The Killing of General J. J. Byrne
Sierra Blanca, Hudspeth County, Texas
Marker Inscription
One of the final acts of violence in raiding led during 1880 by the feared Apache chieftain, Victorio. Just prior to this incident, Victorio's band--100 to 200 strong-- had finished a sanguinary two years of raiding in southwest Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico. His brilliant guerrilla tactics baffled his U. S. Army pursuers and earned their grudging admiration. J. J. Byrne, a surveyor and retired military man, had fought in U. S. Army in the Civil War (1861-65), having been cited both for gallantry and meritorious conduct. At the time of his death, he was the lone passenger on the stage bound for Fort Davis. Drawn by small, swift Mexican mules, the coach left Fort Quitman, a former Army post on the Rio Grande, August 13, 1880. As it entered a steep canyon Victorio's men attacked. Gen. Byrne was killed almost at once but the driver, Ed Walde, turned the stage and raced back to the fort for safety. Later in 1880 the United States and Mexico fielded 5,000 soldiers to hunt down Victorio, who was finally killed in Mexico. Thus ended the career of one of the most notable Indian chiefs in the southwest. Byrne, born in Ireland about 1842, was buried near Fort Quitman but later reinterred in Fort Worth.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In August 1880, the Apache leader Victorio's raiders ambushed a Fort Davis–bound stagecoach in a steep West Texas canyon, killing its lone passenger, retired general and surveyor J. J. Byrne, almost instantly while the driver wheeled the mules around and raced back to Fort Quitman. It was among the last acts of a two-year campaign in which Victorio's guerrilla tactics baffled and impressed the U.S. Army across Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico. Later that year, thousands of American and Mexican soldiers hunted Victorio down and killed him in Mexico.
Why it matters
Victorio's war marked the closing chapter of Apache armed resistance in the Southwest, the violent frontier that ended as the region opened to settlement.
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Related people
- · Victorio
- · J. J. Byrne
Related events
- · Victorio's War
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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