Josiah Rice's diary tells the story of a new recruit who enlisted in the 2nd Artillery at New York City in March 1851. Rice and other new soldiers was transported by ship to New Orleans and then up to St. Louis and then by steam packet up the Missouri River to Fort Leavenworth. Rice's artillery company, under the command of Capt. Henry. Kendrick, joined the expeditionary force led by Col. Edwin Sumner The troops departed Fort Leavenworth on May 30, 1851, crossed into New Mexico on July 8th and arrived in Santa Fe on July 18 (Dillon, p. 9). It is unclear whether Lt. Griffin joined the march from Ft. Leavenworth or was already stationed in New Mexico. Griffin was part of the advance from Santa Fe to Navajo country.
The expedition marched to and through Canon de Chelly - the heart of the Navajo nation. Advancing through the canyon's vally, the troops countered Navajos firing from cliffs above. Col Sumner ordered Lt. Griffin to fire cannons at the Navajo. Rice reported: “But as the Col. would not let Lieut. Griffin have his way, being in fear that we all would be killed in running the gun up close and bedding the trail, we just unlimbered without elevation and fired. The shell struck apparently about thirty feet below and burst against the rocks, not touching one of them but reports were made by them afterwards that it scart eleven of them to death.” That evening, Sumner ordered the force to march march with Sumner and Griffin taking the lead. Rice wrote how Sumner, aware of the danger of further Navajo attacks, first instructed Griffin to take his time and then ordered him to “hurry up a little faster.” [pp. 75-76] .
When the forces emerged from Canon de Chelly into Valley de Chellly, Griffin "succeeded to the command of B Co. when Kendrick went on detached service," Author Richard Dillon writes that a few days after this incident, Griffin, leading at least part of Company B, “left Sumner’s command, enroute to Canon Bonito, and began a hitherto unnoticed 1,216-mile reconnaissance to the Gila River and back at the same time that Captain Lorenzo Sitgreaves was making his well-known march down the Zuni and Little Colorado Rivers…” Griffin's destination was confluence of the Gila and San Pedro rivers, where his small command rested 5 or 6 days in vicinity of modern Winkelman and Hayden before their retracing steps and returning to Fort Defiance on Oct. 31st. [p. 18-19]
Rice recorded a couple of anecdotes involving Griffin, including an account that Griffin and Kendrick “managed to catch enough of trout to keep them in fodder for three days without any other meat" [p. 59] and Griffin getting angry about noise mules and horses [p. 79].
Source: A Cannoneer in Navajo Country: Journal of Private Josiah M. Rice, 1851, edit. Richard H. Dillon, Pub. For the Denver Public Library by The Old West Publishing Co. (1970)
Griffin remained in the south-west and Fort Leavenworth until orderd to Fort McHenry in the fall of 1854.
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