Battle of the Florida Mountains

Part of the American Civil War
Apache Wars

Date	Mid August, 1861
Location	Florida Mountains, Confederate Arizona Modern Day: Luna County, New Mexico
Result	Confederate victory

Belligerents

Confederate States

Apache

Commanders and leaders

Thomas J. Mastin

Mangas Coloradas,
Cochise

Strength

35 militia

~100 warriors

Casualties and losses

none

8 killed

The Battle of the Florida Mountains was an action of the Apache Wars. Forces involved were Chiricahua Apache warriors and mounted Confederate States militia. The battle occurred in a pass of the Florida Mountains within Confederate Arizona, now southwestern New Mexico. The exact date of the engagement is unknown.

Mangas Coloradas, Chief of the Gila River Apaches, fought Confederate soldiers throughout Arizona's rebellious period. The Arizona Guards, a force of Confederate militia, recruited in Traditional Arizona, were in action almost immediately after their induction into service on August 1, 1861.

In early August, a group of Arizonans known as the Ake Party were traveling from the Tucson region to the western shores of the Rio Grande near Mesilla. Most of them had left their town of Tubac after the siege of their old presidio.

By mid-August they had nearly made it to the river when they were ambushed by a force of Apache warriors. This engagement became known as the Battle of Cookes Canyon. Word of the engagement and the plunder of hundreds of heads of led to the Arizona Guards' involvement in this Apache campaign.

...
Wikipedia