Battle of the Washita River
Battle of the Washita River | |||||||
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Part of the Indian Wars | |||||||
Battle of Washita from Harper's Weekly, December 19, 1868 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States | Cheyenne | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Joel Elliott † | Black Kettle †[1] | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
574 soldiers | 150 warriors (est.);[2] total camp population 250 (est.)[3] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
21 killed and 13 wounded |
Range of military and civilian scout estimates: * 16 to 140+ men killed * "some" to 75 women and children killed Range of Cheyenne estimates: * 11 to 18 men killed * 17 to "many" women and children killed Total: *Estimates range from 13 to 150 total killed; 53 women and children captured See discussion below for further information and sources. | ||||||
The Battle of the Washita River (also called Battle of the Washita or the Washita Massacre
The Cheyenne camp was the most isolated band of a major winter encampment along the river of numerous Native American tribal bands, totaling thousands of people. Custer's forces attacked the village because scouts had found it by tracking the trail of an Indian party that had raided white settlers. Black Kettle and his people had been at peace and were seeking peace. Custer's soldiers killed women and children in addition to warriors, although they also took many captive to serve as hostages and human shields. The number of Cheyenne killed in the attack has been disputed since the first reports.
Background
After the Southern Cheyenne and
But in summer 1868, war parties of Southern Cheyenne and allied Arapaho,
In 1897, Kansas Rep.
On August 19, 1868, Colonel
Native Americans in November 1868
Winter camps on the Washita River
By early November 1868, Black Kettle's camp joined other Southern Cheyenne and other tribal bands at the Washita River, which they called Lodgepole River, after local pine trees.[8] Black Kettle's village was the westernmost of a series of winter camps, of Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche, and Kiowa-Apache bands, that ran ten to 15 miles along the Washita River.[9]
Black Kettle's village was several miles west of the rest of the camps
Downriver from Black Kettle's camp, the Washita River looped northward in a large oxbow. At its northern portion was the Arapaho camp of
The Kiowa leaders
November 20 meeting at Fort Cobb
In mid-November, a party headed by Black Kettle and Little Robe of the Cheyenne, and Big Mouth and Spotted Wolf of the Arapaho, arrived at Fort Cobb to visit the post trader, William "Dutch Bill" Griffenstein.
Black Kettle began by saying to Hazen, "The Cheyennes, when south of the Arkansas, do not wish to return to the north side because they feared trouble there, but were continually told that they had better go there, as they would be rewarded for so doing."[16] Hardoff notes that by the terms of the Medicine Lodge Treaty, the Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation had the Arkansas River as its northern boundary. In April 1868, the U.S. Army distributed food provisions due the Cheyenne and Arapaho at Fort Larned and Fort Dodge, both north of the Arkansas. On August 9, 1868, they had distributed treaty annuities in the form of arms and ammunition at Fort Larned rather than south of the Arkansas.[17]
Black Kettle continued, asking if he might move his people south to Fort Cobb:
The Cheyennes do not fight at all this side of the Arkansas; they do not trouble Texas, but north of the Arkansas they are almost always at war. When lately north of the Arkansas, some young Cheyennes were fired upon and then the fight began. I have always done my best to keep my young men quiet, but some will not listen, and since the fighting began I have not been able to keep them all at home. But we all want peace, and I would be glad to move all my people down this way; I could then keep them all quietly near camp. My camp is now on the Washita, 40 miles east of the
Antelope Hills, and I have there about 180 lodges. I speak only for my own people; I cannot speak nor control the Cheyenne north of the Arkansas.[16]
Big Mouth of the Arapaho spoke next, saying in part:
I never would have gone north of the Arkansas again, but my father there [the agent] sent for me time after time, saying it was the place for my people, and finally I went. No sooner had we got there than there was trouble. I do not want war, and my people do not, but although we have come back south of the Arkansas, the soldiers follow us and continue fighting, and we want you to send out and stop these soldiers from coming against us.[16]
Hazen's October 13 orders from General William Tecumseh Sherman, commander of the Military Division of the Missouri, had charged Hazen with making provision for Native Americans who wanted to stay out of the war. The orders stated if General Philip Sheridan had to invade the reservation to pursue hostile Native Americans, he needed to spare the "well-disposed". Sherman recommended that non-belligerent Native Americans camp near Fort Cobb. Hazen knew that Sheridan had already declared the Cheyenne and Arapaho to be "hostile", meaning they were subject to attack by the U.S. Army.[18][19] Hazen told the four chiefs he could not make peace with them. He recommended against their coming to Fort Cobb, as their presence would jeopardize the peace of the Kiowa and Comanche already camped there.[20] He told them,
I am sent here as a peace chief; all here is to be peace, but north of the Arkansas is General Sheridan, the great war chief, and I do not control him; and he has all the soldiers who are fighting the Arapahoes and Cheyennes. Therefore, you must go back to your country, and if the soldiers come to fight, you must remember they are not from me, but from that great war chief, and with him you must make peace.[16]
Reporting to Sherman on November 22, Hazen said, "[T]o have made peace with them would have brought to my camp most of those now on the war path south of the Arkansas; and as General Sheridan is to punish those at war and might follow them in afterwards, a second
Black Kettle's return to the Washita
Black Kettle and the other chiefs departed Fort Cobb on about November 21 with food supplied by Griffenstein, traveling through storm conditions. They reached their villages on the Washita on the evening of November 26.[22][24]
The evening before, on November 25, a war party of as many as 150 warriors, which included young men of the camps of Black Kettle, Medicine Arrows, Little Robe, and Old Whirlwind, had returned to the Washita encampments. They had raided white settlements in the Smoky Hill River country with the Dog Soldiers.
