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Chasing Geronimo: The Journal of Leonard Wood, May-September 1886
This diary of Leonard Wood, a medical officer, tells the dramatic story of the last campaign against the Apache chief Geronimo. It is the only journal kept by anyone on that expedition.
Under the command of Capt. Henry Lawton, Wood’s first field duty was to pursue Geronimo on a hard-driving chase from Arizona deep into Old Mexico. Although this expedition never actually seized Geronimo, it wore him down to the point of surrender. Wood’s journal is a firsthand account of what men saw and felt on that dirty, brutal chase through desolate country where the temperature soared to 120 degrees. Unlike official military reports, Wood’s diary vividly describes the strains and weariness, the scant rations and long rides, the quarrels and casualties that soldiers suffered on the western frontier.
Jack C. Lane’s annotation enriches Wood’s journal with sidelights on people, places, and events. His introduction tells how the 1886 campaign against Geronimo was the climax of the Indian wars in the West.
Under the command of Capt. Henry Lawton, Wood’s first field duty was to pursue Geronimo on a hard-driving chase from Arizona deep into Old Mexico. Although this expedition never actually seized Geronimo, it wore him down to the point of surrender. Wood’s journal is a firsthand account of what men saw and felt on that dirty, brutal chase through desolate country where the temperature soared to 120 degrees. Unlike official military reports, Wood’s diary vividly describes the strains and weariness, the scant rations and long rides, the quarrels and casualties that soldiers suffered on the western frontier.
Jack C. Lane’s annotation enriches Wood’s journal with sidelights on people, places, and events. His introduction tells how the 1886 campaign against Geronimo was the climax of the Indian wars in the West.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
8 people want to read
About the author
Leonard Wood
68 booksMajor General Leonard Wood, MD, LL.D, US Army
US Army doctor and recipient of the Medal of Honor who was a veteran of the Indian Wars, Spanish-American War (in which he was the first commanding officer of the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment - The Rough Riders), Philippine–American War, and World War I.
He was also Governor General of Cuba (1899 - 1902), US Army Chief of Staff (1910 - 1914), and Governor General of the Philippines (1921 - 1927).
US Army doctor and recipient of the Medal of Honor who was a veteran of the Indian Wars, Spanish-American War (in which he was the first commanding officer of the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment - The Rough Riders), Philippine–American War, and World War I.
He was also Governor General of Cuba (1899 - 1902), US Army Chief of Staff (1910 - 1914), and Governor General of the Philippines (1921 - 1927).
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February 1, 2020
Anyone who has hiked in the Sonora Desert in July or August will be in awe of Leonard Wood's journal of the expedition that captured Geronimo. Wood received the Medal of Honor for his role in it, but his army companions and Geronimo's band suffered as much or more during the brutal chase through trackless wilderness in Northern Mexico. Temps in the range of 120 f resulted in the ground itself being too hot to touch. (You hikers know this.) The main enemy for everyone was the hostile desert environment not the combatants, and some died. Apache leaders Geronimo and Natchez (son of Cochise) finally surrendered out of sheer exhaustion, not as a result of any battle. The army won this contest due to stubborn persistence and the ability to re-supply via pack trains.
Side note: General Miles, the man in charge (who did not accompany the expedition), put his career on the line and disobeyed his orders to turn Geronimo over to civil authorities in Arizona. Geronimo would have hanged. His motives are unclear. Geronimo's band had murdered hundreds of defenseless civilians in Arizona and Mexico. Perhaps Miles considered this a "war between nations" and therefore the killings were not "murder"? But many of those killed were women and children. Perhaps because most of the dead were Mexicans? Wood himself expressed no sympathy for the Mexicans, who were viewed as greater danger than the Apache. At the point of surrender, the U.S. Army joined with the Apache in defending the Apache against the Mexican Army.
Side note: General Miles, the man in charge (who did not accompany the expedition), put his career on the line and disobeyed his orders to turn Geronimo over to civil authorities in Arizona. Geronimo would have hanged. His motives are unclear. Geronimo's band had murdered hundreds of defenseless civilians in Arizona and Mexico. Perhaps Miles considered this a "war between nations" and therefore the killings were not "murder"? But many of those killed were women and children. Perhaps because most of the dead were Mexicans? Wood himself expressed no sympathy for the Mexicans, who were viewed as greater danger than the Apache. At the point of surrender, the U.S. Army joined with the Apache in defending the Apache against the Mexican Army.
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