The Army succeeded in forcing the Modoc to abandon their fortified position at Captain Jack's Stronghold in the Lava Beds, but failed to capture the band.

Following the assassination of Major General Edward Canby and another member of a peace delegation during a peace conference on April 11, 1873, the Army, under the command of Colonel Alvan Gillem, made preparations to attack the Stronghold.

That night the troops succeeded in cutting the Modoc off from their water supply at the shore of Tule Lake.

The only Modoc casualty was a boy, reported to have been killed when a cannonball, which he was attempting to open with an axe, exploded.

Mason's Command - Major Edwin C. Mason Green's Command - Major John Green Modoc bands of Captain Jack, Scarface Charley and John Schonchin