613000°N 100.6719722°W / 35.411613000; -100.6719722 (North Fork of Red River Battlefield)
Result U.S. victory
Belligerents
 United States
4th Cavalry Regiment (United States), Tonkawa scouts		 Comanche Kotsoteka Band
Commanders and leaders
Ranald S. Mackenzie Kai-Wotche †
Mow-way (escaped)
Strength
12 officers and 272 enlisted men, 20 Tonkawa scouts Unknown, but the best guesses are 160 in the band, including 100 women and children
Casualties and losses
3 killed
7 wounded[1]		 approximately 50 killed
130 captured[2]
North Fork of Red River Battlefield is located in Texas
North Fork of Red River Battlefield
North Fork of Red River Battlefield
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Location within Texas

The Battle of North Fork or the Battle of the North Fork of the Red River occurred on September 28, 1872, near McClellan Creek in Gray County, Texas, United States. A monument on that spot marks the site of the battle between the Comanche Indians under Kai-Wotche and Mow-way and a detachment of cavalry and scouts under U.S. Army Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie. There was an accusation that the battle was really an attempt "to make a massacre," as during the height of battle some noncombatants were wounded while mixed in with the warriors.[3]

This battle is primarily remembered as the place where the army for the first time struck at the Comanches in the heart of the Llano Estacado in the western panhandle of Texas.[4]

  1. ^ Carter, R.G., On the Border with Mackenzie, 1935, Washington D.C.: Eynon Printing Co., p. 383
  2. ^ Carter, R.G., On the Border with Mackenzie, 1935, Washington D.C.: Eynon Printing Co., p. 378
  3. ^ Hosmer, Brian C. "Battle of the North Fork". Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Comlord was invoked but never defined (see the help page).