Battle of the Washita River
The Battle of the Washita River, fought on November 27, 1868, was a significant military engagement during the Indian Wars in the United States. Major General Philip H. Sheridan initiated a winter campaign aimed at displacing the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes from their territories in response to their raids into Kansas. The battle was led by Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer, who targeted a large Cheyenne village located in the Washita River Valley, believed to be on a reservation where Cheyenne leader Black Kettle was seeking peace and cooperation with the U.S. Army.
Custer's forces launched a surprise attack, resulting in substantial casualties for the Cheyenne, including the deaths of Black Kettle and his wife, both survivors of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. Although the fighting led to the destruction of Cheyenne resources and livestock, Custer's forces faced stiff resistance and ultimately withdrew after a day of conflict. The battle is marked by a complex interplay of violence, survival, and the broader context of Native American resistance against U.S. military expansion. The aftermath of the engagement contributed to the eventual capitulation of the Cheyenne and their allies, underscoring the profound impacts of the American expansionist policies during this period.
Battle of the Washita River
Date: November 27, 1868
Place: Oklahoma
Tribes affected: Arapaho, Cheyenne
Significance: Although the U.S. government’s Seventh Cavalry did not win a decisive victory in this battle, this engagement pushed the Cheyenne and Arapaho toward final capitulation and removal to a reservation
After widespread raids by Indians into Kansas in the summer of 1868, Major General Philip H. Sheridan initiated a winter campaign to disrupt the raiders’ usual pattern of summer raiding and winter quiet. His goal was to compel the Cheyenne and their Arapaho allies, both of whom he blamed for the violence, onto a reservation near Fort Cobb in the northwestern Indian Territory.
Sheridan authorized three columns to converge on the Cheyenne and Arapaho. One of these consisted of the Seventh Cavalry led by Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer. This force located a large Cheyenne village in the Washita River Valley, near present-day Cheyenne, Oklahoma. This camp was actually on a reservation and the leader, Black Kettle, was trying to cooperate with the army and believed that his protection had been assured by the commander at Fort Cobb. Custer thought otherwise, and he ordered his command to divide into four columns and attack from as many directions at dawn on November 27, 1868.
The initial attack inflicted a large number of casualties on the Cheyenne; among the dead were Black Kettle and his wife, both of whom had survived the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864. Confronted by hosts of warriors from neighboring villages, Custer’s attacks stalled and he withdrew that evening. He reported that twenty-one members of his regiment were killed, including a major and eighteen enlisted men, while his troopers had killed more than a hundred warriors. Custer also claimed the Cheyenne had four white captives, two of whom they killed during the fighting.
The Cheyenne loss in manpower may be exaggerated, but Custer’s troops did destroy a tremendous amount of food and shelters, and they killed hundreds of ponies. The Seventh Cavalry could not claim a decisive victory, but the damage inflicted did push the Cheyenne and their allies toward capitulation.