Major
Also on November 26, Crow Neck, a returning warrior, told Bad Man (also known as Cranky Man) that he had left an exhausted horse along the trail to rest. When he went back to retrieve the horse that day, he saw moving figures to the north who looked like soldiers. Fearful, he turned back without getting his horse. Bad Man doubted Crow Neck had seen soldiers; he said perhaps he had a guilty conscience from having gone against the chiefs' wishes by joining the war party. Crow Neck told no one else what he had seen, fearing that he might be laughed at, or chastised by Black Kettle for having been part of the raid.[28][29][30]
On the evening of November 26, Black Kettle held a council in his lodge with the principal men of his village to convey what he had learned at Fort Cobb about Sheridan's war plans. Discussion lasted into the early morning hours of November 27. The council decided that after the foot-deep snow cleared, they would send out runners to talk with the soldiers. They wanted to clear up misunderstandings and make it clear that Black Kettle's people wanted peace. Meanwhile, they decided to move camp the next day downriver to be closer to the other Indian camps.[11][31]
According to Moving Behind Woman, who was about 14 at the time of the attack at the Washita camp,[32] Black Kettle's wife Medicine Woman stood outside the lodge for a long time. She was angry that the camp was not moving that night, saying, "I don't like this delay, we could have moved long ago. The Agent sent word for us to leave at once. It seems we are crazy and deaf, and cannot hear."[9][33] Black Hawk's brother White Shield (also known as Gentle Horse) had a vision of a wolf wounded on the right side of its head mourning its little ones, which had been scattered and killed by a powerful enemy. He tried to persuade Black Kettle to move camp immediately, but was unsuccessful. But five of Black Kettle's children (four daughters and a son) moved to the camp of Black Kettle's nephew Whirlwind,[34] which was ten miles downriver (five miles straight-line distance).[35]
Sheridan's offensive
General
Custer's attack
On November 26, 1868, Custer's Osage scouts located the trail of an Indian war party. Custer's troops followed this trail all day without a break until nightfall, when they rested briefly until there was sufficient moonlight to continue. They followed the trail to Black Kettle's village, where Custer divided his force into four parts, moving each into position so that at first daylight they could simultaneously converge on the village.[38] At daybreak, as the columns attacked, Double Wolf awoke and fired his gun to alert the village; he was among the first to die in the charge.[39] The cavalry musicians played "Garryowen" to signal the attack.[40] The Cheyenne warriors hurriedly left their lodges to take cover behind trees and in deep ravines. Custer soon controlled the village, but it took longer to quell all remaining resistance.[41]
The Osage, enemies to the Cheyenne, were at war with most of the Plains tribes. The Osage scouts led Custer toward the village, hearing sounds and smelling smoke from the camp long before the soldiers. The Osage did not participate in the initial attack, fearing that the soldiers would mistake them for Cheyenne and shoot them. Instead, they waited behind the color-bearer of the 7th US Cavalry on the north side of the river until the village was taken. The Osage rode into the village, where they took scalps and helped the soldiers round up fleeing Cheyenne women and children.[42]
Black Kettle and his wife, Medicine Woman, were shot in the back and killed while fleeing on a pony.[43][44] Following the capture of Black Kettle's village, Custer was in a precarious position. As the fighting began to subside, he saw large groups of mounted Indians gathering on nearby hilltops and learned that Black Kettle's village was only one of many Indian encampments along the river, where thousands of Indians had gathered. Fearing an attack, he ordered some of his men to take defensive positions while the others seized the Indians' property and horses. They destroyed what they did not want or could not carry, slaughtering about 675 ponies and horses. They spared 200 horses to carry prisoners.[45]
Near nightfall, fearing the outlying Indians would find and attack his supply train, Custer began marching his forces toward the other encampments. The surrounding Indians retreated, at which point Custer turned around and returned to his supply train.[46]
In his first report of the battle to Gen. Sheridan on November 28, 1868, Custer reported that by "actual and careful examination after the battle", his men had found the bodies of 103 warriors[47] – a figure repeated by Sheridan when he relayed news of the Washita fight to Bvt. Maj. Gen. W.A. Nichols the following day.[48] In fact, no count of the dead had been made.[49][50] The reported number was based on Custer's reports from his officers the day after the attack, during their return to Camp Supply.[49][51] Cheyenne and other Indian estimates of the Indian casualties at the Washita, as well as estimates by Custer's civilian scouts, are much lower.[51]
According to a modern account by the
Custer's abrupt withdrawal without determining the fate of Elliott and the missing troopers darkened Custer's reputation among his peers. There was deep resentment within the 7th Cavalry that never healed.[56] In particular, Frederick Benteen, Eliott's friend and H Company captain, never forgave Custer for "abandoning" Elliott and his troopers. Eight years later, when Benteen failed to race to Custer's aid at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, his actions were closely examined in light of his long-standing anger toward Custer for the events at the Washita River.[57]
Role of Indian noncombatants in Custer's strategy
The Southern Cheyenne encampment on the Washita River comprised a key component in Custer's field strategy – Indian noncombatants included many women, children, and the elderly or disabled.[58] Custer targeted them for capture to serve as hostages and human shields. Custer's battalions intended to "ride into the camp and secure noncombatant hostages"[59] and "forc[e] the warriors to surrender".[60] Custer demonstrated the value at the Battle of the Washita of a strategy that used "capture[d] women and children" to "neutralize" the Southern Cheyenne superiority in numbers over the US military.[58]
Author James Donovan describes the 53 women and children seized at the Washita as "captives" or "prisoners." They were used by Custer to ensure the escape of his regiment as Cheyenne forces from nearby villages began "pressing his position".[61] Historian Jerome Greene spelled out their function: "... fifty-three women and children taken captive at the Washita served as assurance against attack from the downriver [Indians] during Custer's extrication of his command from the scene late on November 27."[62] As Custer advanced with his regiment in a mock assault – mounted women and children hostages riding among his troops – the warriors dispersed, "afraid that shots directed against the column might hit the prisoners".[63]
