Battle of Washita River

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). 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. A recent book by historian Jerome Greene helps to show what happened there by using US and Native American accounts of the event.

The causes

The historical accounts which depict the events leading to the Battle of Washita make mention of two noteworthy items. First, was that there was a break down in communication between the Indians and their agent. Philip Sheridan describes this in his 1868 annual report writing, “Troops were sent twice or three times to Cobb, on requisition of the agent, who appeared to be constantly in trouble, either through his own fault or that of the Indians—most probably the latter, as they told me they did not like him….” The second item involves the raiding of Kansas and Colorado which resulted in the loss of American lives and property. Sheridan lists seventy-five citizens killed in his annual report and describes the loss of property as five thousand head of cattle and “… settlements … driven in and ranches abandoned, making the damage done to all interests very large.” To deal with the delinquent Indians Sheridan, with Custer in his command, devised a plan to destroy the Indian’s winter provisions subsequently forcing them onto the reservations.

After the raiding of Kansas began (or the Solomon and Saline River Massacres, in which more than 200 civilians were killed by the Cheyennes and several raped and caught prisoners), a free-fire zone was established and all non-hostile Indians were ordered to move south to the Washita River. Washita was a desirable wintering location for several reasons. Among these was that along the north bank of the river there were tall bluffs which served as a natural wind block while abundant grasslands covered the southern portion of the river offering good feed for Indian horses. Richard White describes Black Kettle’s arrival to the Washita River valley thus: "Black Kettle, the survivor of Sand Creek, journeyed to the Washita, seeking to include his band among the friendlies. But since many of his young men were raiding, the Americans rebuffed him. He made camp at the Washita anyway…"

Black Kettle's raids against Kansas

On August 10 1868, 200 Cheyenne warriors retaliated in anger to massacres perpetrated by the U.S. government. Massacres - which included rapes, mutiliations, were confirmed in such raids as the Sand Creek Massacre where over 184 men, women, and children were wontonly murdered in 1864. The other Indians encamped along the Washita felt Black Kettle was unlucky after his misfortune at Sand Creek and made his group camp at the western end of the winter encampments over two miles from the other camp.

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 may 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) testified that as many as 11 warchiefs and headmen were killed that day. Custer wrote that Indian losses in warriors should have been much greater than 103, probably 130 warriors killed (some sources stated that 150 warriors were killed). Between 19 and 25 civilians have been killed''' according to Washita prisoners and Kiowas witnesses. Osage scouts left Washita with Black Kettle’s scalp. 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. 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 turns around and begins heading back towards his supply train which he eventually reaches. Thus the Battle of Washita ends.

The accounts of the event

Historical accounts make no mention Black Kettle’s request to camp as a friendly tribe or of the free fire zone enacted in Kansas. In this sense the historical documents seem biased toward the Americans. While the historical documents tend to lean towards the American perspective, modern accounts, in describing the events prior to the battle, seem to remain largely objective and neutral.

The modern accounts of the Battle of Washita, and Richard White’s work It’s Your Misfortune and None of My Own, tend to lose their neutrality while describing the battle. Richard White illustrates this trend by describing the battle as “Once more American soldiers attacked a Cheyenne village that consisted largely of women and children.” This is further demonstrated when Custer was described as being lucky to survive the battle. Since Custer’s own account of the battle contained the most information regarding the battle itself, the battle is described from his viewpoint. But there are contrasts between the historical and modern accounts.

The greatest difference between the modern and historical accounts is whether Washita was a battle or a massacre. Modern historians tend to lean towards the massacre side as White illustrates by writing “… American soldiers attacked, and … slaughtered a camp … of women and children.” White, however, provides no evidence to support this claim. Custer certainly does not consider Washita a massacre. He does mention that some women did take weapons and were subsequently killed. This seems logical since it was four years earlier when Chivington stormed through Sand Creek slaughtering many men and women. With this thought in their minds, women would certainly not feel comfortable with American soldiers in their midst. Custer did leave Washita with women and children prisoners; he did not simply kill every Indian in the village though he admittedly couldn't avoid to kill women in the middle of the hard fight.

Historian Jerome Greene : "Soldiers evidently took measures to protect the women and children." ("Washita 1868", Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, p.199)

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 encountered some of other tribes of Indians where he was killed. In the historic accounts Elliot’s story is similar which Custer briefly describes in his autobiography. Apparently one of the Custer’s scouts saw Elliot chase some of the Cheyenne Indians west that were escaping from Black Kettle’s village. Different amongst 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.”

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 and that the Indians were able to capture these. Custer admits to this in his account. He had ordered the men to take of their coats so they would have greater maneuverability. Not mentioned in the modern accounts was that Custer’s men also had left their rations. Custer left a small guard with the coats and rations but the Indian forces were too superior and the guard retreated thus the great coats and rations were captured.

From both the historic and modern accounts we can determine that the cause of the Battle of Washita was a break down in Indian to agent communications which resulted in Indian raiding.

Bibliography

Custer, George, My Life on the Plains, n.d.
New York Times, 27 November – 8 December 1868.
White, Richard. "It’s Your Misfortune and None of My Own": A New History of the American West. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991.
Greene, Jerome. Washita, The Southern Cheyenne and the U.S. Army. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 2004.

External links

1868 | Battles of the Cheyenne | Battles of the United States | George Armstrong Custer | Native American wars