The Battle the Indians Won

07/17/05
By Helen Barrett

In the September 1878 battle between the United States Army and the American Indians in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, the Indians won.

Led by legendary Dull Knife and Little Wolf, a band of Northern Cheyenne fled the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency near Fort Reno without the permission of Indian agent John Miles.

Their escape became known as Dull Knife's Raid.

This historic battle is the topic of Alva's next mural -- The Battle of Turkey Springs.

Forced to immigrate south from their homeland in the Dakotas in 1877, intolerable conditions faced by the band led to their decision to flee.

First, the band moved about 10 miles from the agency in Fort Reno. Two Cavalry companies, "G and H" were sent to watch the recalcitrant band and keep them from "breaking out," according to the account of Bob Rea, Fort Supply Historian.

Captain Joseph Rendlebrock was ordered to prevent the Indians from moving any direction except toward the agency "without harassing or precipitating any hostilities."

Rendlebrock requested -- but was denied -- an artillery piece to shell the camp into surrender if necessary.

As dusk approached Sept. 9, the Northern Cheyenne women brought in the pony herd, loaded tipi covers, camp equipment and provisions. Lodge poles were left standing and fires kept burning to fool their sentinels who camped some four miles away.

Around 10 p.m., 92 men including about 60 young men with weapons, 120 women and 141 children silently slipped northwest up the bank of the North Fork of the Canadian.

One man, American Horse, refused to join the group. As morning dawned, he took the news to Agent Miles that the group had fled.

THE PURSUIT BEGINS

After an almost 12-hour head start for the Indians, the troops took up the chase. They traveled 30 miles before discovering the trail heading northwest toward the Camp Supply - Fort Dodge Road. A courier galloped ahead to inform Camp Supply's commander of the situation.

Arriving at Camp Supply on the 12th, the post's cavalry joined the pursuit.

Captain Hemphill, Lieutenant Leeper and 46 men of Company I, 4th Cavalry rode to the Fort Dodge road in hopes of intercepting the fleeing Cheyenne.

After 55 miles by horseback, Rendlebrock halted his troops for a rest. At dawn the next day they saddled up for another 50 miles through the breaks of the Canadian and on toward the Cimarron River.

September 12 the men rode 48 more miles through dust and heat. Another 13 to 15 miles faced them the next day.

"The band of Cheyenne probably had been moving as one group with scouts sent out in all directions to screen their flanks and to forage," Rea writes. "They avoided the road from Camp Supply to the agency and Fort Reno."

The band crossed the Cimarron river west of Eagle Chief Creek. North of what is now Freedom, events turned which ended their peaceful flight. Two salt haulers, Reuben Bristow and Fred Clark, from the Colcord Ranch were killed by the Cheyenne scouts for their guns and their horses.

About 10 o'clock on the morning of the 13th, the soldiers came within sight of the band. The Indian women and children were sent a little ways ahead to the springs and over the divide into the ravines leading to the north.

The fighting men dropped back to take up positions. Some were mounted, others dug rifle pits and waited for the soldiers.

"Rendlebrock moved the column forward at a trot," Rea writes. "They approached the Indian position along a divide separating two ravines or small canyons.

"The two lines of opponents drew up within 800 yards of each other. The troops closed to within 400 yards when the command was given to dismount and form a skirmish line . . .

"The confrontation was at hand and the Cheyenne had the best position on a rise to the front."

An attempt at negotiations reached a stalemate. With the threat of encirclement, Rendlebrock gave the order to fire on the warriors attempting to flank the troops.

As the trumpeter sounded "commence firing," shots rang out from warriors who had slipped down the bordering ravines and surrounded the troops.

Caught in an exposed area between two ravines, the men on the skirmish line began to dig rifle pits.

At the southeast end of the line was a small knoll held by three or four troopers under heavy fire. Recognizing the strategic importance of the knoll, both sides rushed to secure it.

At dusk, an attempt was made to reach water but the party was turned back by rifle fire. At dawn, Rendlebrock decided his position would be untenable for another day.

By now, the men were without water for 24 hours, the horses even longer. Each man had been issued only 100 rounds of ammunition at Fort Reno and much of that was gone.

With no medicine nor medical officer, the wounded were suffering greatly.

Lieutenant Wilder was ordered to make a feint toward the front in hopes it would draw some of the warriors in that direction. He managed to drive the Cheyenne back allowing the remaining troops to start their retreat.

The retreat and running fight lasted an hour and a half to two hours over a distance of three and a half miles. By now the troops had gone 29 hours without water, the horses for 36 hours. Their last water had been alkali.

Several horses were too wounded to be ridden.

On the morning of the 15th, the command started for Camp Supply, a 35 mile trek to the southwest. They arrived at their destination around noon on the 16th.

The fighting had cost the lives of three enlisted men, the Arapaho scout, and many horses. Cheyenne sources list their loss at five wounded.

Every time the Army tried to stop the fleeing people, they lost. As a result, Captains Rendlebrock, Gunther and Hemphill were court martialled for their failure to capture the fugitives.

The trials were held at Fort Supply in the spring of 1879 and Rendlebrock was found guilty on several counts. He was brought before a retirement board and left the service.