Portal:Military of the United States/Featured article/17

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The First Battle of the Stronghold (January 17, 1873) was the second battle in the Modoc War of 1872–1873. The battle was fought between the United States Army under Lieutenant Colonel Frank Wheaton and a band of the Native American Modoc tribe from Oregon and California, led by Captain Jack. The United States Army was attempting to remove the Modoc from the natural fortress, Captain Jack's Stronghold, in the lava beds on the south shore of Tule Lake in northeastern California, and return them to the Klamath Reservation in Oregon. The Modocs soundly defeated the Army, forcing it to retreat. The Modoc victory was due to their excellent defensive position and tactics, the terrain, and poor visibility.

The Modocs were encamped at a natural fortress of caves and trenches 300 yards wide and 2 miles long in the lava beds, now known as "Captain Jack's Stronghold". The Modoc had also captured about 100 head of cattle that they were using as a food supply. The Army moved units from all across the Department of the Columbia to the south end of Tule Lake, where the units established two encampments, the larger at Van Brimmer's Ranch, about 10 miles west of the Stronghold, and a smaller force at Louis Land's Ranch, 12 miles to the east.