The Apache peoples of the southwest United States and northern Mexico became so legendary as guerrilla fighters that their name is still a byword for fierce, elusive, and unpredictable foe. Masters of survival and rapid movement in rugged terrain, for centuries they resisted Spanish and Mexican encroachment - and periodic attempts at outright extermination - before meeting advancing American settlers in the 19th century. From 1860-1886, suprisingly small numbers of warriors led by warchiefs such as Cochise, Mangas Coloradas, Victorio, Nanam and Geronimo usually outwitted and often outfought US troops, who were thinly scattered across the wilderness of Apacheria.

Includes maps of: From Evasion to Ambush; Theater of Operations, 1879-81; Killing Ambush - Candelaria Mountains, November 7 & 9, 1879; [McEvers Ranch Ambush]; Ambush by Decoy Trails - Dragoon Mountains, April 1871, and Horshoe Canyon, 1871; Attack - Conline's Skirmish, April 5, 1880 (I); Attack - Conline's Skirmish, April 5, 1880 (II); Combined Tactics - Hembrillo Basin, April 6-7, 1880.

INTRODUCTION: The historical background: the Apaches and Spain, Mexico, and the United states ; The scope of this text ; The scale of Apache warfare -- CHRONOLOGY -- ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURE: Apacheria ; The role of raiding in Apache life ; Training ; Leadership -- GUERRILLA STRATEGIES & TACTICS: The Raid: Raiding ranches and villages ; Evasion: Victorio's evasion strategy: The Ambush: The planned ambush: Ojo Caliente, September 4, 1879 -- Cuchillo Negro River, September 30, 1879 -- Santa Cruz Mountains, May 15, 1886 ; The killing ambush: Candelaria Mountains, November 1879 ; Ambush by decoy and deception: Horseshoe Canyon, October 24, 1871 -- Las Animas River, September 18, 1879 -- Sierra Madre Mountains, April 1883 -- McEvers Ranch, September 10-11, 1879 -- Whetstone Mountains, May 5, 1871 -- Caballo Mountains, January 10, 1880 ; the ad hoc ambush: the Apache "roadside bomb" -- Las Palomas, May 1880 -- Goodsight Mountains, September 7, 880 -- Carrizo Canyon, August 12, 1881 ; The attack: The rarity of direct attack ; Attack after successful ambush: Cerro Mata Ortiz, November 13, 1882 -- Conline's skirmish, April 5, 1880 ; Combined tactics: Hembrillo Basin, April 6-7, 1880 -- OTHER ASPECTS OF APACHE WARFARE: Targeting horses and mules ; Reactions to American technology ; Terror tactics -- THE FAILURE OF APACHE RESISTANCE: The Apache scouts ; Shortage of ammunition ; Numerical weakness ; Defeats.