Battle for Captain Jack’s Stronghold
No, we’re not talking about pirates of the Caribbean now, we’re talking about the battle against the Modoc tribe in Northern California. The defense of the Modoc stronghold was led by Kintpuash, known to the Americans as Captain Jack.
The conflict started when American forces were sent to round up a stray band of Modoc people and bring them back to their new reservation. Captain Jack abhorred the living conditions on the reservation and during the meet up with American forces, a skirmish broke out and about 160 Modoc men, women, and children fled to the Lava beds, now a national landmark in California.
Though they only had about 50 warriors, the Modoc picked a perfect natural stronghold. The lava beds were filled with caves, cliffs, and natural firing positions all around. They did face a much larger American force of 300 infantry, 100 cavalry, and 2 howitzers.
Thick fog on the day of battle caused the howitzers to only fire a few poorly aimed shots before the army attacked. The U.S. forces took several approaches into the stronghold. As they got deeper into the rocks they became isolated targets for the fortified Modoc warriors. Warriors popped out of caves and fired from unassailable cliffs as the U.S. struggled to communicate through the fog.
After a day of achieving nothing, the U.S. retreated, leaving their dead among the rocks. 42 U.S. soldiers were killed or wounded and there were no reported Modoc casualties. Scalping likely occurred and the thrill of victory gave the Modoc’s plenty of confidence. The U.S. actually agreed to peace talks, bringing in Major General Edward Canby.
Captain Jack assumed that killing an American war leader would simply stop the other Americans from attacking, so he assassinated General Canby during the peace talks just outside of the stronghold. This prompted an even larger American attack on the lava beds. This second assault forced the Modoc to flee the stronghold, but they kept up the fight.
An American patrol would later be ambushed by the Modoc leader Scarface Charlie, leaving almost half of the 67-man patrol dead. Eventually, the U.S. had a victory at the Battle of Dry Lake and the defeat fractured the leadership of the Modoc. Other leaders would eventually surrender and help the U.S. track down Captain Jack. Captain Jack eventually surrendered and was tried and hung for war crimes.