Battle of Bandera Pass

Part of the Indian Wars

Date	1841 or 1843
Location	Near Bandera, Texas
Result	Decisive Texan victory

Belligerents

Texas Rangers, Militia

Comanche

Commanders and leaders

John Coffee Hays

Unknown Comanche Chief reported killed by the Rangers

Strength

50 men

Unknown, but the best guesses are 200 in the band, including women

Casualties and losses

5 reported

Unknown; but many were killed

The Battle of Bandera Pass in 1841 marked the turning point of the Texas-Indian wars. Though they would continue another 34 years, the tide began to turn at Bandera Pass.

Some sources show 1843 as the year of this event.

Bandera Pass is a plain gap in the chain of mountains about ten miles northwest of the town of Bandera, Texas.

This mountain pass was named for General Bandera, a Spanish commander, who in 1733 defeated in that pass a large body of Apaches. (The Comanches subsequently drove them out.) The Apaches had been making these hills their rendezvous for attacks on Spanish missionaries in the vicinity of San Antonio.

At the time of the Texas Revolution there were 30,000 Anglo and Hispanic settlers in Texas and approximately 15,000 Plains Indians. The settlers were armed with single-shot weapons, which the Comanche, in particular, had learned very well to counter.

Certainly the Spanish, then the Mexicans, and later the Texans had learned that single-shot weapons were not enough to defeat the deadly Comanche light horse, whose mastery of cavalry tactics and mounted bowmanship were renowned. The Comanches' constant movement caused many of their opponents' older single-shot weapons to miss their target in the chaos of battle. The Comanche could then easily kill their enemies before they had a chance to reload. Though it was understated, the Comanche learned to use single-shot firearms quite well, but they found bows superior in terms of fire rate. The Comanche put an end to Spanish expansion in North America. Besides the Mapuche and Chichimeca, the Comanche did what no other indigenous peoples had managed: defending their homeland--even expanding it--in the face of the best military forces the Spanish could bring against them. In the late 18th century the Comanche were said to have stolen every horse in New Mexico.

Up until the introduction of repeating rifles and revolvers, weapons and tactics were definitely on the side of the Plains Indians, most especially the Comanche. However, disease and numbers were on the side of the Texans, and that increased with time.

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Wikipedia