Larry Sklenar, in his narrative of the Washita battle, also describes the role of "hostages" as human shields:
Custer probably could not have pulled off this tactical coup [at the Washita] had he not had in his possession the fifty-some women and children captives. Although not hostages in the narrowest meaning of the word, doubtlessly it occurred to Custer that the family-oriented [Cheyenne] warriors would not attack the Seventh [Cavalry] with the women and children marching in [the middle of his column].[64]
Custer provided the military logic for tactical use of human shields in his book My Life on the Plains, published two years before the Battle of the Little Big Horn:
Indians contemplating a battle, either offensive or defensive, are always anxious to have their women and children removed from all danger…For this reason I decided to locate our [military] camp as close as convenient to [Chief Black Kettle's Cheyenne] village, knowing that the close proximity of their women and children, and their necessary exposure in case of conflict, would operate as a powerful argument in favor of peace, when the question of peace or war came to be discussed.[65]
General Phil Sheridan, commander of the Department of the Missouri, issued orders for the Washita River expedition, including the following: "to destroy [Indian] villages and ponies, to kill or hang all warriors, and to bring back all woman and children [survivors]."[66] The purpose of this "total war" strategy[67] was to make "all segments of Indian society experience the horrors of war as fully as the warriors".[68]
Benjamin "Ben" Clark, the highly regarded[69] scout and guide attached to the Seventh Cavalry, recalled that women and children were not spared being killed at the Washita: "[T]he regiment galloped through the tepees ... firing indiscriminately and killing men and women alike."[70] One cavalry unit was seen pursuing "a group of women and children," shooting at them and "killing them without mercy".[71] Lieutenant Edward Godfrey observed that soldiers made no effort "to prevent hitting women" during the attack.[72]
Ben Clark reported "the loss of seventy-five [Cheyenne] warriors dead, and fully as many women and children killed".[73] Greene notes that "all warriors who lay wounded in the village – presumably no matter the extent of their injuries" were (according to Clark's testimony) "promptly shot to death".[62] This was consistent with Sheridan's orders to kill or summarily hang all [captured] warriors.[70] The Seventh Cavalry tactical engagement of noncombatants contributed to the effective "destruction"[74] of Black Kettle's village – it "ceased to exist".[75]
Colonel
Controversies
Indian casualties at the Washita
The number of Indian casualties at the Washita reported by Custer has been controversial.[49] In his first report of the battle to Gen. Sheridan on November 28, 1868, Custer reported that by "actual and careful examination after the battle," the bodies of 103 warriors were found[47][49] – a figure echoed by Sheridan when from Camp Supply he relayed news of the Washita fight to Bvt. Maj. Gen. W.A. Nichols the following day.[48] In fact, no battlefield count of the dead was made.[49][50] According to Lt. Edward S. Godfrey, no estimate of Indian warrior fatalities was made until the evening of the day following the battle, after the soldiers made camp during their march back to Camp Supply.[49] "On [the] second night [after the battle]," Godfrey told interviewer Walter M. Camp in 1917, "Custer interrogated the officers as to what Indians they had seen dead in the village, and it was from these reports that the official report of Indians killed was made up. The dead Indians on the field were not counted by the troops then, but guessed at later, as explained."[78]
In his 1928 memoir, Godfrey related, "After supper in the evening, the officers were called together and each one questioned as to the casualties of enemy warriors, locations, etc. Every effort was made to avoid duplications. The total was found to be one hundred and three."[79] Captain Benteen stated, in annotations to his personal copy of W.L. Holloway's Wild Life on the Plains and Horrors of Indian Warfare, that "Custer assembled the officers to inquire of each how many dead Indians each had seen; then what each had seen were added. They had all seen the same dead Indians." [emphasis in original].[49]
John Poisal and Jack Fitzpatrick, mixed-blood scouts attached to the Seventh Cavalry,[49] reported a different number of Indian casualties to scout J.S. Morrison when they arrived at Fort Dodge with the Cheyenne prisoners.[80] In a letter to Indian Agent Col. Edward W. Wynkoop on December 14, 1868, Morrison wrote,
John Smith, John Poysell [Poisal], and Jack Fitzpatrick have got in today. John S. was not in the [Washita] fight, but John P. and Jack were. They all agree in stating that the official reports of the fight were very much exaggerated; that there were not over twenty bucks killed; the rest, about 40, were women and children.[81]
The Cheyenne prisoners, interviewed by Gen. Sheridan at Camp Supply, reported 13 Cheyenne men, two Sioux, and one Arapaho killed at the Washita,[49] a figure which Sheridan subsequently reported to Bvt. Maj. Gen. Nichols.[82] The journalist DeB. Randolph Keim interviewed the women prisoners with the help of interpreter Richard Curtis. He obtained the names of those killed and arrived at the same figure of 13 Cheyenne, two Sioux, and one Arapaho killed.[83] Later information from various Cheyenne sources, most of them independent of each other, tended to confirm the figures given by the Cheyenne women prisoners.[49] Few of the military reports noted casualties among the women and children. Custer acknowledged in his report, "In the excitement of the fight, as well as in self-defence, it so happened that some of the squaws and a few of the children were killed and wounded...."[47]
After Custer and Sheridan visited the battlefield in December, Custer revised his initial estimate of 103 warriors killed upward. He wrote from Fort Cobb,
The Indians admit a loss of 140 killed, besides a heavy loss of wounded. This, with the Indian prisoners we have in our possession, makes the entire loss of the Indian in killed, wounded, and missing not far from 300.[84]
Hoig points out that if true, the number would mean that virtually everyone in Black Kettle's village was killed or captured.[50] Greene states, "Custer's figures were inflated, and the specific sources of his information remain unknown."[51]
Hardorff notes questions about this total.
