Battle of the Washita River

Battle of Washita River
Part of the Indian Wars
File:X-33802.jpg Battle of Washita from Harper's Weekly, Dec. 19, 1868
Date November 27, 1868 Location Roger Mills County, Oklahoma Result U.S. victory, 2 to 3 white captives freed (and maybe a white woman)
Belligerents
United States	Cheyenne
Commanders and leaders
George A. Custer	Black Kettle†
Strength
7th Cavalry Regiment	~200 warriors and civilians
Casualties and losses
21 killed and 13 wounded	13 headmen and warchiefs , + 100 warriors, 20 civilians, 4 to 6 white captives killed by the Cheyennes

The Battle of Washita River (or Battle of the Washita) occurred on November 27, 1868 when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked Black Kettle’s Cheyenne village on the Washita River (near present day Cheyenne, Oklahoma) at dawn.

The evidence used to depict the Battle of Washita is derived from Custer’s own account of the battle while the evidence used in describing the events prior to the battle revolves heavily around General Phillip Sheridan’s annual report of 1868. Other evidences come from accounts by Cheyennes involved in the encounter. The battle was caused by Indian massacres of settlers during the summer and autumn 1868, breaking the 1867 peace treaty.

The Solomon massacres

After the signing of the Medicine Lodge treaty, the Cheyennes and Arapahoes moved to Indian territory (modern Oklahoma) to be in their new reservation. But on August 10, 1868, after months of fragile peace (with wars between Kaw Indians and Cheyennes), war broke out on the Saline River (Kansas). Here is an account of the clashes:

On the 10th of August, 1868, they struck the settlements on the Saline River. On the 12th they reached the Solomon and wiped out a settlement where the city of Minneapolis is now situated. In this raid fifteen persons were killed, two wounded, and five women carried off. On the same day they attacked Wright’s bay camp near Ft. Dodge, raided the Pawnee, and killed two settlers on the Republican. On the 8th of September they captured a train at the Cimarron crossing of the Arkansas River, securing possession of seventeen men, whom burned; and the day following they murdered six men between Sheridan and Ft. Wallace. On the first of September, 1868, the Indians killed four men at Spanish Fork, in Texas, and outraged three women. One of those women was outraged by thirteen Indians and afterward killed and scalped. They left her with the hatchet still sticking in her head. Before leaving, they murdered her four little children. Of the children carried off by the Indians from Texas in 1868, fourteen were frozen to death in captivity. The total of losses from September 12, 1868, to Febuary 9, 1869, exclusive of casualties incident to military operations, was 158 men murdered, sixteen wounded and forty-one scalped. 3 scouts were killed, 14 women outraged, 1 man was captured, 4 women and 24 children were carried off."

Little Rock's interview

On August 19, 1868, Colonel Edward Wynkoop, Indian Agent, interviewed Chief Little Rock, who was a member and second-in-command of Black Kettle's Cheyenne village. Little Rock related the massacre and admitted that almost all of Black Kettle's warriors were involved in the killings:

Question by Colonel Wynkoop:

Six nights ago, I spoke to you in regard to depredations committed on the Saline. I told you to go and find out by whom these depredations were committed and to bring me straight news. What news do you bring?

Little Rock:

