If I was to mention Geronimo, Chato, Cochise, Vittorio or Ulzana, no doubt most people will immediately think of a Hollywood portrayal of Native American Apaches and their struggle to maintain their independence against the U.S. & Mexican Armies and the ever expanding American nation. These names were members of the mountainous Chiricahua Apache, as distinct a group as the Mescalero Apache or Navajo would be to the North and East. The Chiricahua lands straddled New Mexico and Arizona and across the border into Northern Mexico itself.

 

After the cessation of the fratricidal conflict that was the American Civil war, the Union Government started looking West with an eye to opening up new territories and exploiting the countries natural resources. 

“Go West young man” Horace Greeley is misquoted as having said “go West and grow up with the country”

....and they did….in their thousands….a never ending stream of settlers, chancers, convicts, families, ex-soldiers, whores, miners, gamblers, preachers and cattlemen….all hoping to either strike gold or maybe carve out their own piece of Heaven here on earth…..some hoping to lose themselves in the anonymity of the West, others hoping for a better life…..and all at the expense of the indigenous population. Into this maelstrom arrived John Nihill, newly arrived in the U.S. from the British colony of Ireland.

 

There’s some debate as to where John Nihill originally comes from. In his army records it states he was born in Nenagh in 25/05/1850, however in a press biography of 1895 he is reputed to have come from Killarney. All very mysterious. There is no record of his baptism in 1850 in Nenagh R.C. records. I have however found a John Nihill in Queen St with numerous Petty Session entries for non-payment of rent. There is also a John Nihill from Coolruntha, Killoscully so the only conclusion I can make is possibly John wasn’t born in Nenagh but moved into the area. We also have to consider that Nihill is a variant of the O’Neill surname and there’s certainly plenty of those to be found. 

 

What we do know however is John Nihill arrived in New York in 1868 having run away from Ireland. That same year he joined the 5th Cavalry on 10/11/1868, no doubt seduced by the posters advertising adventure in the west. The thought of a steady wage and free clothing may have appealed also. But what of this clothing? Normally, recruits would be issued with full uniform. However these were of such poor quality they quickly wore out, leaving the recruits to buy and replace out their own pockets. Bear in mind that the same uniform was issued to those stationed in the snows of Nebraska and the deserts of Arizona, what we would now call unfit for purpose. Therefore you have buckskin, corduroy and flannel variations. The rules regarding clothing had to be lax as the authorities didn’t provide adequate attire in the first place. It also explains Custer’s famed and iconic buckskin jacket wearing at the Battle of Greasy Grass. Whats not widely known is that at least six other officers were similarly attired. Captain Charles King of the 5th Cavalry wrote….

 

"Left to our fancy in the matter, we had fallen back upon our comfortable Arizona scouting-suits, and were attired in deerskin, buckskin, flannels and corduroy.   

You could not have told officer from private" 

 

To be in the Cavalry, a man had to be a maximum 5’10’’ tall and weigh no more than 11½ stone. Smaller men were chosen out of consideration for the animal carrying both man and equipment. 

 

The Chiricahua were perhaps the most nomadic and aggressive of the Apache west of the Rio Grande, raiding into Sonora in northern Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico from their strongholds in the Dragoon Mountains. John Nihill had previous experience of fighting the Plains Indians from Kansas to Nebraska. One of the Indian scouts he would have met would be Buffalo Bill Cody during these campaigns. They would later become firm friends. The Chiricahua however were a different kettle of fish. The Cavalry were to find out to their cost that the tactics employed in the War between the States had little or no effect on the Mountain based Chiricahua.

 

Events in the Arizona, New Mexico area had been escalated by the so-called Bascom affair with mutual hostage taking of Apache and White settlers. Historically, the Chiricahua had a long running feud with Mexicans who paid a bounty for every Apache scalp delivered. With the war between Mexico and the U.S. in the 1840's, the Apache allowed free passage through their lands to United States forces. The end of the American-Mexican war in 1848 and further land purchases in 1854 under the Gadsden Act meant that Arizona was now a United States territory and ripe for colonisation.

 

Inevitably, things came to a head when on 03/02/1861 members of the Coyetro Apache raided a farm and made off with livestock and the 12 year old step-son of John Ward and his Mexican mistress. Lieutenant John Bascom was directed to recover the boy. It was assumed incorrectly that the Chiricahua were involved. A meeting was held at Apache Pass on 03/02/1861, with Cochise, a Chiricahua Apache leader. 

 

Cochise, as a sign of non-aggression had brought with him some of his family to the meeting. However Bascom accused Cochise of involvement in the affair and attempted to imprison the family in a tent as hostages in order to recover the boy. Using a knife, Cochise escaped through the back of the tent although one report states he had been wounded also.

On 05/02/1861, Cochise sent a message to Bascom asking for the release of his family but Bascom refused. Two days later Cochise and a large band of Chiricahua attacked a group of 3 American and 9 Mexican mule skinners. Years of pent-up rage, hatred and historical enmity were released onto the misfortunate Mexicans as they were tortured to death. Cochise offered the three Americans in exchange for his family. Once again, Bascom refused demanding the return of the boy and the livestock. Cochise’s response was to attack American troops as they were replenishing water supplies. He fled across the border into Chiricahua lands in Sonora but not before torturing and killing the three American hostages along the way leaving their bodies so they would be discovered by any pursuers.

On 19/02/1861, Cochise’s brother and two nephews were hanged in retribution. Cochise’s subsequent war of vengeance was the commencement of 25 years of Chiricahua guerrilla warfare with the American interlopers.

 

The Civil War between the states was to begin later that year in April 1861 and would have focused Government eyes elsewhere. The various Apache groups were thorns in the sides of both Union and Confederate forces. In 1862, Union General James Henry Stanton issued the following order regarding Mescalero Apaches….

