Warrior Bio: Apache Warriors, circa 1800 CE.

Author's Note:   Despite the late era, this Bio will not feature gunpowder weapons.  The eventual Cherokee one will, though!

This rare photograph of a later-era Apache hunting party demonstrates what types of clothing and equipment that they would have used; a spear, bow and arrow, and rifle or musket are all visible.  This image is used without permission from http://impurplehawk.com/.

-Offensive Assessment

~Close Quarters Combat; War-Club, Shield.  The war-club was a staple of all Great Plains tribes on the North American continent, and the Apache were no exception.  It was constructed of a heavy wooden handle topped by a stone carefully shaped into an angular position perfect for striking opponents.  Beyond that, however, each war-club was unique to the warrior that wielded it:  the Apache would decorate their weapons with feathers, beads, precious stones, intricate carvings, and more to differentiate between different warriors’ possessions in the chaos of post-combat.  The Apache shield was very similar to the European buckler – it was a small defensive device built on a lightweight wooden frame with cleaned animal hide stretched across its front.  These shields were also heavily decorated with painted symbols of animals and other objects.  Altogether, the Apache war-club and shield combination get four (4) of five (5) possible points in this category.

~Weapons of Reach; Tomahawks, Shield.  Perhaps the most readily recognizable Native North American weapon is the tomahawk; and for good reason, as it has been found in nearly every corner of the continent in some form or another.  The steel “peace pipe tomahawk” was actually a European invention created to serve as essentially the first “tourist trap” by combining two Native American traditions:  the peace pipe and the tomahawk.  This new invention became incredibly popular among the North American tribes, so much so that it is commonly believed that it was invented by the people of the New World, not the Old.  The tomahawk was a vicious weapon capable of being thrown with great accuracy at distances up to ten meters away, as well as serving in melee combat as an effective killing tool.  Before European steel was introduced to them the Apache used tomahawks composed of wood and sharpened stone, making for a heavy weapon that could shear flesh from bone.  Oftentimes two or three tomahawks would be carried to the battlefield, with some balanced for throwing and others for personal fighting.  Additionally, the tomahawks could be used alongside the Apache shield, and for all of that they get a very strong eight (8) of ten (10) possible points here.

The tomahawk was one of the chief weapons of Native North American fighters, as it was a strong weapon that was relatively easy to make, maintain and replace, and had multiple uses on and off of the battlefield.  This image is used without permission from http://primitiveedge.com/.

~Long-Distance Fighting; Bow and Arrow.  Until they acquired gunpowder weapons, the Apache relied on the ancient bow and arrow to fight at a distance.  Masters of the military technology, they put it to great use against other tribes as well as invading Europeans in war-time.  Traditional arrows were made from wood and tipped with razor-sharp flint, creating a powerful projectile that could tear through flesh and internal organs to lodge in bones.  The Apache used the bow and arrow to feed themselves on wild game and to defend themselves in warfare, making it absolutely necessary that every man in the tribe knew how to use the offensive system as near to perfectly as was possible.  However, once firearms became available to the Apache the bow and arrow was quickly fazed out of use in favor of the new, modern and more efficient technology.  The Apache get eighteen (18) of twenty (20) possible points here, missing perfection only due to the poor materials that their weapons were made of.

~Specialized Weapons; Knives, Shield.  Apache warriors carried as many knives as they could place on their bodies at all times.  The knives that they used varied greatly in function – skinning-knives, throwing-knives, hunter’s knives, utility knives, fighting-knives – with each having a specific purpose to the warrior wielding them.  Apache knives were made of long pieces of flint and other easy-to-manipulate rocks until Europeans introduced iron and steel to them; just as with the bow and arrow, the traditional equipment was replaced by newer, higher-quality gear.  When taken as a whole, the Apache knives brought a great range of battlefield uses to the table, such as the abilities to be thrown, slashed, thrust, and more, and the novelty of possessing multiple knives at any given time earns the Apache their only perfect offensive score of all five (5) possible points.

One of the most precious commodities that Apache raiders would try to take from European settlements were horses; once sufficient breeding numbers of the animals had been collected, the Apache became known as great horsemen, not unlike their Comanche cousins and their neighbors, the Nez Perce.  This image is used without permission from http://myloupe.com/.

-Defensive Assessment

~Head; None.  The Apache heavily relied on their senses of sight, hearing and even smell in nearly every aspect of their lives, and so did not encumber themselves with any sort of head protection.  They needed to be able to see and hear signals when making ambush upon the enemy, as well as when tracking down prey across the difficult terrain of the American Southwest.  As such, the lack of head protection does not hurt the Apache as badly as might be thought, due to the massive tradeoff in aid given to their senses without it.  For that reason the Apache get ten (10) of twenty (20) points here.

~Torso; Leather.  Thick leather vests, shirts and other garments were popular among Apache men as a simple but effect method of protecting the vital torso and abdomen without restricting the equally-vital freedom of movement.  Additionally, the cleaned leather that their clothes were made from further ensured that the Apache would be difficult to see out in the countryside, where they could blend in almost-perfectly with the dirt and rough plants of the Southwest.  The Apache get five (5) of ten (10) possible points here.

Besides the skateboards, this image very accurately represents the dress and clothing of traditional Apache men.  This image is used without permission from http://blog.nmai.si.edu/.