This new number was based on information obtained from two imprisoned Kiowa chiefs at Fort Cobb who faced death by hanging. In view of their predicament, it seems likely that these men would have said anything to avoid the gallows. But such skepticism is not warranted in the case of the Washita prisoners. The Cheyenne women were allowed to mingle freely with the officers and knew many of them on an intimate basis. They were assured good treatment and had no apparent reason to distort their statements about dead kinsmen.[49]
Greene finds the Cheyenne and other Indian estimates most reliable. He writes, "As might be expected, the best estimates must come from the people who suffered the losses," though noting, "even these do not agree."[51] Utley, however, writes, "Indian calculations – a dozen warriors and twice as many women and children killed – are as improbably low as Custer's are high."[85] Hoig writes, "Even though the number 103 was not arrived at by a precise battlefield count, it is a definite figure which has already been placed on historical markers of the battlefield. Since it will likely never be proved absolutely incorrect, the figure will undoubtedly remain accepted as the number of Indians killed by Custer at the Washita. History should make it clear, however, that the dead were by no means all warriors who were met in open battle and defeated."[86]
Several of the Cheyenne accounts provide names of men killed at the Washita.[83][87][88][89][90] In his book on the Washita, Greene provides an appendix of "Known Village Fatalities at the Washita." He compiled a list of all unique names, for a total of 40 men, 12 women (of whom 11 are unidentified), and six unidentified children. Greene notes that some individuals might have more than one name, so some entries might be duplicates.[91] Using the same sources, Richard G. Hardorff has compiled a "Composite List of Names." It partially reconciles multiple names (or multiple translations of the same name) among the different sources; for example, the Mexican Pilan, with Indian names White Bear and Tall White Man; or Bitter Man/Cranky Man, also known as Bad Man. Writes Hardorff, "Some of the dead may have been identified by their birth name by one informant and by their nickname by another. Variations in the translation of personal names add to the confusion in the identification...."[92]
Estimates of Indian casualties in the Battle of the Washita according to contemporary sources | |||||||||
Source | Date of estimate | Men | Women | Children | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lt. Col. G.A. Custer, 7th Cavalry[47] | November 28, 1868 | 103 | some | few | 103+ | ||||
Women captives, via interpreter Richard Curtis and New York Herald reporter DeB. Randolph Kleim[83] | December 1, 1868 | 13 Cheyenne 2 Sioux 1 Arapaho |
n/a | n/a | 16 | ||||
Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, Division of the Missouri[82] | December 3, 1868 | 13 Cheyenne 2 Sioux 1 Arapaho |
n/a | n/a | 16 | ||||
Black Eagle (Kiowa), via interpreter Philip McCusker[27] | December 3, 1868 | 11 Cheyenne 3 Arapaho |
many | many | 14+ | ||||
Capt. Henry E. Alvord, 10th Cavalry[93][94] | December 12, 1868 (rev. April 4, 1874) |
80 Cheyenne 1 Comanche 1 Kiowa |
n/a | n/a | 81 (82) | ||||
John Poisal and Jack Fitzpatrick, scouts attached to 7th Cavalry, via J.S. Morrison[81] | December 14, 1868 | 20 | 40 women and children |
60 | |||||
Lt. Col. G.A. Custer, 7th Cavalry[84] | December 22, 1868 | 140 | some | few | 140+ | ||||
Unidentified Cheyennes, via Col. Benjamin H. Grierson, 10th Cavalry[95] | April 6, 1869 | 18 | n/a | n/a | 18 | ||||
Red Moon, Minimic, Gray Eyes, Little Robe (Cheyenne) via Vincent Colyer, Special Indian Commissioner[96] | April 9, 1869 | 13 | 16 | 9 | 38 | ||||
Benjamin H. Clark, chief of scouts attached to 7th Cavalry[97] | 1899 | 75 | 75 women and children |
150 | |||||
Dennis Lynch, private, 7th Cavalry[98] | 1909 | 106 | some | n/a | 106+ | ||||
Med Elk Pipe, Red Shin (?) via George Bent/George Hyde[87] | 1913 | 11 | 12 | 6 | 29 | ||||
Crow Neck (?), via George Bent/George Bird Grinnell[88] | 1914 | 11 Cheyenne 2 Arapaho 1 Mexican |
10 Cheyenne 2 Sioux |
5 | 31 | ||||
Packer/She Wolf (Cheyenne), via George Bent[89] | 1916 | 10 Cheyenne 2 Arapaho 1 Mexican |
n/a | n/a | 13 | ||||
Magpie/Little Beaver (Cheyenne), via Charles Brill[99] | 1930 | 15 | n/a | n/a | 15 | ||||
Source: Appendix G table, "Aggregate Totals", Hardorff 2006, p. 403. Source table modified by arranging in chronological order, providing sources for each estimate, and color-coding to differentiate between type of source. | |||||||||
|
Battle or massacre?