 

 “The men are to be slain whenever and wherever they can be found. The women and children may be taken prisoners, “

 

This therefore was the climate that the 5th Cavalry were to find themselves in. 10 years later however in 1871, with settlers moving west, the government had to protect the gradual influx of homesteaders, miners and farmers. Already the Central Pacific railroad was completed from Nebraska to Sacramento. There was no room for the older ways or traditions. The Apache and other native tribes were an anachronism in the post Civil War world and needed to be brought under control,……and so it was, John Nihill found himself under General Eugene Carr with the 5th Cavalry hunting the Chiricahua Apache in Arizona. The problem was the Apache, as with any freedom loving group, were not prepared to surrender their independence willingly and would respond with any means possible.

 

On 13/07/1872 John was part of a small 8 man cavalry detachment from Camp Crittenden. Camp Crittenden had been built to replace Fort Buchanan which had been captured and burnt by the Chiricahua in 1865. In the summer of 1872, the garrison was depleted due to illness with chills and fevers so only a small force could be raised amongst the men. Mounts also were suffering from a Epizootic disease, a type of Equine influenza which laid low both horses and mules from Canada to Arizona.

 

Leading the punitive expedition was Lieutenant P. Hall. Their mission was to apprehend an Chiricahua raiding party who had stolen a Mexican ranchers cattle. They chased the Chiricahua 15 miles into a canyon only to discover a much larger force than anticipated. Expecting a dozen or so they ran into 40 or more Chiricahua warriors. At this point the troops were on foot leading the mounts by the bridles. This was standard practice for Cavalry…..ride for 3 hours, dismount and loosen cinches on the saddle then walk for an hour as per the Cavalry manual. 

The detachment were spotted by the Chiricahua and thus Hall lost the element of surprise. One part of the Chiricahua band charged the cavalry while others hefted boulders from the sheer 800 foot high cliffs which succeeded in wounding both horses and men. The troopers were unable to return fire due to the sheerness of the cliffs.

 

John meanwhile was engaged in his own battle with a Chiricahua brave hiding behind a rock, taking pot shots at each other and so he became separated from the main group. He began to close the distance and catch up when he was suddenly fired at by a Chiricahua armed with a Muzzle Loader. However the gun mis-fired so John dropped him with his carbine. At this point three other Chiricahua blocked off his escape route. One of them paused long enough to fire at John but missed. Once again John returned fire and dropped him also. The other two were now hiding behind some rocks. Using his horse as a distraction John succeeded in killing another Chiricahua. no doubt thinking retreat to be the better part of valour the final brave thought it prudent to retire and jumped further into the ravine. Retrieving his horse John moved on and joined the main party. 

 

The detachment were ordered to retreat by Lieutenant Hall as the odds were against them. While fighting his way back to the main group he came across Pvt Michael Glynn and Srgt. Henry Newman. Glynn’s horse was dead and he himself was shot in both shoulders. John put Glynn on his own horse and sent him towards a wooded area a few miles away. Nihill was to join him later. John took up position behind some rocks and fought a rearguard action with Newman and Lieutenant Hall, until he ran out of ammunition. Even then he feigned reloading in order to fool the Chiricahua into believing he was still armed. After the Chiricahua had thought better of it and retreated, John made his way towards the woods where he found Glynn. John strapped Glynn to the mount and rode his horse back to Camp Crittenden, a distance of some 50 miles, stopping off at an abandoned post at Camp Wallen along the way. Things with the Chiricahua later got so bad that eventually Camp Crittenden was abandoned in 1873. 

 

(Much of this has been taken from Nihill’s own account with corroboration by Lieutenant Hall below)

 

“On the 13th of July, 1872, I was in command of a party of eight men of Troop “F”, 5th Cavalry, and followed a fresh Indian trail, which led into a deep canyon in the Whetstone Mountains, Arizona Territory. My party was attacked by about 40 Indians who were concealed behind rocks. Private Nihill was a flanker to my party and about 200 yards on my right; 4 Indians endeavoured to cut him off from the rest of the party, who were unable to go to his assistance. His horse was badly wounded (? discrepancy here). He, however made his way through them, killing 3 Indians. He brought out his horse and acted throughout in a gallant and praiseworthy manner.”

 

Both John and Newman were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour for gallantry for this action. Lieutenant Hall was to be awarded the C.M.O.H. for a later incident in Colorado. John's medal was issued on 04/12/1874

....for extraordinary heroism on 13/07/1872, while serving with Company F, 5th U.S. Cavalry, in action at Whetstone Mountains, Arizona Territory......

 

In later life John became known as a sharpshooter winning many medals and trophys for his exploits. So much so that he was banned from taking part in any Army shooting competitions, such was his prowess. Eventually they relented and allowed him to take part in shooting competitions but forbade him to claim any winners medals. 

In 1895, the New York Times published a biography of John's life and military career. This was syndicated and published in Ireland. Following this,  a letter was received by the New York Times from John's mother which was duly forwarded to him. It was the first they had heard of him or his exploits for almost 30 years. There may be elements of creative licence present however in the Times or the syndicated story as in a version printed in The Kerry Reporter 20/07/1895 it states that Johns family were living in Main St Killarney whereas Census records place them in Pig Lane, Killarney. This version also claims he was a high ranking Fenian on the run from the Police and actually landed in the U.S. in 1867 not 1868. One has to treat this version as a romanticised rendition and much salt may be needed. What is true however is John kept re-enlisting as his tenure as a soldier expired and eventually he wound up in the Corps of Engineers as a sergeant. 

Upon retiring from the military, John moved to New York and died 4 days after his 58th birthday on 29/05/1908. He was buried with full military honours at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn. John is yet another of Nenagh's forgotten heroes.