Battle of Cedar Creek was a Indian Wars and Frontier Conflicts engagement fought in Montana, 1876.
In the summer of 1876, Colonel Nelson A. Miles brought the 5th United States Infantry Regiment away from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, traveling by paddlewheel boat up the Missouri River from Yankton, South Dakota, and on toward the Yellowstone River. His mission was to help put down the Sioux and Cheyenne, who had won a notable victory that same summer at Little Bighorn. Once autumn arrived, Miles linked up with General Alfred Terry along Rosebud Creek, and together they pushed upstream to unite with General Crook's forces. From there the combined columns turned eastward, forded the Tongue River, and arrived at the point where the Powder River met their path. It was here that the two commands parted ways, Crook heading south and east toward the Black Hills. A detachment under Captain Anson Mills, sent ahead by Crook to secure provisions since supplies had grown dangerously scarce (the men at times reduced to eating horseflesh), clashed with an Indian force that September and prevailed at what became known as the Battle of Slim Buttes.
Once apart from Crook, Terry and Miles guided their men northward along Dry Creek before curving east and then south, finally arriving at Glendive in Montana Territory along the Yellowstone, where they established quarters for the winter. Miles outfitted his men for the cold season and set up a makeshift post near the mouth of the Tongue River.
Meanwhile, Colonel Elwell S. Otis led troops guarding a supply convoy of more than one hundred wagons sent out from a post on Glendive Creek to resupply Miles's command. On October 11, Sioux fighters struck the sluggish train near Spring Creek, killing a number of mules and scattering the wagons for a time. The convoy pressed on regardless, only to be attacked again along the same creek on October 15. This time the drivers and their guard held their ground and pushed the wagons through to their destination.
Not long after, two Indian messengers approached Otis with word that Miles might meet with Sitting Bull, the long-respected spiritual leader among the Hunkpapa Sioux. Miles agreed, and traveled toward Cedar Creek in Montana Territory, north of the Yellowstone. On October 21, 1876, at Sitting Bull's own request, the two men spoke between their assembled forces. Sitting Bull proposed trading for ammunition so his people could hunt buffalo, promising to leave the soldiers alone if left alone himself. Miles, in turn, relayed the government's insistence on surrender. Neither man left the exchange satisfied, yet both consented to speak again the next day once they had conferred with their own followers.
Among Sitting Bull's lesser chiefs, some favored ending the fight and returning to the reservations, though many others wished to continue resisting. When talks resumed on October 21, Sitting Bull once more insisted that Miles withdraw his men and that no further wagon trains cross into Sioux lands. He warned that any chief still inclined to lead his people back to the reservations would be killed for it. The negotiations collapsed swiftly, and both sides returned to their lines. Fighting broke out soon after. Following a brief but intense clash, Sitting Bull's forces retreated. The army later claimed to have pursued the Lakota for as far as 42 miles, gathering along the way stores of dried meat, lodge poles, camp gear, ponies, worn-out cavalry horses, and weapons. By October 27, more than four hundred lodges, representing some two thousand men, women, and children, surrendered formally to Miles and returned peacefully to their reservations. Yet a portion of Sitting Bull's most committed followers chose instead to flee north toward Canada, and Miles spent the winter months preparing to follow them.
In the summer of 1876, Colonel Nelson A. Miles brought the 5th United States Infantry Regiment away from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, traveling by paddlewheel boat up the Missouri River from Yankton, South Dakota, and on toward the Yellowstone River. His mission was to help put down the Sioux and Cheyenne, who had won a notable victory that same summer at Little Bighorn. Once autumn arrived, Miles linked up with General Alfred Terry along Rosebud Creek, and together they pushed upstream to unite with General Crook's forces. From there the combined columns turned eastward, forded the Tongue River, and arrived at the point where the Powder River met their path. It was here that the two commands parted ways, Crook heading south and east toward the Black Hills. A detachment under Captain Anson Mills, sent ahead by Crook to secure provisions since supplies had grown dangerously scarce (the men at times reduced to eating horseflesh), clashed with an Indian force that September and prevailed at what became known as the Battle of Slim Buttes.
Once apart from Crook, Terry and Miles guided their men northward along Dry Creek before curving east and then south, finally arriving at Glendive in Montana Territory along the Yellowstone, where they established quarters for the winter. Miles outfitted his men for the cold season and set up a makeshift post near the mouth of the Tongue River.
Meanwhile, Colonel Elwell S. Otis led troops guarding a supply convoy of more than one hundred wagons sent out from a post on Glendive Creek to resupply Miles's command. On October 11, Sioux fighters struck the sluggish train near Spring Creek, killing a number of mules and scattering the wagons for a time. The convoy pressed on regardless, only to be attacked again along the same creek on October 15. This time the drivers and their guard held their ground and pushed the wagons through to their destination.
Not long after, two Indian messengers approached Otis with word that Miles might meet with Sitting Bull, the long-respected spiritual leader among the Hunkpapa Sioux. Miles agreed, and traveled toward Cedar Creek in Montana Territory, north of the Yellowstone. On October 21, 1876, at Sitting Bull's own request, the two men spoke between their assembled forces. Sitting Bull proposed trading for ammunition so his people could hunt buffalo, promising to leave the soldiers alone if left alone himself. Miles, in turn, relayed the government's insistence on surrender. Neither man left the exchange satisfied, yet both consented to speak again the next day once they had conferred with their own followers.
Among Sitting Bull's lesser chiefs, some favored ending the fight and returning to the reservations, though many others wished to continue resisting. When talks resumed on October 21, Sitting Bull once more insisted that Miles withdraw his men and that no further wagon trains cross into Sioux lands. He warned that any chief still inclined to lead his people back to the reservations would be killed for it. The negotiations collapsed swiftly, and both sides returned to their lines. Fighting broke out soon after. Following a brief but intense clash, Sitting Bull's forces retreated. The army later claimed to have pursued the Lakota for as far as 42 miles, gathering along the way stores of dried meat, lodge poles, camp gear, ponies, worn-out cavalry horses, and weapons. By October 27, more than four hundred lodges, representing some two thousand men, women, and children, surrendered formally to Miles and returned peacefully to their reservations. Yet a portion of Sitting Bull's most committed followers chose instead to flee north toward Canada, and Miles spent the winter months preparing to follow them.
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