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Major Joel Elliott
(1840 - 1868)
Chief Black Kettle
(1803 - 1868)
Lt. Colonel George Custer
(1839 - 1876)
Black Kettle, however, desired peace to preserve his people, but
many of the warriors continued to launch raids on American
settlements and emigrants as well as other tribes. The government
negotiated new terms to confine the Cheyenne to a smaller reservation.
Misunderstandings, however, coupled with tribal leaders lacking the
authority to enforce the terms upon their people, meant that true peace
remained distant, and skirmishes and raids continued. Black Kettle
again met with officials at Fort Cobb to attempt to negotiate a safe
position for his village but was told that the U.S. Army was at war with
the Cheyenne. He returned to his people on the Washita River hoping
the distance as well as their location near other villages would prevent
bloodshed.
In late November 1868, the 7th Cavalry’s Osage scouts (long term
enemies of the Cheyenne) from the detachment commanded by
Major Joel Elliott uncovered a trail of a war party in the snow. Custer’s
battalion rejoined with Elliott’s and followed the path towards the
village. To increase their speed in poor winter conditions, Custer left
behind his baggage train with a detachment for protection. The scouts
made a quick reconnaissance of the village and determined there were
51 lodges and at most 150 warriors. Custer had 800 men armed with
Spencer repeating carbines and revolvers. He divided his men into four
battalions for an attack at daybreak surrounding the village to prevent
the warriors from escaping. They did not conducted reconnaissance of
the surrounding area, and thus, Custer was unaware of the additional
villages to the east adding significantly more warriors to the area.
At daybreak on November 27, 1868, the 7th Cavalry launched its
assault. Though the different battalions were not in proper position
before the attack, within thirty minutes, they had control of the village.
Captain Louis Hamilton was killed by return fire early in the attack, and
Black Kettle and his wife were killed towards the beginning of the battle.
Though the village itself was quickly captured, the warriors fought from
whatever cover they could find mainly along the river banks in an effort
to defend their families. Some from the village ran for safety towards
the other villages nearby. Custer’s men remained divided, and his unit
cohesion was weak at best as he re-assessed the situation still not even
knowing the identity of the village they had attacked.
Around 8:00 a.m., Major Elliott spotted a group fleeing from the
village. Elliott was no stranger to a hard fight. He had served in
the 2nd Indiana Cavalry during the Civil War and was shot in the lungs
at White’s Station and left for dead on the battlefield while fighting
under Captain Frederick Benteen, then colonel of volunteers and in
1866 a member of the 7th Cavalry. Elliott recovered and continued
to fight for the Union cause. Instead of holding his assigned position
during the Battle of Washita, he sought to capture the fleeing Indians in
keeping with their overall mission. He quickly gathered volunteers and
reportedly called out to Lieutenant Owen Hale: “Here’s for a brevet or
a coffin!” and hastily took off in pursuit. None of Elliott’s men returned
to tell what happened, but Cheyenne and Arapaho accounts indicate
that while in pursuit, Elliott’s men ran into the reinforcements from the
villages to the east, attempted to retreat when counter attacked and then
made their last stand. By the time Custer sent another detachment in
search of them, they were likely already dead.
Soon, the warriors from the other villages to the east were gathering
around Black Kettle’s village. Some of the 7th Cavalry formed
skirmish lines as they fell back. The fate of Elliott’s detachment
remained unknown as Custer reformed his men. It was reportedly
around this time that Custer learned from Black Kettle’s cousin that
they had attacked Black Kettle’s village. Custer’s known casualties were
two men killed, 18 missing, and 15 wounded. As the warriors encircled
the 7th Cavalry, Custer ordered counterattacks to push them back and
placed the captive women and children to the outside to act as human
shields and deter harassing fire. Custer later wrote in “My Life on the
Plains”:
It must be remembered that in undertaking to penetrate the Indian
country with so small a force, I acted throughout upon the belief
that if proper precautions were adopted, the Indians would not molest
us. Indians contemplating a battle, either offensive or defensive, are
always anxious to have their women and children removed from all
danger thereof. By our watchfulness we intended to let the Indians see
that there would be no opportunity for them to take us by surprise, but
that if fighting was intended, it should not be all on one side. For this
reason I decided to locate our camp as close as convenient to the 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.