Battle of the Hundred-in-the-Hands

Overview

The Fetterman Fight, also known as the Fetterman Massacre or the Battle of the Hundred-in-the-Hands or the Battle of a Hundred Slain, was a battle during Red Cloud's War on December 21, 1866, between a confederation of the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes and a detachment of the United States Army, based at Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming. The U.S. military mission was intended to protect travelers on the Bozeman Trail. A group of ten warriors, including Crazy Horse, acted to lure a detachment of U.S. soldiers into an ambush. All 81 men under the command of Captain William J. Fetterman were then killed by the Native American warriors. At the time, it was the worst military disaster ever suffered by the U.S. Army on the Great Plains.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Fetterman Fight was the worst military disaster suffered by the U.S. Army on the Great Plains up to that point, with all 81 soldiers under Captain William Fetterman killed by a confederation of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors. The engagement took place in the context of Red Cloud's War, a sustained effort by the Lakota and allied nations to contest U.S. military presence along the Bozeman Trail and force the abandonment of posts such as Fort Phil Kearny. The destruction of Fetterman's entire detachment demonstrated that the Army could not reliably protect the trail or project force from its Wyoming garrisons, and it intensified pressure on the United States to negotiate. The battle stands as a marker of Lakota operational effectiveness during Red Cloud's War and contributed to the conditions that led to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (5)