~Limbs; Leather.  Due to the high temperature of the Southwest, the Apache did not usually wear sleeves even in colder weather.  One popular way of protecting the limbs was to wrap leather straps (but not cohesive bracers or greaves) around the calves and forearms.  The Apache counted on their lithe agility to see them through personal harm, though of course mistakes would be made – and that was the reason for the straps.  They would not stop a direct attack, but would turn glancing strikes.  The Apache maintained this practice of stealthy guerrilla warfare well after Europeans arrived into the New World, bringing their firearms and precious steel with them.  Altogether, the Apache get two (2) of five (5) points in this category.

~Mobile; Shield, Disarming.  The Apache shield was very small, only between one and two feet in diameter and made from a light wood frame with layers of cleaned hide stretched over its surface.  Good luck totems would have been hung from it such as feathers, small animal skins (such as squirrels and rabbits) and intricate beadwork.  Colorful patterns would have been painted on the shield, with organic motifs being popular – plants, animals, and people were all common subjects.  Beyond the aesthetic values, the shield was used to deflect and parry enemy attacks rather than block them outright – this was a strong characteristic of fluid Native American combat, allowing for the warrior to counterattack quickly while still defending himself.  A second mobile defense for Apache warriors was their penchant for disarming their enemies and using their weapons against them – in combat this translated into them using multiple short grappling techniques to cripple wrists and hands, forcing their opponents to drop their weapons before being quickly killed.  In the long-term this meant that the Apache could easily acquire the weapons and equipment of their enemies, and put them to good use for themselves.  This was a large contributor to their ability in firing European rifles and using steel rather than sharpened rocks.  However, both of these mobile defensive systems are rather unorthodox in nature, and create a high level of risk for the user.  There would be no guarantee that the techniques employed would work against an efficient, experienced enemy, and for that they get only two (2) of five (5) points in this final defensive category.

The Apache were close cultural cousins of the Navajo tribes, who built permanent homes and other structures like these in the mountainous regions of Arizona.  The two tribes often traded resources and local goods with one another.  Unlike the Navajo, who turned to a more stable agricultural lifestyle, the majority of the Apache continued a hunter-gatherer existence that greatly aided their numerous guerrilla campaigns against outside forces.  This image is used without permission from http://www.wallpaperweb.org/.

-Variables Assessment

~Tactics; due to the low population of the Apache tribe, it was crucial that they not waste the lives of their warriors.  To accomplish that, much time was spent towards planning out conflicts and encounters with the enemy.  The Apache knew full-well the dangers of full battle in the field, the cost of which being far more than they could afford.  So they used ambush and guerrilla warfare against their enemies, fighting them irregularly and only seldom to ensure that they would not take any more losses than was necessary to the dangers of war.  This strategy ensured that the Apache could be a great threat to enemies greater in both technology and numbers without further endangering themselves.  This served them well in conflicts with Spanish conquistadores, French-backed Mexico, Texan and American settlers, and other Native Americans.  Altogether, the guerrilla tactics of the Apache get all five (5) points in this category.

~Training; the only real military training given to Apache fighters was in wrestling and knife-fighting; all other skills they would learn through exercises in hunting and their harsh day-to-day lives.  This school of hard knocks produced excellent marksmen (both with bows and later with rifles), trackers, scouts and warriors.  Like the Navajo tribe, in World War Two the Apache were used by the United States military as Special Forces soldiers and code-talkers, as their traditional languages was incomprehensible to Axis spies and code-breakers.  To this day all Native American tribes contribute to a large part of elite military units all across North America.  Unfortunately, the lack of broad, former training among the Apache in their heyday results in an average score of three (3) of five (5) points here.

The Apache tribal leader Geronimo led one of the longest sustained military campaigns against enemy forces, fighting effectively on the run from 1858 CE to 1886 CE.  Following his surrender, which he frequently stated as having regretted, Geronimo became famous among the American people as the last Apache rebel.  He reputedly made a small fortune off of fairground appearances and photograph signings, though he was not allowed to return to his native territory and claimed to not have had his demands met by the US Army unit that had captured him.  Geronimo died in 1909 CE after injuries sustained from being thrown from his horse.  This image is used without permission from http://nativeamericanencyclopedia.com/.

~Morale; the Apache fought to expand their tribal territory and to defend it against other invading tribes.  Whenever they would commence a raid, it was usually with the express purpose of capturing resources and trade goods with which to enrich their families.  Therefore, conflicts were usually not made simply to kill an enemy – the Apache would rather steal from them.  This changed when European and American settlers heavily encroached on the traditional lands of the Apache in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.  For every farmstead that their warriors burned and razed to the ground, two or three more would crop up.  Soon there were more newcomers than the Apache themselves, and they had to settle for removing to the mountains and foothills to make occasional raids upon them.  The last rebel bands were integrated into either Mexico or the United States near the end of the Nineteenth Century, with the warrior-spirit of the Apache surviving under new flags.  The morale of the Apache is rated at a four (4) of five (5) possible points, as though they had the best of reasons to fight and defend themselves retreat was actually a viable option.

~Innovation; the Apache were very much specialists in fighting up-close and personal and at a long distance.  They were great in the ambush and could improvise tactics at a whim; but they were at their greatest when in their element:  surprise.  They seldom attacked enemies in broad daylight, but instead waited for night to fall and for shadows to be at their deepest.  The Apache understood the limitations of the weapons that they used and worked very well within those limitations to be a constant threat to outside forces for several centuries, only being forced to surrender when technology and population decline left them to history.  The innovative skills of the Apache get four (4) of five (5) possible points here.