I took your advice and went there. I am now here to tell you all I know. This war party of Cheyennes which left the camp of these tribes above the forks of Walnut Creek about the 2d or 3d of August, went out against the Pawnees.... The Cheyennes numbered about 200; nearly all the young men in the village went.... When the party reached the Saline they turned down the stream, with the exception of twenty, who, being fearful of depredations being committed against the whites by the party going in the direction of the settlements, kept on north toward the Pawnees. The main party continued down the Saline until they came in sight of the settlement; they then camped there. A Cheyenne named Oh-e-ah-mo-he-a, a brother of White Antelope, who was killed at Sand Creek, and another named Red Nose, proceeded to the first house; they afterwards returned to the camp with a woman captive. The main party was surprised at this action, and forcibly took possession of her, and returned her to her house. The two Indians had outraged the woman before they brought her to the camp.... [Later, at another location,] they came upon a white man alone on the prairie. Big Head’s son rode at him and knocked him down with a club. The Indian who had committed the outrage upon the white woman...then fired upon the white man without effect, while the third Indian rode up and killed him. Soon after they killed a white man, and close by, a woman—all in the same settlement. At the time these people were killed, the party was divided in feeling, the majority being opposed to any outrages being committed; but finding it useless to contend against these outrages being committed without bringing on a strife among themselves, they gave way and all went in together. They then went to another house in the same settlement, and there killed two men and took two little girls prisoners; this on the same day. After committing this last outrage the party turned south toward the Saline, where they came upon a a body of mounted troops; the troops immediately charged the Indians, and the pursuit was continued a long time. The Indians having the two children, their horses becoming fatigued, dropped the children without hurting them.... After they had proceeded some distance up the Saline, the party divided, the majority going north toward the settlements on the Solomon.... Another small party returned to Black Kettle’s village, from which party I got this information. I am fearful that before this time the party that started north had committed a great many depredations....

Question by Colonel Wynkoop:

Your told me your nations want peace; will you, in accordance with your treaty stipulations, deliver up the men whom you have named as being the leaders of the party who committed the outrages named?

Little Rock:

I think that the only men who ought to suffer and be responsible for these outrages are White Antelope's brother and Red Nose, the men who ravished the woman; and when I return to the Cheyenne camp and assemble the chiefs and head men, I think those two men will be delivered up to you.

Question by Colonel Wynkoop:

I consider the whole party guilty; but being impossible to punish all of them, I hold the principal men, whom you questioned, responsible for all. they had not right to be led and governed by two men. If no depredations had been committed after the outrage on the woman, the two men whom you have mentioned alone would have been guilty.

Little Rock:

After your explanation, I think your demand for the men is right. I am willing to deliver them up, and will go back to the tribe and use my best endeavors to have them surrendered. I am but one man, and cannot answer for the entire nation.

October to November, 1868

In October 1868, Cheyennes attacked a wagon train along the Arkansas River in eastern Colorado Territory and captured Clara Blinn, 19 years old, and her son Willie, two years old. The raiders took their captives to Black Kettle's camp on the Washita River. The Cheyennes were already detaining 4 to 6 hostages (two boys, a woman...) . Here is a letter Clara wote on November 7, 1868:

Kind Friends, whoever you may be: I thank you for your kindness to me and my children. You want me to let you know my wishes. If you could only buy us of the Indians with ponies or anything let me come and stay with you until I can get word to my friends, they would pay you, and I would work and do all I could for you. If it is not far from their camp, and you are not afraid to come, I pray that you will try. They tell me as near as I can understand, they expect traders to come and they will sell us to them. Can you find out by this man and let me know if it is white men? If it is Mexicans, I am afraid they would sell us into slavery in Mexico. If you can do nothing for me, write to W. F. Harington, Ottawa, Franklin County, Kansas, my father. Tell him we are with the Cheyennes, and they say when the white man makes peace we can go home. Tell him to write to the Governor of Kansas about it, and for them to make peace. Send this to him. We were taken on the ninth of October, on the Arkansas, below Fort Lyon. I can not tell whether they killed my husband or not. My name is Mrs. Clara Blinn. My little boy, Willie Blinn, is two years old. For our sakes do all you can, let me hear from you again; let me know what you think about it. Write to my father; send him this. Goodbye, Mrs. R. F. Blinn. I am as well as can be expected, but my baby is very weak.

The Indians believed they had good bargaining chips with which to deal for peace, much as they had attempted to do with their captives in the late summer of 1864. Blinn wrote a letter pleading for someone to rescue them, and it reached Colonel William B. Hazen, in charge at Fort Cobb. On November 20, Black Kettle, Big Mouth and a number of chiefs representing the Cheyennes and Arapahos, came to see Hazen to discuss peace and talk about ransoming the white captives. Since these tribes were currently at war with the United States, Hazen, unlike Major Wynkoop in 1864, knew he could not make a separate peace with them. Although Black Kettle was ostensibly at Fort Cobb to discuss peace, he did say, as Hazen recorded it, "that many of his men were then on the war path, and that their people did not want peace with the people above the Arkansas." Hazen directed them to go back to their villages and deal directly with General Sheridan.

General Sheridan was at work for a winter campaign against these Cheyenne raiders. While a winter campaign presented serious logistical problems, it offered opportunities for decisive results. If the Indians’ shelter, food, and livestock could be destroyed or captured, not only the warriors but their women and children were at the mercy of the Army and the elements, and there was little left but surrender. Sheridan devised a plan whereby three columns would converge on the Indian wintering grounds just east of the Texas Panhandle: one from Fort Lyon in Colorado, one from Fort Bascom in New Mexico, and one from Fort Supply in the Indian Territory later to be called Oklahoma. The 7th Cavalry under Lt. Col. George A. Custer found the Indians on the Washita River. Sheridan's orders to George Custer were to kill the warriors and to bring back with him the women and children.

The battle

Map of the battle.

On November 27, 1868 Custer’s Osage Nation scouts located the trail of an Indian war party. Custer followed this trail all day without break until nightfall. Upon nightfall there was a short period of rest until there was sufficient moonlight to continue. Eventually they reached Black Kettle’s village. Custer divided his force into four parts, each moving into position so that at first daylight they could all simultaneously converge on the village. At daybreak the four columns attacked. The Indian warriors quickly left their lodges to take cover behind trees and in deep ravines. Custer was able to take control of the village quickly, but it took longer to quell all remaining resistance.

Washita prisoners (53 women and children) gave the name of 13 warchiefs and headmen that were killed that day (names: Buffalo Tongue, Tall White Man, Tall Owl, Poor Black Elk, Big Horse, White Beaver, Bear Tail, Running Water, Wolf Ear, The Man That Hears the Wolf, Medicine Walker, Black Kettle, Little Rock). Custer wrote that Indian losses were probably 130 warriors killed. According to the modern official account by the U.S. Army Center of Military History, the 7th Cavalry lost 21 officers and men killed and 13 wounded in the Battle of the Washita.

Between 19 and 25 civilians had been killed according to Washita prisoners and Kiowa witnesses. Osage scouts left Washita with Black Kettle's scalp.

4 to 6 white captives, including Clara Blinn and her son, were murdered by the Cheyennes.

Following the capture of Black Kettle's village Custer was soon to find himself in a precarious position. As the fighting was beginning to subside Custer began to notice large groups of mounted Indians gathering on nearby hilltops. He quickly learned that Black Kettle's village was only one of the many Indian villages encamped along the river. Fearing an attack he ordered some of his men to take defensive positions while the others were to gather the Indian belongings and horses. What the Americans did not want or could not carry, they destroyed (including about 675 ponies and horses, 200 horses being given to the prisoners).

Custer feared the outlying Indians would find and attack his supply train so near nightfall he began marching toward the other Indian encampments. Seeing that Custer was approaching their villages the surrounding Indians retreated to protect their families from a fate similar to that of Black Kettle's village. At this point Custer turned around and began heading back towards his supply train, which he eventually reached. Thus the Battle of Washita was concluded.

The accounts of the battle

Historical accounts make no mention of Black Kettle’s request to camp as a friendly tribe or of the free fire zone enacted in Kansas. However, some civilians and Indian agent, including the ones who had interviewed Little Rock and thus knew that Black Kettle was guilty, began to say that the battle was a massacre, and that the tribe was friendly.

Custer certainly did not consider Washita a massacre. He does mention that some women took weapons and were subsequently killed. He did leave Washita with women and children prisoners; he did not simply kill every Indian in the village, though he admittedly couldn't avoid killing few women in the middle of the hard fight.

Historian Jerome Greene wrote a book about the encounter in 2004, for the National Park Service. He concluded: "Soldiers evidently took measures to protect the women and children."

Historian Paul Hutton : "Although the fight on the Washita was most assuredly one-sided, it was not a massacre. Black Kettle's Cheyennes were not unarmed innocents living under the impression that they were not at war. Several of Black Kettle's warriors had recently fought the soldiers, and the chief had been informed by Hazen that there could be no peace until he surrendered to Sheridan. The soldiers were not under orders to kill everyone, for Custer personally stopped the slaying of noncombatants, and fifty-three prisoners were taken by the troops."

Another area of comparison between modern and historic accounts is the story of Major Elliot. Elliot, who died in the battle, commanded one of the four columns that attacked the village. Neither the modern nor historic account of the battle can precisely describe the circumstances of his death. One version is that he ventured too far east and was killed while encountering other tribes of Indians. Historic accounts of Elliot's story are similar, as Custer briefly describes in his autobiography. Apparently one of Custer's scouts saw Elliot chase some of the Cheyenne Indians west that were escaping from Black Kettle's village. A difference between the two accounts of the battle is whether Custer searched for Elliot after his disappearance. Custer says he did. "Parties were sent in the direction indicated by the scout, he accompanying them; but after a search extending nearly two miles all the parties returned, reporting their efforts to discover some trace of Elliot and his men fruitless." Sergeant John Ryan wrote in his Memoirs that Custer immediately began to search Elliott with Captain Myer's unit.

The last common point of interest was the loss of the cavalry's great coats. Custer had his men set their coats aside prior to the battle, which allowed the Indians to capture them. Custer admits to this in his account. He had ordered the men to take off their coats so they would have greater maneuverability. Not mentioned in the modern accounts was that Custer's men also had left their rations behind. Custer left a small guard with the coats and rations but the Indian attackers were too numerous and the guard fled. From both the historic and modern accounts we can determine that the cause of the Battle of Washita was either a breakdown in Indian to agent communications which resulted in Indian massacres of settlers.

Depiction in fiction

In the television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, this battle is portrayed as a massacre in the double-episode titled Washita, aired on April 29, 1995.

In the film The Last Samurai, Tom Cruise's character Captain Nathan Algren had nightmares from his participation at the battle.

In the film Little Big Man the battle has a significant role. It is depicted as a massacre.

References

• Brill, Charles J. (1938). Conquest of the Southern Plains; Uncensored Narrative of the Battle of the Washita and Custer's Southern Campaign. Oklahoma City, OK: Golden Saga Publishers.
• Blinn, Richard. (1868). Richard Blinn Diary: Transcript. MMS 1646 mf. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections.
• Custer, George Armstrong. (1874). My Life on the Plains: Or Personal Experiences With the Indians. New York: Sheldon and Company. Also available online from Kansas Collection Books.
• Greene, Jerome A. (2004). Washita, The Southern Cheyenne and the U.S. Army. Campaigns and Commanders Series, vol. 3. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
• Hoig, Stan. (1980). The Battle of the Washita: The Sheridan-Custer Indian Campaign of 1867-69. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
• Senate, Letter to the Secretary of the Interior, Communicating in Compliance with the Resolutions of the Senate of the 14th ultimo, Information in Relation to the Late Battle of the Washita, 40th Congress, 3d Session, 1869. Sen Ex. Doc. 13.
• Michno, Gregory F. (2003). Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes 1850-1890. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company.
• Michno, Gregory F. (2005-12). "Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle." Wild West (magazine). Retrieved through Historynet.com on 2007-06-28.
• New York Times, 27 November – 8 December 1868.
• Roenigk, Adolph. (1933). Pioneer History of Kansas. (Lincoln, KS:) A. Roenigk. Through Kansas Collection Books.

• White, Richard. (1991). "It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own": A New History of the American West. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
• Wilson, Hill P. "Black Kettle’s Last Raid." Transactions of Kansas State Historical Society, VIII.

External links

• Custerwest.org - Excerpts from books, articles relating to Battle of Washita River and related events.
• Washita Battlefield site @ the National Park Service
• Black Kettle Museum @ Oklahoma Historical Society