A minor but illustrative engagement of Red Cloud's War showing how breechloading rifles allowed small U.S. Army units to repel far larger Native American forces.
Key Facts
- Date
- August 1, 1867
- U.S. soldiers involved
- 21 soldiers
- Civilian hay-cutters
- 9 civilians
- Native American warriors
- Several hundred
- Weapon used by defenders
- Breechloading Springfield Model 1866 rifle
- Conflict context
- Red Cloud's War, near Fort C. F. Smith, Montana
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Red Cloud's War arose from Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho resistance to U.S. Army forts along the Bozeman Trail in the Powder River country. Native warriors repeatedly attacked military outposts and work parties to drive out American forces encroaching on their hunting grounds, setting the stage for engagements such as the Hayfield Fight.
On August 1, 1867, near Fort C. F. Smith, Montana, 21 U.S. soldiers and 9 civilians cutting hay were attacked by several hundred Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Lakota Sioux warriors. Armed with newly issued breechloading Springfield Model 1866 rifles, the defenders held their position and inflicted casualties on the attacking force, despite being heavily outnumbered.
The defenders successfully repelled the assault, demonstrating that breechloading firearms fundamentally altered small-unit defensive capability against larger forces. Historian Jerome Green argued the fight exposed the overall ineffectiveness of federal military policy in the region, which contributed to the government's eventual temporary abandonment of the Bozeman Trail forts and the negotiation of a treaty ending Red Cloud's War in 1868.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent