page_title: American Indian Wars
section_title: Sheridan's campaigns
hierarchical_section_title: American Indian Wars / West of the Mississippi (1811–1924) / Great Plains / Sheridan's campaigns
caption_attribution_description: English: Western Kansas, August 21, 1867. After the Civil War, settlers rushed to the rich and relatively empty lands of the Great Plains. By mid-1867 the Plains Indian tribes, recognizing the threat to their traditional way of life, were regularly attacking settlers, railroad workers and travelers. When the angry and frightened citizens of Kansas demanded military help, the War Department authorized placing volunteer militia units on active duty during the emergency. On July 15, 1867, four companies of the 18th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry were mustered into Federal service. Under command of Captain Horace L. Moore, the 18th set out immediately for a month of vigorous campaigning. Returning to camp at Ft. Hayes, then in the midst of a cholera epidemic, the Kansans then joined forces with the 10th U.S. Cavalry, the famous black "Buffalo Soldiers." A combined force of 135 men, commanded by Captain George A. Armes of the 10th, rode down the Saline River; Captain Moore, with 125 Kansans, scouted upstream. The two groups had lost contact with each other when Captain Armes' group was struck by 300 to 400 Kiowas and Cheyennes under the great war chiefs Satanta and Roman Nose. As Armes' group of men held their ground through fierce fighting, the men of the 18th Kansas, hearing the noise of battle, managed to fight their way through to Armes. To break the stalemate, Captain Armes formed a party for a charge on the Indians. Led by Armes, the force of about 20 black regulars and Kansas volunteers moved first toward Prairie Dog Creek, and then, turning, charged up the hill toward the main body of warriors. The Indians broke and scattered, ending the day's fighting. The cavalry had lost 3 men dead and 36 wounded; the Indians, 50 dead and 150 wounded. The Battle of Prairie Dog Creek ended the U.S. Army's offensive operations on the Kansas frontier for the year, and in the fall treaties were signed with the tribes of the Southern Plains. The proud tradition of the
context_page_description: The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, the First Nations Wars in Canada and the Indian Wars is the collective name for the various armed conflicts that were fought by European governments and colonists, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settlers, against various American Indian and First Nation tribes. These conflicts occurred in North America from the time of the earliest colonial settlements in the 17th century until the early 20th century. The various wars resulted from a wide variety of factors, including cultural clashes, land disputes, and criminal acts committed. The European powers and their colonies also enlisted Indian tribes to help them conduct warfare against each other's colonial settlements. After the American Revolution, many conflicts were local to specific states or regions and frequently involved disputes over land use; some entailed cycles of violent reprisal.
  As settlers spread westward across North America after 1780, armed conflicts increased in size, duration, and intensity between settlers and various Indian and First Nation tribes.
context_section_description: After the Civil War, all of the Indians were assigned to reservations, and the reservations were under the control of the Interior Department. Control of the Great Plains fell under the Army's Department of the Missouri, an administrative area of over 1,000,000 mi² encompassing all land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock had led the department in 1866 but had mishandled his campaign, resulting in Sioux and Cheyenne raids that attacked mail stagecoaches, burned the stations, and killed the employees. They also raped, killed, and kidnapped many settlers on the frontier.
  Philip Sheridan was the military governor of Louisiana and Texas in 1866, but President Johnson removed him from that post, claiming that he was ruling over the area with absolute tyranny and insubordination. Shortly after, Hancock was removed as head of the Department of the Missouri and Sheridan replaced him in August 1867. He was ordered to pacify the plains and take control of the Indians there, and he immediately called General Custer back to command of the 7th Cavalry; Hancock had suspended him.
