August 28, 1861; Deming, New Mexico: When they arrived at the Mimbres stage station, the men who had deserted the Ake-Wadsworth train when the Apaches showed up in Cooke's Canyon sent a messenger to Pinos Altos. En route the messenger ran into a company of Arizona Guards under Capt. Thomas J. Mastin, heading south in response to news of the attack on Zimmer's train the day before. Although Mastin's company was mustered into the Confederate service, their assignment was to fight Apaches.
When Mastin met the survivors of the Ake-Wadsworth fight, he enlisted the help of Nathaniel Sharp and a few others, then rode on to pursue the raiders. With his company of about thirty-five Guards, including Lts. Thomas Helm and Jack Swilling and Pvts. Hank Smith and William Fisher Scott, Mastin decided to detour around Cooke's Canyon and head south. He believed that the Chiricahuas would be heading directly for Mexico with the stolen livestock, and he hoped to make "a straight shoot" for the Florida Mountains to get ahead of them.
Mastin and his men rode all night to reach the barren mountains before dawn. There they set up an ambush. At daybreak, hidden in a dry wash, the Guards could see the Apaches coming right toward them. Scott later noted that the Indians "had a big surprise, not thinking there were a lot of gringos in there and not thinking that they would come and take them unawares." When the Indians were almost upon them, Mastin's men charged out of the arroyo. The startled Indians, estimated at about eighty in number, held their ground briefly then scattered, leaving some of the livestock behind.
Private Smith believed they had killed eight warriors in the ambush. As Mastin's men drove the recovered cattle back to Cooke's Spring, they repelled an Indian counterattack. Back in the canyon, beyond the debris and bodies from the recent fight, Scott spotted a small flock of Ake's sheep, still guarded by his faithful dog. The soldiers buried the dead and returned the stock they'd found to the Ake and Wadsworth families.
