9 September 1861; Lincoln, New Mexico: When Floyd A. Sanders reached Fort Stanton after the Gallinas Mountains attack, Lt. John R. Pulliam ordered 14 men to head to the scene of the fight. In the meantime, perhaps emboldened by their easy victory, Mescalero Apaches attacked the small village of Placitas (present-day Lincoln, New Mexico), about ten miles southeast of Fort Stanton. Pulliam and 15 men of Company D, 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles, rode to the rescue and, with no casualties of their own, managed to kill five raiders in a running fight.
After these incidents, Lt. Col. John R. Baylor decided he could not send enough troops to Fort Stanton to cope with the Indians in the area, and he ordered his men to abandon the post.
