Wagon Box Fight - The Fight

The Fight

On the morning of August 2, Captain Powell's force was divided. Fourteen soldiers were detailed to escort the wood train to and from the fort; 13 soldiers guarded the wood-cutting camp, about one mile from the wagon box corral. The Indian plan of attack on the woodcutters and soldiers was tried-and-true, similar to the plan that had been used to kill Fetterman and his 80 men the year before. A small group of Indians would entice the White soldiers to chase them and the soldiers would be led into an ambush by a larger number of hidden Indians. Crazy Horse was among the members or the decoy team. Discipline and patience, however, were not characteristics of Indian warriors. The plan broke down when a number of them attacked an outlying camp of four woodcutters and four soldiers, killing three of the soldiers, but the other soldier and the woodcutters escaped and warned the soldiers near the corral. The Indian army halted at the camp to loot and to capture a large number of horses and mules and this gave the soldiers taking refuge in the wagon box corral time to prepare for the attack. There were 26 soldiers and six civilians in the corral.

The first attack of the Indians on the wagon box corral came on horseback from the southwest, but they encountered heavy fire from the soldiers using the new breech-loaders. The Indians withdrew, regrouped, and launched several additional attacks on foot. Indian snipers killed Powell's second-in-command, Lt. Jenness, and two soldiers. The battle continued from about 7:30 a.m. until 1:30 pm. The whites had plenty of ammunition and Indian arrows could not penetrate the thick sides of the wagon boxes.

Fort Kearny learned of the fight from its observation station on Pilot Hill and about 11:30 a.m. 103 soldiers under the command of Major Benjamin Smith sallied out of the fort to relieve the soldiers in the wagon boxes. Smith took with him 10 wagons driven by armed civilians and a mountain howitzer. He proceeded carefully and when he neared the wagon box corral fired his cannon at the distant Indians. The Indians quickly dispersed and Smith advanced without opposition to the corral, collected the soldiers there, and returned quickly to Fort Kearny. Additional civilian survivors, who had hidden in the woods during the battle, made it back to the fort that night.