spring. After allowing his tired men to enjoy a meal, Roberts retreated to bring up Cremony's detachment. The next morning the Apaches returned, but they fled once the artillery opened fire on them. Aftermath Two of Capt. Roberts' men were killed and three wounded in the battle for the spring. According to a report Col. Carleton made to Col. Richard C. Drum on September 20, 1862, about 10 Apaches were killed. According to Capt. Cremony, however, a prominent Apache who was present in the engagement had said that 63 warriors were killed by the artillery, while only three died from small-arms fire. Said the unnamed Apache, "We would have done well enough if you had not fired wagons at us." The howitzers, being on wheels, were called wagons by the Apaches, who were unfamiliar with artillery tactics. Mangas Coloradas himself was wounded in the action, having been shot in the chest when attempting to kill one of Roberts' cavalry scouts. One day after the battle, on the New Mexico side of Apache Pass, the bodies of nine scalped white civilians were found. Carleton decided that it was necessary to establish a post at the pass to prevent settlers from being ambushed as they passed through it. On August 4 the first units of the California Column reached Mesilla, New Mexico, along the Rio Grande. At the same time the last remnants of the Confederate army withdrew to Texas. The 5th California Infantry was ordered to build a fort in Apache Pass, calling it Fort Bowie in honor of their colonel, George Washington Bowie. Carleton was placed in command of the Union's Department of New Mexico, and he continued to campaign against the Apaches in that area. Today the battlefield and fort are preserved in Fort Bowie National Historic Site. The engagement was portrayed, somewhat inaccurately, in the 1952 film The Battle at Apache Pass. See also New Mexico Campaign Bear Spring House, Guardhouse, and Spring Notes References Fort Bowie National Historic Site Apache Indian War and Warriors Copeland, Peter F. – Southwest Indians Coloring Book. – Dover Publications. – . External links National Park Service, Fort Bowie National Historic Site Battle of Apache Pass Conflicts in 1862 Battles of the California Column of the American Civil War Union victories of the American Civil War Battles involving the Apache Battles involving the United States Battles of the American Civil War in