  The Department of Missouri was in poor shape upon Sheridan's arrival. Commissioners from the government had signed a peace treaty in October 1867 with the Comanche, Kiowa, Kiowa Apache, Cheyenne, and Arapaho which offered them reservation land to live on along with food and supplies, but Congress failed to pass it. The promised supplies from the government were not reaching the Indians and they were beginning to starve, numbering an estimated 6,000. Sheridan had only 2,600 men at the time to control them and to defend against any raids or attacks, and only 1,200 of his men were mounted. These men were also under-supplied and stationed at forts that were in poor condition. They were also mostly unproven units that replaced retired veterans from the Civil War.
  Sheridan attempted to improve the conditions of the military outpost and the Indians on the plains through a peace-oriented strategy. Toward the beginning of his command, members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho followed him on his travels from Fort Larned to Fort Dodge where he spoke to them. They brought their problems to him and explained how the promised supplies were not being delivered. In response, Sheridan gave them a generous supply of rations. Shortly after, the Saline Valley settlements were attacked, and that was followed by other violent raids and kidnappings in the region. Sheridan wanted to respond in force but was constrained by the government's peace policy and the lack of well-supplied mounted troops. He could not deploy official military units, so he commissioned a group of 47 frontiersmen and sharpshooters called Solomon's Avengers. They investigated the raids near Arickaree Creek and were attacked by Indians on September 17, 1868. The Avengers were under siege for eight days by some 700 Indian warriors, but they were able to keep them at bay until military units arrived to help. The Avengers lost six men and another 15 were wounded. Sherman finally gave Sheridan authority to respond in force to these threats. 
  Sheridan believed that his soldiers would be unable to chase the horses of the Indians during the summer months, so he used them as a defensive force the remainder of September and October. His forces were better fed and clothed than the Indians and they could launch a campaign in the winter months. His winter campaign of 1868 started with the 19th Kansas Volunteers from Custer's 7th Cavalry, along with five battalions of infantry under Major John H. Page setting out from Fort Dodge on November 5. A few days later, a force moved from Fort Bascom to Fort Cobb consisting of units of the 5th Cavalry Regiment and two companies of infantry, where they met up with units from the 3rd Cavalry leaving from Fort Lyon. Sheridan directed the opening month of the campaign from Camp Supply. The Units from the 5th and 3rd Cavalry met at Fort Cobb without any sign of the 19th Kansas, but they had a lead on a band of Indians nearby and Custer led a for
caption: The Battle of Prairie Dog Creek (August 21, 1867) ended the Army's offensive operations on the Kansas frontier for the year.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Western Kansas, August 21, 1867\r\rAfter the Civil War, settlers rushed to the rich and relatively empty lands of the Great Plains.  By mid-1867 the Plains Indian tribes, recognizing the threat to their traditional way of life, were regularly attacking settlers, railroad workers and travelers.  When the angry and frightened citizens of Kansas demanded military help, the War Department authorized placing volunteer militia units on active duty during the emergency.  On July 15, 1867, four companies of the 18th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry were mustered into Federal service.  Under command of Captain Horace L. Moore, the 18th set out immediately for a month of vigorous campaigning.  Returning to camp at Ft. Hayes, then in the midst of a cholera epidemic, the Kansans then joined forces with the 10th U.S. Cavalry, the famous black \"Buffalo Soldiers.\"  A combined force of 135 men, commanded by Captain George A. Armes of the 10th, rode down the Saline River; Captain Moore, with 125 Kansans, scouted upstream.  The two groups had lost contact with each other when Captain Armes' group was struck by 300 to 400 Kiowas and Cheyennes under the great war chiefs Satanta and Roman Nose.  As Armes' group of men held their ground through fierce fighting, the men of the 18th Kansas, hearing the noise of battle, managed to fight their way through to Armes.  To break the stalemate, Captain Armes formed a party for a charge on the Indians.  Led by Armes, the force of about 20 black regulars and Kansas volunteers moved first toward Prairie Dog Creek, and then, turning, charged up the hill toward the main body of warriors.  The Indians broke and scattered, ending the day's fighting.  The cavalry had lost 3 men dead and 36 wounded; the Indians, 50 dead and 150 wounded.  The Battle of Prairie Dog Creek ended the U.S. