Apache encampment, populated with women and children. Now faced with a force of nearly 400 soldiers and Indian scouts, Victorio began a withdrawal. He removed his warriors encircling Carroll to a high ridge south of the battlefield and held the army forces at bay for a few hours while the Apache women and children fled the area. Victorio then withdrew his men in stages, with a rear guard remaining vigilant until the next morning, April 8, when it retreated after a brief skirmish. Fought at long range, there were few casualties on either side. Two Buffalo Soldiers were mortally wounded and five more soldiers wounded, including Captain Carroll. Scouts reported finding 3 Apache bodies. No casualties among the Indian scouts were reported. The Battle of Hembrillo Basin was the largest battle of Victorio's War in terms of the numbers engaged. The great majority of the U.S. forces engaged were either African-American Buffalo Soldiers or Apache scouts. Accounts by white officers of the battle portrayed the Buffalo Soldiers as getting sick on bad water and stumbling accidentally into contact with Victorio. Actually, the 9th Cavalry of Buffalo Soldiers found Victorio's encampment and, although outnumbered, aggressively engaged him until other units, also consisting mostly of Buffalo Soldiers and Indian scouts could arrive at the battlefield. Aftermath Victorio and his followers retired westward from Hembrillo Basin and were not seen again until April 28 when his warriors killed up to 41 civilians in the Alma Massacre and May 14 when he attacked Fort Tularosa near present-day Aragon, New Mexico, northwest of the Hembrillo Basin. The army believed with reason that some of the Mescaleros living on their reservation about distant from the battlefield were providing Victorio with supplies and men. After the escape of Victorio from Hembrillo Basin, Colonel Hatch ordered all U.S. forces in the area to converge on the Mescalero reservation near Fort Stanton. A few days after the battle 1,000 soldiers arrived on the reservation. The 400 Mescaleros, including 65 men, living on the reservation scattered, fearing they were to be forcibly removed from their lands. On April 16, Hatch began capturing the Mescaleros and confiscating all weapons and horses. Fourteen Mescalero men were killed during the roundup. The captured Mescaleros were initially detained in a horse stable with a floor six inches deep in manure. After a week or so, they were released from the stable but they remained