Okla-homey
12/21/2006, 07:19 AM
Dec. 21, 1866: Indians destroy US Cavalry detachment
140 years ago today, utilizing a novel tactic, Plains Indians destroy an eighty trooper US Army cavalry detachment near Ft Phil Kearney in northern Wyoming.
Tensions in the region started rising in 1863, when John Bozeman blazed the Bozeman Trail, a new route for emigrants traveling to the Montana gold fields. Bozeman's trail was of questionable legality since it passed directly through hunting grounds that the government had promised to the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapahoe in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. Since the government right-of-way through the reservation was not stipulated in the treaty made twelve years earlier, the Indians considered it an illegal incursion.
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/5287/ttttttttttttttttttttttuwk7.png (http://imageshack.us)
Thus when Colorado militiamen murdered more than two hundred peaceful Cheyenne during the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, the Indians began to take revenge by attacking whites all across the Plains, including the emigrants traveling the Bozeman Trail. The U.S. government responded by building a series of protective forts along the trail; the largest and most important of these was Fort Phil Kearney, erected in 1866 in north-central Wyoming.
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/8903/tttttttttttttttttftkeargo0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Ft Phil Kearney looking north. As you can see, with most of the timber in the immediate vicinity already harvested to build the stockade, work parties would need to range far and wide daily to cut wood for fuel to be used for heat and cooking.
Indians under the leadership of Red Cloud and Crazy Horse began to focus their attacks on Fort Phil Kearney, constantly harassing the soldiers and raiding their wood and supply parties. On December 6, 1866, Crazy Horse discovered to his surprise that he could lead a small detachment of soldiers into a fatal ambush by dismounting from his horse and fleeing as if he were defenseless. Struck by the foolish impulsiveness of the soldiers, Crazy Horse and Red Cloud reasoned that perhaps a much larger force could be lured into a similar deadly trap.
Note: I'm unsure if any contemporary photos of either Red Cloud or Crazy Horse exist. Sometimes, innerweb sources say a photo is of an Indian leader when in actual fact, its not necessarily so. I'll defer to Picasso for any period photos of these guys.
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/9048/tttttttttttttttttttttttat1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Red Cloud at age 72, long after the Fetterman fight
On the bitterly cold morning of December 21, about 2,000 Indians concealed themselves along the road just north of Fort Phil Kearney. A small band made a diversionary attack on a party of woodcutters from the fort, and the post commander Lt Colonel Henry Carrington quickly ordered Captain William Fetterman to go to their aid with a detail of 80 troopers.
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/4363/tttttttttttttttttttttttah0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Carrington
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3714/tttttttttttttttttttttwmcp3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Fetterman. Upon arrival at his new assignment at Ft kearney, he had boasted that with eighty troopers he "could ride through the entire Sioux Nation." He was wrong.
Crazy Horse and 10 decoy warriors then rode into view of the fort. When Carrington fired an artillery round at them, the decoys ran away as if frightened. The party of woodcutters made it safely back to the fort, but Captain Fetterman and his men chased after the fleeing Crazy Horse and his decoys, just as planned. The soldiers rode straight into the ambush and were wiped out in a massive attack during which some 40,000 arrows rained down on the hapless troopers. None of them survived.
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/8799/ttttttttttttttttttttfetfl0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Site of Fetterman's last stand
At the fort reports of sounds of the gun fire were received. An additional column was dispatched under the command of Capt. Tenador Ten Eyck. By the time Ten Eynk arrived all eighty men in Fetterman's units had been slaughtered. In the face of Capt. Ten Eynk's advance, the Indians retired. Capt. Ten Eynk testified as to the condition of the dead:
In their appearance they were all stripped stark naked, scalped, shot full of arrows and horribly mutilated otherwise, some with their skulls mashed in, throats cut of others, thighs ripped open, apparently with knives. Some with their ears cut off, some with their bowels hanging out, from being cut through the abdomen, and a few with their bodies charred from burning, and some with their noses cut off. I was able to recognize several whom I was most intimately acquainted with, and among them Capt. F.H. Brown.
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/1610/ttttttttttttttttttttfetpi6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Near the end for Fetterman's force
With 81 fatalities, the Fetterman Massacre was the army's worst defeat in the West until the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. Further Indian attacks eventually forced the army to reconsider its commitment to protecting the Bozeman Trail, and in 1868 the military abandoned the forts and pulled out. It was one of only a handful of clear Indian victories in the Plains Indian Wars.
