Ranald
Mackenzie, the eldest son of a naval commander, was born in New
York City on 27th July, 1840. He graduated from West
Point first in his class. He immediately joined the Union
Army and
during the American Civil War was wounded
six times and won four brevets for gallantry. General Ulysses
Grant described
him as the "most promising young officer in the army". By
the end of the war he was a Major General of Volunteers.
In
1870 Mackenzie became colonel of the 4th Cavalry and the following
year became commander at Fort Concho in Texas. In 1871 he was badly
wounded by a Comanche
arrow.
After he recovered he led an attack deep into Mexico in order to punish
warriors from the Kickapoo.
In 1874 Comanche
and
Kiowa war parties began attacking settlers
in Texas. At first these hit and run tactics were difficult for the
army to deal with and be the time they arrived on the scene of the
attack the war parties had disappeared. Over 3,000 troops were brought
into Texas from neighbouring states to deal with this problem. Mackenzie
eventually discovered the winter camp of the Native Americans who
had been carrying out raids on the settlers. In September 1874 Mackenzie
launched a dawn attack on the camp in Palo Duro Canyon and destroyed
the village, stole their supplies and took away their horses. That
winter, unable to survive by hunting, the warriors were forced to
surrender to the authorities.
Mackenzie
was placed in command of Fort Sill in 1876 but the following year
moved to Fort Clark. He was criticized by some people for his harsh
treatment of the Ute
who
were moved from Colorado to Utah in 1881. Later that year he took
command of the District of New Mexico.
In
1883 returned to Sante
Fe
and
took command of the Department of Texas. Mackenzie's behaviour became
more erratic and he was treated for mental instability. In 1884 Brigadier-General
Mackenzie was forced into retirement.
Ranald
Mackenzie died on
19th January, 1889.
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