The Battle of Tres Castillos ended Victorio's War by killing Chiricahua Apache chief Victorio and neutralizing his band after 14 months of conflict.
Key Facts
- Date
- October 14–15, 1880
- Apache killed
- 78 (62 men, 16 women and children)
- Apache captured
- 68 women and children
- Mexican force size
- 260 men
- Mexican casualties
- 3 killed
- Duration of Victorio's War
- 14 months
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Victorio's War had been ongoing for 14 months as Chiricahua Apache leader Victorio and his followers fought and evaded U.S. and Mexican forces across southern New Mexico, western Texas, and Chihuahua. By mid-October 1880, Victorio's band had entered Chihuahua State with critically low ammunition supplies.
On October 14–15, 1880, Mexican Colonel Joaquin Terrazas led 260 soldiers in surrounding the Apache encampment at Tres Castillos in Chihuahua. With little ammunition to resist, Victorio's band was overwhelmed. Sixty-two Apache men, including Victorio himself, and 16 women and children were killed, while 68 women and children were captured.
The defeat at Tres Castillos effectively ended Victorio's War. The death of Victorio and the destruction of his fighting force eliminated the primary Apache resistance in the region, marking a decisive conclusion to one of the most prolonged Apache conflicts of the post-Civil War era in the American Southwest and northern Mexico.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Joaquin Terrazas.
Side B
1 belligerent
Victorio.