men. Apache losses had also been consider-
able, and Mangas decided to send out peace
feelers to the Americans. However, Carleton
was by then commanding the entire Depart-
ment of New Mexico and would hear none of
it. Furthermore, he was determined to exe-
cute any Apache males found armed or acting
in any hostile manner. Subordinates undoubt-
edly took this resolve as a cue for subterfuge
of their own. In January 1863, Mangas was in-
vited to parley with Capt. Edmond Shirland of
the First California Volunteer Cavalry. The
chief, acting on good faith, boldly rode into
the camp alone under a flag of truce and was
seized. He was immediately taken to Fort
McLean, Arizona, and imprisoned. Soldiers
were quick to extract grisly vengeance upon
the hated adversary, and the garrison com-
mander, Gen. Joseph West, turned a blind eye
toward abuses heaped upon the aged chief.
This included pressing red-hot bayonets to his
feet and arms. According to official accounts,
Mangas was shot “while attempting to es-
cape,” whereupon he was decapitated, his
head boiled, and his skull sent back east for
examination. The chief’s demise angered
Apache braves under Cochise and others,
who commenced yet another bloody frontier
rampage to avenge their fallen leader. To this
day, the death of Mangas is held by the Chiric-
ahua band as “the greatest of wrongs.”See also
CochiseBibliography
Brandes, Ray. “Mangas Coloradas: Apache Warrior and
Diplomat.” Mankind3, no. 9 (1972): 54–58; Cole, D.
C. The Chiricahua Apache, 1846–1876: From War
to Reservation.Albuquerque: University of New
Mexico Press, 1988; Cremony, John C. Life Among
the Apaches.Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,
1983; Goodwin, Grenville. Western Apache Raiding
and Warfare.Tucson: University of Arizona Press,
1971; Griffen, William B. Apaches at War and Peace:
The Janos Presidio, 1750–1858.Albuquerque: Uni-
versity of New Mexico Press, 1988; Myers, Lee. “The
Enigma of Mangas Coloradas’ Death.” New Mexico
Historical Review412 (1966): 287–304; Reedstrom,
Ernest. Apache Wars: An Illustrated History.New
York: Sterling, 1990; Sweeney, Edwin R. Mangas Col-
oradas: Chief of the Chiricahua Apaches.Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1990; Thrapp, Dan L.
The Conquest of Apacheria.Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1967; Worcester, Donald E. The
Apaches: Eagles of the Southwest.Norman: Univer-
sity of Oklahoma Press, 1979.MANTEUFFEL, HASSOVON
Manteuffel, Hasso von
(January 14, 1897–September 28, 1978)
German General
M
anteuffel was a giant among Ger-
many’s panzer leaders. Aggressive
and innovative, he honed his consid-
erable skills during years of fighting on the
Eastern Front, then unleashed his veteran
forces against American troops during the
Battle of the Bulge. Of all German command-
ers present, it was Manteuffel who made the
greatest progress.
Hasso Eccard von Manteuffel was born in
Potsdam, Berlin, on January 14, 1897, the de-
scendant of a Prussian general. Although
short in height, he possessed an iron constitu-
tion and became an Olympic equestrian rider.
He graduated from the Royal Prussian Cadet
School in 1916 and was posted with the fa-
mous Zieten Hussars during 1916–1918. After
World War I ended, he was selected to remain