Part Two (18:23 minutes)
Sioux and Cheyenne warriors who gathered west of Fort Phil Kearny on the morning of Aug. 2, 1867, had several reasons to feel confident as they prepared to attack civilian woodcutters and the U.S. Army troops assigned to protect them.
Nine months earlier, Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors had attacked troops along the Bozeman Trail about four miles north of the fort, which is located near present-day Story, Wyo, on the east flank of the Bighorn Mountains halfway between the present towns of Buffalo and Sheridan. Tribal leaders sent out a small band of decoys that managed to lure Capt. William J. Fetterman into an area where he and all 80 of his men were ambushed and killed. At the time, it was the worst military defeat ever suffered by the Army on the Great Plains.
Kenny, This is AWESOME content! I had never heard about this, now I have - Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I knew a little about the fight but not nearly the details that the videos and articles give. Tough men back then.
DeleteIt's so interesting I started to do this as my Friday history post, but figured people wouldn't take the time to watch the videos so I scheduled it for this afternoon.
I appreciate the positive feedback on it.
Consider this more positive feedback
ReplyDeleteBig thumbs up.
DeleteBeen to the site of where that fort once was about 10 years ago, just for the sake of history, Also, went to the fort where Crazy Horse was killed. There is a little start park...a fossil bed kind of thing near there in extreme western Nebraska. The white man that owned the property in the late 1880's was on very good terms with the Sioux. Enough so that Crazy Horse's sister actually gave him a few of Crazy Horse' possessions. Lots of very cool history out that way.
ReplyDeleteMy dad lives in Sheridan and is a HUGE Indian Wars guy. He could ramble on and one and on about the Wagon Box Fight, Fort Phil Kearney, the Rosebud, the Little Big Horn, and a bunch of other skirmishes that took place out that way that no one really knows about anymore.
DeleteThe remains of Fort Phil Kearney and the nearby locations of the Wagon Box Fight and the Fetterman Fight make for a nice detour if you're traveling between Buffalo and Sheridan, Wyoming. I've visited a couple of times. They're only 2.5 hours down the road. If you want, make a day of it and visit the Little Big Horn and Rosebud battlefields too.
ReplyDeleteFetterman did not obey his orders and pursued the Indians out of site, approximately four miles. The Indians had sent out decoy parties to lure him into the fight. The Indians, armed mainly with bows and lances, each carry approximately forty arrows, pounced. Accounts say some of the Indians had as much as four rounds for those who carried muzzle loader rifles, and. Fettermans command were a mixture of muzzle loaders and. Spencer carbines. The rest is history. The soldiers were brutally treated by scalping, cuts, slashes, and castration. According to eye witnesses, it was not a pretty site.
ReplyDeleteThe Wagon Box fight turned out differently than Fetterman’s fight.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kenny.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding videos, the Indian Wars era has always been of interest to me. Thanks,
ReplyDeleteMatt
I read a lot of history. I'm always drawn to the wests 1800's.
ReplyDeleteThe day the tactic of riding around the wagon train until the sodbusters all had to reload their muzzle-loaders died. Powell was the one Carrington wanted to rescue the woodcutters the December before, except Fetterman (his descendents are no more intelligent) pulled rank.
ReplyDeleteThe Hayfield Fight at Fort Smith had a similar result.
I'm going to peruse the vids and articles over the W/E when you're taking your weekend recuperation. However, I noticed the name "Capt. William J. Fetterman" and comment in your write up. I guess stupid runs in that gene line, if the current U.S. Senate example is any indication. ;-))
ReplyDeleteNemo
Very interesting, made moreso by the extensive use of first-person accounts. Thanks for posting this!
ReplyDeleteThe sophisicated use of English language and vocabulary by rank and file enlisted men is very interesting, isn't it? I have read that by grade 6 in those little schoolhouses they were reading Shakespeare.
I cannot attest to the grade 6 comment, but from what I have seen in museums and comparing to today's students (heck even in my era), the kids of the earlier generations that many would consider lesser educated had a far more superior education.
DeleteThanks Kenny,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this history. I feel the need for a drive through this fall
Paul J