Later that month, in the Gallinas Mountains north of Fort Stanton, Graydon encountered the aged chief Manuelito and a small band of Mescalero Apaches on their way to Santa Fe to meet with Brigadier General James Carleton, who had replaced Canby as commander of the Department of New Mexico. What followed next is one of the many debated chapters in Graydon’s life. Most accounts say he provided liquor to the Indians and, when they were thoroughly intoxicated, shot them and took their 17 horses with him back to Fort Stanton. Graydon’s report, however, stated the opposite. Graydon claimed he had refused to give whiskey to Manuelito, who drew his gun and declared he would fight for it. At that point, said the report, Graydon gave the order to fire upon the Indians. What remains undisputed is that at least 11 Apaches were killed, and twice as many wounded. Graydon’s extermination of this small band of Indians was not received well by his superiors, and both Carleton and Colonel Christopher ‘Kit’ Carson, who had assumed command of Fort Stanton, expressed considerable annoyance. Graydon was reprimanded, and he accepted the rebuke with apparent equanimity. He was less gracious, however, about a letter that appeared shortly thereafter in a Santa Fe newspaper, denouncing his act as barbaric treachery.

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A few weeks after the letter was published, Dr. John Marmaduke Whitlock, a friend of Carson’s, rode into Fort Stanton on business. Graydon had just learned that Whitlock was the letter’s author; when he learned that the doctor was at Fort Stanton and was calling him a ‘murderer and a thief,’ the Irishman determined to meet his accuser face to face.

On the evening of November 4, 1862, Whitlock was playing cards in the sutler’s store at the fort. Graydon burst in, confronted Whitlock, and demanded to know if it was true he had called him ‘an assassinating cowardly son of a bitch.’ Whitlock coolly replied that he ‘could not recollect exactly having used such language,’ but that the general intent was correct. Graydon left the room and returned with a letter, presumably a written challenge. Whitlock continued his card game, stating, ‘Captain, you see I am engaged, let the matter rest until tomorrow and I will give you an explanation and satisfaction if you desire.’

The next morning, Graydon confronted Whitlock again. ‘If you come to this post again and insult an officer, I will horsewhip you,’ he barked. ‘I am an officer and you are a pimp that follows the army.’

The surgeon turned away, then suddenly drew his pistol and fired at Graydon, who immediately reciprocated. Both men missed. Graydon retreated behind a wagon, while Whitlock crouched behind a Sibley tent. The two men kept firing. Suddenly, Graydon clutched his chest and yelled, ‘The son of a bitch has killed me!’

Graydon’s troopers, attracted by the gunfire, rushed to their wounded captain. Whitlock had been non-fatally wounded in his side and right hand; Graydon’s men pursued him and gunned him down. The doctor’s body was thrown into a ditch, and witnesses claimed that afterward, Graydon’s soldiers continued to fire round after round into the lifeless corpse. Carson estimated that more than 100 shots had been fired at Whitlock.

Four members of Graydon’s company — Lieutenant Phillip Morris and Privates John Murry, Albert Overall, and Estevan Aguilar — were charged with murder and sent to Santa Fe to stand trial. On January 1, 1863, Morris, Aguilar, Overall, and three other prisoners escaped from the jail. Overall was captured the next morning, but Morris and Aguilar remained at large until January 18, when they were apprehended by General Carleton himself.

Graydon died three days after his gunfight with Whitlock and was buried at Fort Stanton. A small collection taken up by his colleagues enabled his widow, Eliza, to travel from Santa Fe to pay her last respects. Twenty-four years later, Graydon’s remains were moved to Santa Fe National Cemetery.

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