| Battle of Sand Butte | |||||||
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| Part of Modoc War (Indian Wars) | |||||||
Scarface Charley, who massacred the US troops. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Modoc | United States | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Scarface Charley | Evan Thomas † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 34 warriors | 67-man patrol | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| none | killed or wounded half the command | ||||||
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The Battle of Sand Butte or the Thomas Massacre was a clash between the Modoc Indians and the United States 12th Infantry Regiment in the Modoc War. A small force of US troops were ambushed and wiped out by Modoc warriors led by Scarface Charley.
On April 26, 1873, Colonel Alvan Gillem sent a 67-man patrol from the 12th Infantry Regiment to look for an artillery position two miles south of Captain Jack's Stronghold in case the Modocs were nearby. Captain Evan Thomas, who had no Indian-fighting experience, led the patrol. He marched without protecting his flanks and called a lunch break in the shadow of a sand butte—a position extremely vulnerable to an ambush. After the troops had settled into their meal, 34 warriors under Scarface Charley opened a blistering fire that killed or wounded half the command and sent the rest running. Among the dead was Thomas. The Modocs did not suffer any losses.
The officers and troops blamed Gillem for the Thomas Massacre. Colonel Jefferson C. Davis arrived a week later and took charge.