Editing Battle of Apache Pass (section)

==Background==
In early 1862 [[Colonel (United States)|Col.]] [[James H. Carleton]] sent units from [[Fort Yuma]] to [[Tucson, Arizona]], which had recently been occupied by a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] force, [[Company A, Arizona Rangers]]. After a small engagement known as the [[Battle of Picacho Pass]] just north of Tucson between a detachment of Carleton's [[cavalry]] and Confederate pickets, the Union forces advanced on Tucson in three columns. They arrived in Tucson on May 20, forcing the heavily outnumbered Confederate [[garrison]] to withdraw to Texas without a fight.

After capturing Confederate Arizona's western outpost, Carleton prepared to march east with his main body in July, intending to enter New Mexico through Apache Pass in southeast Arizona. To prepare for the advance of his main force, he sent a column ahead as he had on his march from Yuma to Tucson. The column was led by [[Captain (land)|Capt.]] [[Thomas L. Roberts]] of Company E, [[1st California Infantry]], accompanied by two 12-pounder mountain [[howitzer]]s under the command of Sgt. [[James D. Monihon]],<ref>{{Cite book | last = McClintock | first = James H. | author-link = James H. McClintock | title = Arizona, Prehistoric, Aboriginal, Pioneer, Modern: The Nation's Youngest Commonwealth Within a Land of Ancient Culture | volume = III | publisher = S.J. Clarke Publishing Co. | year = 1916 | location = Chicago | oclc = 5398889 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nBQ1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA236 | page = 236 | access-date = 2019-03-15 | archive-date = 2021-12-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211213220528/https://books.google.com/books?id=nBQ1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA236 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020558/1904-09-03/ed-1/seq-4/#rows=20&words=Monihon&proxtext=Monihon|title=Death of J. D. Monihon|date=September 3, 1904|work=The Arizona Republican|page=4|location=Phoenix, Arizona Territory|access-date=2019-03-15|archive-date=2021-12-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213220614/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020558/1904-09-03/ed-1/seq-4/#rows=20&words=Monihon&proxtext=Monihon|url-status=live}}</ref> a 22-man cavalry escort from Company B, [[2nd Regiment California Volunteer Cavalry]], led by Capt. [[John C. Cremony]] and 21 wagons plus 242 mules and horses.

After Roberts reached the [[San Pedro River (Arizona)|San Pedro River]], he needed to learn whether [[Dragoon Springs]], 28 miles further east, could supply both companies with water or if they would need to separate into smaller detachments. Capt. Roberts led the advance detachment with his [[infantry]] company, joined by three wagons, the howitzers and seven of Cremony's best horsemen to serve as scouts and couriers. Capt. Cremony remained behind with 15 cavalrymen and ten of Roberts' infantrymen, including the detachment left as a garrison at the river, where an adobe stage station building provided shelter and a defensive position to guard the remaining wagons and animals.

Roberts determined the water at Dragoon Springs was enough to support the entire force, and Cremony joined with him the next day. Together they advanced on the springs at Apache Pass in the same manner, leaving Cremony with the guard detachment.<ref>Cremony, John Carey (1868). [https://archive.org/details/lifeamongapaches00cremrich ''Life among the Apaches'']. – San Francisco: A. Roman & Company. – pp. 155–158.</ref>