Following the event, a controversy arose as to whether the event was best described as a military victory or as a massacre. This discussion endures among historians to this day.[100]
The Indian Bureau described the event as a "massacre of innocent Indians", and humanitarian groups denounced it as "cold-blooded butchery".[100] The Cheyenne survivors considered it a horrifying event that gravely impacted their lives and community; the loss of many tribal elders, in particular, was profoundly damaging to Cheyenne families and society. Modern Cheyenne consider the event a massacre and are campaigning to change the name of the historical site to reflect that view.[101]
Custer himself did not consider Washita a massacre, stating that he did not kill every Indian in the village, though he said his forces could not avoid killing a few women in the middle of the hard fight. He said that some women took up weapons and were subsequently killed and that he took women and children prisoners.[102] In his book about the encounter, published in 2004 for the National Park Service, historian Jerome Greene concluded that "Soldiers evidently took measures to protect the women and children."[102]
By early December 1868, the attack had provoked debate and criticism in the press. In the December 9 Leavenworth Evening Bulletin, an article noted: "Gen. S. Sandford and Tappan, and Col. Taylor of the Indian Peace Commission, unite in the opinion that the late battle with the Indians was simply an attack upon peaceful bands, which were on the march to their new reservations". The December 14
In Custer's direct frontal assault on an armed and ostensibly hostile encampment, the only fatality in the 7th Cavalry in the fighting in the village itself was squadron commander Captain Louis McLane Hamilton, a grandson of American founding father Alexander Hamilton.[103][104] The rest of the dead were with the detached command of Maj. Joel Elliott, who (as noted above) were killed more than a mile from the fighting in the village.[103] Companies A and D, composed of 120 officers and men, suffered only four wounded in the assault, and attacking Companies C and K, also totaling 120 officers and men, suffered no casualties.[103]
Historian Paul Andrew Hutton wrote, "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."[105]
Historian Joseph B. Thoburn considers the destruction of Black Kettle's village too one-sided to be called a battle. He reasons that had a superior force of Indians attacked a white settlement containing no more people than were in Black Kettle's camp, with like results, the incident would doubtless have been heralded as "a massacre".[100] Historian Stan Hoig argues that the conflict fit the definition of a massacre because a group of people, even one in possession of weapons as the Cheyenne were, were killed "indiscriminately, mercilessly and in large numbers".[106]
In popular culture
During the late 20th century, a time of activism for Native American and minority
John Jakes described the battle as a massacre in the final book of the North and South trilogy, Heaven and Hell, published in 1987.[110]
The 1991 television film
The television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman aired a special double-episode entitled "Washita" on April 29, 1995.[111] The episode set the scene of the Washita attack in Colorado instead of Oklahoma, the site of the battle. It fictionalized Custer as deliberately misleading Colorado settlers about the difference between Black Kettle and his band, depicted as peaceful, and the Dog Soldiers, who were attacking farms and railroad crews. Lead character Dr. Michaela "Mike" Quinn made futile attempts to argue with Custer and to warn Black Kettle of impending massacre.
In the 2003 film The Last Samurai,[112] Tom Cruise plays Captain Nathan Algren, a veteran of the 7th Cavalry of the 1860s. His participation in the Washita action, depicted as a massacre, leaves him haunted by nightmares.
In season 6, episode 2 of the television show Rawhide, "Incident of the Iron Bull", James Whitmore plays a mythical colonel who commanded the US troopers at Washita. His participation leaves him mentally unbalanced.
See also
- Clara Blinn
- Sand Creek Massacre
- List of battles fought in Oklahoma
References
- ^ Black Kettle and Little Rock were the two known chiefs in the village that was attacked, and both were killed. However, as chiefs they were not military commanders. According to George Bent, "The whites have the wrong idea about Indian chiefs. Among the Plains Indians a chief was elected as a peace and civil officer and there was no such office as war chief. What the whites call war chiefs were only warriors of distinction.... But the Indian idea of a chief is not a fighter, but a peace maker." Bent 1968, p. 324.
- ^ Greene 2004, p. 111.
- ^ Greene 2004, p. 103.
- ISBN 0-8032-2307-2.
- ^ Library, Oklahoma State University. "INDIAN AFFAIRS: LAWS AND TREATIES. Vol. 2, Treaties". digital.library.okstate.edu. Archived from the original on June 29, 2009. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ^ Moore, January 19, 1897, p. 350.
- ^ "Report of an interview between E. W. Wynkoop, US Indian Agent, and Little Rock, a Cheyenne Chief Held at Fort Larned, Kansas, August 19, 1868.", Bureau of Indian Affairs, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. Published in U.S. Senate, Letter of the Secretary of the Interior, Communicating in Compliance with the Resolution of the Senate of the 14th ultimo, Information in Relation to the Late Battle of Washita River|. 40th Cong., 3d sess., 1869. S. Exec. Doc. 40. Available wholly or in part in Hoig (1980), pp. 47–50; Custer 1874, pp. 105–107; Greene 2004, pp. 52–53; Hardorff 2006, pp. 45–49.
- ^ a b c d Greene 2004, pp. 102.
- ^ a b c d e Hoig 1980, p. 93.
- ^ a b Greene 2004, pp. 103
- ^ a b c Hoig 1980, p. 94.
- ^ a b Hardorff 2006, p. 276 note 1.
- ^ a b Hoig 1980, p. 89.
- ^ Hardorff 2006, p. 289 note 1.
- ^ Hardorff 2006, p. 307 note 9.
- ^ a b c d Hazen, W.B. (November 20, 1868). "Record of a conversation held between Colonel and Brevet Major General W. B. Hazen, U.S. Army, on special service, and chiefs of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Native Americans, at Fort Cobb, Indian Territory, November 20, 1868." In U.S. Senate 1869 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, pp. 22–23. Excerpted in Hoig 1980, pp. 89–92; Greene 2004, p. 107; Hatch 2004, p. 240; Hardorff 2006, pp. 55–57.