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/4348/tttttttttttttttttttttttlt1.png (http://imageshack.us)
Monument to the 81 American soldiers lost. Erected in the late nineteenth century.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2498/insane7zouj9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
140 years ago today, utilizing a novel tactic, Plains Indians destroy an eighty trooper US Army cavalry detachment near Ft Phil Kearney in northern Wyoming.
Tensions in the region started rising in 1863, when John Bozeman blazed the Bozeman Trail, a new route for emigrants traveling to the Montana gold fields. Bozeman's trail was of questionable legality since it passed directly through hunting grounds that the government had promised to the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapahoe in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. Since the government right-of-way through the reservation was not stipulated in the treaty made twelve years earlier, the Indians considered it an illegal incursion.
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/5287/ttttttttttttttttttttttuwk7.png (http://imageshack.us)
Thus when Colorado militiamen murdered more than two hundred peaceful Cheyenne during the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, the Indians began to take revenge by attacking whites all across the Plains, including the emigrants traveling the Bozeman Trail. The U.S. government responded by building a series of protective forts along the trail; the largest and most important of these was Fort Phil Kearney, erected in 1866 in north-central Wyoming.
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/8903/tttttttttttttttttftkeargo0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Ft Phil Kearney looking north. As you can see, with most of the timber in the immediate vicinity already harvested to build the stockade, work parties would need to range far and wide daily to cut wood for fuel to be used for heat and cooking.
Indians under the leadership of Red Cloud and Crazy Horse began to focus their attacks on Fort Phil Kearney, constantly harassing the soldiers and raiding their wood and supply parties. On December 6, 1866, Crazy Horse discovered to his surprise that he could lead a small detachment of soldiers into a fatal ambush by dismounting from his horse and fleeing as if he were defenseless. Struck by the foolish impulsiveness of the soldiers, Crazy Horse and Red Cloud reasoned that perhaps a much larger force could be lured into a similar deadly trap.
Note: I'm unsure if any contemporary photos of either Red Cloud or Crazy Horse exist. Sometimes, innerweb sources say a photo is of an Indian leader when in actual fact, its not necessarily so. I'll defer to Picasso for any period photos of these guys.
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/9048/tttttttttttttttttttttttat1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Red Cloud at age 72, long after the Fetterman fight
On the bitterly cold morning of December 21, about 2,000 Indians concealed themselves along the road just north of Fort Phil Kearney. A small band made a diversionary attack on a party of woodcutters from the fort, and the post commander Lt Colonel Henry Carrington quickly ordered Captain William Fetterman to go to their aid with a detail of 80 troopers.
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/4363/tttttttttttttttttttttttah0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Carrington
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3714/tttttttttttttttttttttwmcp3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Fetterman. Upon arrival at his new assignment at Ft kearney, he had boasted that with eighty troopers he "could ride through the entire Sioux Nation." He was wrong.
Crazy Horse and 10 decoy warriors then rode into view of the fort. When Carrington fired an artillery round at them, the decoys ran away as if frightened. The party of woodcutters made it safely back to the fort, but Captain Fetterman and his men chased after the fleeing Crazy Horse and his decoys, just as planned. The soldiers rode straight into the ambush and were wiped out in a massive attack during which some 40,000 arrows rained down on the hapless troopers. None of them survived.
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/8799/ttttttttttttttttttttfetfl0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Site of Fetterman's last stand
At the fort reports of sounds of the gun fire were received. An additional column was dispatched under the command of Capt. Tenador Ten Eyck. By the time Ten Eynk arrived all eighty men in Fetterman's units had been slaughtered. In the face of Capt. Ten Eynk's advance, the Indians retired. Capt. Ten Eynk testified as to the condition of the dead:
In their appearance they were all stripped stark naked, scalped, shot full of arrows and horribly mutilated otherwise, some with their skulls mashed in, throats cut of others, thighs ripped open, apparently with knives. Some with their ears cut off, some with their bowels hanging out, from being cut through the abdomen, and a few with their bodies charred from burning, and some with their noses cut off. I was able to recognize several whom I was most intimately acquainted with, and among them Capt. F.H. Brown.
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/1610/ttttttttttttttttttttfetpi6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Near the end for Fetterman's force
With 81 fatalities, the Fetterman Massacre was the army's worst defeat in the West until the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. Further Indian attacks eventually forced the army to reconsider its commitment to protecting the Bozeman Trail, and in 1868 the military abandoned the forts and pulled out. It was one of only a handful of clear Indian victories in the Plains Indian Wars.
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/4348/tttttttttttttttttttttttlt1.png (http://imageshack.us)
Monument to the 81 American soldiers lost. Erected in the late nineteenth century.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2498/insane7zouj9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)