Wagon Box Fight
On August 2, 1867, Capt. James Powell with a force of 31 men survived repeated attacks by one to two thousand Sioux warriors under the leadership of Red Cloud near Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming Territory. Powell’s defenders, acting as guards for civilian crews cutting wood for the construction of the fort, took refuge in a corral formed by laying 14 wagons end-to-end in an oval configuration. The battle lasted five hours with Powell losing 5 men killed and 2 wounded. Powell reported killing 60 Indians and wounding 120 (although published accounts have put the number of casualties as high as eleven hundred). The disproportionate casualties, and the soldiers survival, was primarily due to the recent addition of Springfield 50-caliber breech-loading rifles that had been supplied as a direct result of the Fetterman massacre; Indian attack strategy was based on the long reloading time of muzzle-loading weapons. The fight lasted throughout the day until a relief force from Fort Kearney arrived.
External Links
http://www.philkearny.vcn.com/wagonboxfight.htm Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site
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