- ^ Hardorff 2006, p. 56 note 2.
- ^ Hoig 1980, p. 91.
- ^ Greene 2004, pp. 106.
- ^ Greene 2004, pp. 107.
- ^ a b c Hazen, W.B. (November 22, 1868). Letter to Lt. Gen. William T. Sherman, U.S. Army. In U.S. Senate 1869 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, pp. 24–25
- ^ a b Hoig 1980, p. 92.
- ^ Hoig 1980, p. 92-93.
- ^ Greene 2004, pp. 108–109.
- ^ Greene 2004, pp. 109–110.
- ^ Greene 2004, pp. 110.
- ^ a b McCusker, Philip [U.S. interpreter for Kiowas and Comanches]. (December 3, 1868). Report to Col. Thomas Murphy, Superintendent for Indian Affairs. In U.S. House of Representatives 1870 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, pp. 7–8; Hazen 1925, pp. 310–311. Archived December 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Brill 2002, p. 137.
- ^ Hardorff 2006, p. 15.
- ^ Greene 2004, p. 238 note 24.
- ^ Greene 2004, pp. 109.
- ^ Hardorff 2006, p. 323.
- ^ Ediger, Theodore A. and Vinnie Hoffman. (1955). "Some Reminiscences of the Battle of the Washita: Moving Behind's Story of the Battle of the Washita" Archived October 10, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Chronicles of Oklahoma 33(2): 137–141. Reprinted in Hardorff 2006, pp. 323–328.
- ^ Riggs, Stacy. (November 18, 1936). "Account of Black Kettle's Daughter As Told To and Related by Her Son, Stacy Riggs." In Hardorff 2006, pp. 318–320.
- ^ Hardorff 2006, p. 318 note 4.
- ^ a b c Nevin 1973, p. 36.
- ^ a b c Stewart 2005, p. 330.
- ^ Hoig 1980, p. 124.
- ^ Greene 2004, p. 129.
- ^ Nevin 1973, p. 38.
- ^ Greene 2004, pp 128–130.
- ^ at 0:42. National Park Service: Washita Battlefield trail marker #8 audio
- ^ Lewis, 2004, p. 231
- ^ "National Park Service, 1999".
- ^ Greene 2004, p. 126.
- ^ Greene 2004, p. 128.
- ^ a b c d Custer, George Armstrong. (November 28, 1868). Report to Maj. Gen. P.H. Sheridan. In U.S. Senate 1869 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, pp. 27–29; U.S. House of Representatives 1870 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, pp. 162–165. Reproduced in Cozzens 2003, pp. 394–397; Hardorff 2006, pp. 60–65.
- ^ a b Sheridan, Philip H. (November 29, 1868). Report to Brevet Maj. Gen. W.A. Nichols, Assistant Adjutant General, Military Division of the Missouri. In U.S. Senate 1869 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, p. 32; U.S. House of Representatives 1870 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, pp. 146–147.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hardorff 2006, pp. 78–79, note 15.
- ^ a b c Hoig 1980, p. 200.
- ^ a b c d Greene 2004, p. 136.
- ^ a b Wert 1996, p. 276.
- ^ Wert 1996, p. 275.
- ^ Hatch 2002, p. 90.
- ^ Wert 1996 p. 273.
- ^ Utley, Frontier Regulars, p. 157-158. The bodies of Elliott and his men were not found by the 7th Cavalry until December 9, 1868.
- ISBN 9781444351095. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
- ^ a b Fox, Richard Allan, Jr., Archeology, History and Custer's Last Battle. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press (1993) p. 297
- ^ Donovan, James, A Terrible Glory. Little, Brown and Company (2008). p. 253.
- ^ Robinson, Charles M., A Good Year to Die. Random House Publishing (1995). p. 257
- ^ Donovan, James, A Terrible Glory. Little, Brown and Company (2008). p. 64
- ^ a b Greene 2004, p. 136
- ^ Greene 2004, pp. 183–184
- ^ Sklenar, Larry. To Hell with Honor: Custer and the Little Bighorn, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman (2000) p. 35
- ^ Custer, George Armstrong, My Life on the Plains: Or, Personal Experiences with Indians. New York: Sheldon and Company (1874). p. 220
- ^ Donovan, James, A Terrible Glory. Little, Brown and Company (2008). pp. 62–63
- ^ Donovan, James, A Terrible Glory. Little, Brown and Company (2008). p. 62
- ^ Sklenar, Larry. To Hell with Honor: Custer and the Little Bighorn, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman (2000) p. 32
- ^ Greene 2004, pp. 93–94
- ^ a b Donovan, James, A Terrible Glory. Little, Brown and Company (2008). p. 63
- ^ Greene 2004, p. 119
- ^ Greene 2004, p. 189
- ^ Greene 2004, p. 137
- ^ Connell, Evan S. 1984, 2004 p. 200
- ^ Greene 2004, p. 184
- ^ Hutton, Paul Andrew (ed.), Soldiers West: Biographies from the Military Frontier. University of Nebraska Press (1987) p. 179
- ^ "The Handbook of Texas Online". (2010)
- ^ Camp, Walter M. (March 3, 1917). Interview of Lt. Edward S. Godfrey. In Hardorff 2006, pp. 130–131.
- ^ Godfrey, Edward S. (1928). "Some Reminiscences, Including the Washita Battle", The Cavalry Journal 37(153): 481–500 (October). Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, p. 132-147. The quotation is found on p. 145. See also: Godfrey, Edward S. (1929). "The Washita Campaign", Winners of the West 6(5–8) (April–July), reproduced in Cozzens 2003, pp. 339–354; an almost identical statement appears on p. 352.
