Talking about the free ranging Comanchie of course not the simi tame ones on the rez.
Ya know Boggy, I come into contact with modern Comanche-equivalents every day, we call them "teenage gang members". Most of those guys glorify going out in a blaze of glory too, and a few are so genuinely brave that its a real pity that they are serving Evil.
My take on it is is that a great many of the other sort of Comanches, the "hang-around-the-forts", were actually motivated by a concern for the welfare of their relatives and their people in general. Those, and the addicts needing a fix, of alchohol in those days.
Anyhoo, back to the fight. After a prolonged standoff in which at least several Comanches but hardly any Texans were hit, the Texans finally mounted up and charged. Actually some Texans had lost their horses to enemy fire so presumably at least a couple were left behind, likely a few too had lame or played-out horses.
The ensuing action was brief, only a few close combats recorded, a handful of Texans too were hit by gunfire (one might presume the Texas charge would precipitate a volley from those Indians who had guns). Robert Hall was among those hit (so was Nelson Lee, if he really existed, Moore assumes he did). From Hall's account....
It looked as if we were taking desperate chances, for I am sure that we only had 202 men, but every man was a veteran. Gen. Huston deserves great credit for the courage he displayed in this battle. He rode right with the line, and never flinched under the most galling fire.
At the first volley the Indians became demoralized, and it was easy to see that we had them beat just as we rode against them I received a bullet in the thigh. It made a terrible wound, and the blood ran until it sloshed out of my boots. I was compelled to dismount, or rather I fell off of my horse. After a moment I felt better and made an effort to rejoin the line of battle. I met an Indian, and was just in the act of shooting him when he threw up his hands and shouted "Tonkaway!"
While on the skirmish fine, an Indian dashed at Mr. Smitzer with a lance. I fired right in the Indian's face and knocked him off his horse, but I did not kill him. However, I got the fine hat he had stolen. In hidsight it seems easy for us to guess why the Comanches broke as quickly as they did: They had already stalled the Texans for perhaps longer than they had hoped, had already sustained significant losses, and then were being charged by fully half their number of proven Texas marksmen, all armed with one or more firearms.
Obvious as that seems now, it is still hard to second guess Robert Hall who at the time was already a veteran Ranger, and who would later survive a long career as a cattleman in the notoriously dangerous Nueces Strip. IOW, this guy knew whereof he spoke. Of the Comanche retreat he states, in his memoirs years later...
It has always been a mystery to me why the Indians became so terribly demoralized in this battle. It was fought on the open prairie, and they could easily see that they greatly outnumbered us. It is rather strange that they did not make a stand.
It was one of the prettiest sights I ever saw in my life. The warriors flourished their white shields, and the young chiefs galloped about the field with the long tails streaming from their hats and hundreds of vari-colored ribbons floating in the air, exhibiting great bravado.
Some of them dashed courageously very close to us, and two or three of them lost their lives in this foolhardy display of valor. Our boys charged with a yell and did not fire until they got close to the enemy. The Indians were panic stricken, and fled at once. The Texans followed them over the prairies for fifteen or twenty miles. Another description of the charge, from Reverend Morril (same website as above)...
Immediately they began howling like wolves, and there was a general stampede and vigorous pursuit. The weather was very dry, and the dust so thick that the parties could see each other but a short distance. At this point, it is appropriate to step back and look at what really happened, first off the Texans had been bluffed for at least twenty minutes, probably less than half of them actually drawing blood in that time. Also the majority of the horses of the Texans were jaded from their prior exertions just to getting to Plum Creek.
During the charge no one could see but a small portion of the field, but the stalled mule train in back of the Comanche diversion was discovered pretty quick. And there were a lot of valuables loaded on those many stuck-in-the-mud mules.
Wiki has the unkindest take on the fight I've found, but one likely with a strong element of truth....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Plum_CreekTexas history says the Texans won this battle, although the Indians got away with most of their plunder and a great many of the stolen horses and mules. "Several hundred head of horses and mules were recaptured, as were also immense quantities of dry goods." The Texans reported killing 80 Comanches (unusually heavy casualties for the Indians) in the fight, yet recovered only 12 Indian bodies.
Apparently greed largely determined the battle's outcome. The Comanches would have never been caught had they not been herding such an enormous number of captured and heavily laden mules and horses. Similarly, the Texans discovered stolen bullion on some recaptured mules and subsequently most of them went home -- without an organized pursuit of the Comanches
Moore ("Savage Frontier") agrees that the great majority of the Texas force never left the vicinity of the initial charge/recovery of the mule train. It is probable too, given the confusion and limited visibility that many of the Texan force weren't aware at ANY sort of prolonged pursuit was happening. Possible too that those few running off in a long chase weren't aware of the existence of the recovered mule train.
Colonel Burleson's brother, John Burleson, was among the approximately twenty-five pursuers of the fleeing Indians. he shot and killed one Comanche who was riding a horse noted by several from Bastrop to be the fine race horse of the late Matthew Duty. Known as the "Duty roan", this horse had been taken when Duty was killed by Indians near Bastrop in 1836. So, just twenty-five (for the intitial running pursuit Moore elsewhere estimated thirty, men apparently dropping out of the chase as individual circumstance dictated) Texans in pursuit of at least FIVE HUNDRED Indians.
The fact that they could do this at all denotes the extreme rapidity at which the majority of the Indians were departing the area. Huston states that about two hundred horses were recovered during the fight, if we add the "five hundred" elsewhere attributed to the Tonkawas, the fleeing Comanches must have gotten away with about 1,300 head, and even tbhe high estimates of Comanche dead could still leave about 80% of the Comanches getting away clean.
All that the pursuers, brave and intrepid as they doubtless were, succeeded in bringing to bay were a few scattered handfuls of Comanches, as well as an aggregate total of about thirty women and children.
One wonders if numbered among these captured women and children were relatives of the dead, captured while waiting/looking for their menfolk.
Another factor not commonly considered in this fight is that, as Moore records, those handfuls of men involved in the long running pursuit did not get back to the scene of the opening engagement on the Clear Fork until the evening.
IOW, the pursuit was a drawn-out affair, which must have involved long periods wherein the Texans were merely attempting to come up with the Comanches rather than being actively engaged.
What were most of the Texas forces doing all that day? Sleeping I imagine, in the shade, as well as wondering about the division of the spoils.
Birdwatcher