- ^ Hardorff 2006, p. 282.
- ^ a b Morrison, J.S. (December 14, 1868). Letter to Col. Edward W. Wynkoop. Reproduced in full in Brill 2002, pp. 313–314. Reproduced in part in U.S. House of Representatives 1870, p. 11 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine and Hardorff 2006, pp. 283–284.
- ^ a b Sheridan, Philip H. (December 3, 1868). Report to Brevet Maj. Gen. W.A. Nichols, Assistant Adjutant General, Military Division of the Missouri. In U.S. Senate 1869 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, pp.34–35. Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 275–277.
- ^ a b c Keim, DeB. Randolph. (December 24, 1868). "The Indian War." New York Herald. (Dispatch written from Camp Supply, December 1, 1868). Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 297–398.
- ^ a b Custer, George Armstrong. (December 22, 1868). Report to Brevet Lt. Col. J. Schuyler Crosby. In U.S. House of Representatives 1870 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, pp. 155–162. Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 66–79.
- ^ Utley 2001, p. 70.
- ^ Hoig 1980, p. 201.
- ^ a b Bent, George. (August 28, 1913). Letter to George Hyde. Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 398–399. Also in Hyde's 1967 Life of George Bent, Written From His Letters, p. 322.
- ^ a b Grinnell, George Bird. (October 3, 1916). Letter to W.M. Camp. Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 399–400. Grinnell's letter states his information comes from a letter from George Bent "written two or three years ago." The Mexican, White Bear, "was a Mexican captive, purchased by William Bent" (George Bent's father). According to Hardorff, White Bear, also known as Pilan, was married to a Cheyenne woman and may have been a trader working for Fort Cobb post trader William Griffenstein. Hardorff 2006, p. 210 note 9.
- ^ a b Bent, George. (December 4, 1916). Letter to W.M. Camp. Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 400–401. The name of the Mexican killed was here given as Pilan. According to Hardorff, Pilan, known to the Cheyenne as White Bear, was married to a Cheyenne woman and may have been a trader working for Fort Cobb post trader William Griffenstein. Hardorff 2006, p. 210 note 9.
- ^ Hyde 1968, p. 322.
- ^ Greene 2004, pp. 212–214.
- ^ Hardorff 2006, p. 402.
- ^ Alvord, Henry E. (December 7, 1868). "Summary of Information Regarding Hostile Indians, Semi-Weekly Report No. 5." In U.S. Senate 1869 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, pp. 35–37; U.S. House of Representatives 1870 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, pp. 151–153. Excerpted in Hardorff 2006, p. 268.
- ^ Alvord, Henry E. (April 4, 1874). Letter to W.B. Hazen. Hazen 1925, pp. 310–311. Archived December 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Excerpted in Hardorff 2006, p. 269. Here, Alvord added one warrior killed to those originally estimated killed in his December 1868 intelligence report.
- ^ Grierson, Benjamin H. (April 6, 1869). Letter to John Kirk. Excerpted in Hardorff 2006, pp. 286–287.
- ^ Colyer, Vincent. (April 9, 1869). Inspection report to Felix B. Brunot, Commissioner, April 9 entry. In Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 41st Congress, 2nd session, Executive Document. Excerpted in Hardorff 2006, pp. 367–371.
- ^ Clark, Ben. (May 14, 1899). "Custer's Washita Fight" (interview). New York Sun. Reproduced in Hardoff 2006, pp. 204–215; casualty estimate on p. 208.
- ^ Camp, Walter M. (February 8, 1909). Interview of Dennis Lynch, private, 7th Cavalry. In Hardorff 2006, pp. 184–188.
- ^ Magpie [Cheyenne]. (November 23, 1930). Interview by Charles Brill et al., September 17. Daily Oklahoman. Reproduced in Hardorff 2006, pp. 302–311. Casualty estimate on p. 310.
- ^ a b c Hardorff 2006, p. 29.
- ^ Hardorff 2006 p.31
- ^ a b Greene 2004, page 189.
- ^ a b c Hatch 2002, page 81
- ^ "In Memory of Captain Louis McLane Hamilton" (PDF). Chronicles of Oklahoma. 37. Oklahoma Historical Society: 355–359. 1959. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 23, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- ^ The Custer Reader, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 102
- ^ Hardorff 2006, p. 30.
- ^ Little Big Man (film). Directed by Arthur Penn. Based on novel by Thomas Berger. Written by Calder Willingham. Produced by Stuart Millar. Performers Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Chief Dan George, Martin Balsam, Richard Mulligan. Cinema Center Films, 1970.
- ^ Fuller, Graham. (March 5, 2000). "Sending Out a Search Party for the Western", New York Times, p. 2.13.
- ^ Dancis, Bruce. (2003-5-02). "A shift to the rights: Sympathetic depiction of Indians in 'Little Big Man' is no small thing", The Sacramento Bee.
- ^ Quirk, Rory. (October 17, 1987). "AFTER JOHNNY CAME MARCHING HOME", Washington Post
- ^ "Washita." Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman (television series). CBS Broadcasting, Inc. Original broadcast April 29, 1995.
- ^ The Last Samurai (film). Directed by Edward Zwick. Written by John Logan, Edward Zwick, and Marshall Herskovitz. Produced by Tom Cruise. Performers Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe. Warner Brothers, 2003.
Sources
- Brill, Charles J. (2002). Conquest of the Southern Plains; Uncensored Narrative of the Battle of the Washita and Custer's Southern Campaign. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3416-X. Originally published in 1938 (Oklahoma City, OK: Golden Saga Publishers).
- Connell, Evan S. (1984). Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn. New York: North Point Press. ISBN 978-0-86547-160-3.
- Cozzens, Peter, ed. (2003). Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars, Volume Three: Conquering the Southern Plains. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-0019-4.
- 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 U.S. Army and the Southern Cheyenne, 1867–1869. Campaigns and Commanders Series, vol. 3. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3551-4.
- Hardorff, Richard G., compiler & editor (2006). Washita Memories: Eyewitness Views of Custer's Attack on Black Kettle's Village. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3759-2.
- Hatch, Thom. (2004). Black Kettle: The Cheyenne Chief Who Sought Peace but Found War. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-44592-4.
- Hatch, Thom. (2002). The Custer Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to the Life of George Armstrong. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-0477-7.
- Hazen, W.B. (1874). "Some Corrections of 'Life on the Plains.'" St. Paul, MN: Ramaley & Cunningham. Reprinted with editorial introduction in Chronicles of Oklahoma 3(4): 295–318 (December 1925).
- Hoig, Stan. (1980). The Battle of the Washita: The Sheridan-Custer Indian Campaign of 1867–69. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-385-11274-2.
- Hyde, George E. (1968). Life of George Bent Written from His Letters. Ed. by Savoie Lottinville. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-1577-7.
- Lewis, Jon E., ed. (2004). The Mammoth Book of Native Americans: The Story of America's Original Inhabitants in All Its Beauty, Magic, Truth, and Tragedy. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-1290-2.
- Moore, Horace L. (January 19, 1897). "The Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry in the Washita Campaign." Address before the 21st annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical Society. Kansas Historical Collections, vol. VI. Reprinted in Chronicles of Oklahoma 2(4): 350–365 (December 1924).
- National Park Service. (1999–11). "The Story of the Battle of the Washita", Washita Battlefield National Historic Site, National Park Service.
- National Park Service. (August 10, 2006). "Frequently Asked Questions", Washita Battlefield National Historic Site, National Park Service.
- Nevin, David (1973). The Old West: Soldiers. New York: Time-Life Books.
- New York Times, November 27 – December 8, 1868.
- Stewart, Richard W., editor. (2005). "Winning the West: The Army in the Indian Wars 1865–1890." Archived July 1, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Chapter 14 in American Military History, Volume 1: The United States Army and the Forging of a Nation, 1775–1917 Archived July 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, pp. 321–340. Washington, DC: United States Army, Center of Military History. CMH Pub 30–21. pp. 328–331 includes a brief account of the Army's campaigns in the southern plains, including the Battle of Washita River.
- United States Army Center of Military History. (October 3, 2003). "Named Campaigns — Indian Wars." Archived November 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Washington, DC: United States Army, Center of Military History. Retrieved on July 6, 2007.
- U.S. House of Representatives. (1870). Difficulties with Indian Tribes. 41st Congress, 2nd session, House Executive Document 240.
- U.S. Senate. (1869a). Letter of the Secretary of the Interior, Communicating, in Compliance with the Resolution of the Senate of the 14th ultimo, Information in Relation to the Late Battle of the Washita River. 40th Congress, 3rd Session, 1869, Senate Executive Document 13.
- U.S. Senate. (1869b). Documents Related to the Indian Battle on the Washita River in November 1868. 40th Congress, 3rd Session, 1869, Senate Executive Document 18.
- Utley, Robert M. (2001). Cavalier in Buckskin: George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military Frontier, rev. ed. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3387-2.
- Wert, Jeffry D. (1996). Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer, New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81043-3.
Further reading
- Blinn, Richard. (1868). Richard Blinn Diary: Transcript. MMS 1646 mf. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections.
- Frost, Lawrence A. (1990). The Custer Album: A Pictorial Biography of General George A. Custer. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2282-X. Originally published 1964.
- Garlington, E. A. (1896). "The Seventh Regiment of Cavalry." In Theophilus F. Rodenboguh and William L. Haskin, eds. The Army of the United States: Historical Sketches of Staff and Line with Portraits of Generals-in-Chief. Archived April 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine New York: Maynard, Merrill, & Co., pp. 251–257. Online version dated October 30, 2002 through the United States Army Center of Military History, retrieved on June 29, 2007.
- Godfrey, Edward S. (1928). "Extract of Narrative Account — 1928." Richard G. Hardorff, ed. Washita Memories: Eyewitness Views of Custer's Attack on Black Kettle's Village (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2006), 132–146. Originally published in The Cavalry Journal, October 1928.
- Grinnell, George Bird. (1972). "The Battle of the Washita, 1868." pp. 37–49 in Richard Ellis, ed., The Western American Indian: Case Studies in Tribal History. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-0804-9.
- Grinnell, George Bird. (1983). The Fighting Cheyennes. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. First published 1914. ISBN 1-58218-390-2.
- Michno, Gregory F. (2003). Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes 1850–1890. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87842-468-7.
- Michno, Gregory F. (2005–12). "Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle." Wild West (magazine). Retrieved through Historynet.com on June 28, 2007.
- Roenigk, Adolph. (1933). Pioneer History of Kansas. (Lincoln, KS:) A. Roenigk. Through Kansas Collection Books.
- Utley, Robert M. (1973). Frontier Regulars: The United States Army and the Indian 1866–1891, Macmillan Publishing. Bison Press 1984 edition: ISBN 0-8032-9551-0
- White, Richard. (1991). ISBN 0-8061-2567-5.
- Wilson, Hill P. (1904). "Black Kettle’s Last Raid." Transactions of the Kansas State Historical Society 8: 110–117.
External links
- Washita Battlefield National Historic Site, U.S. National Park Service
- HistoryNet Historical articles (including Michno's article on Black Kettle)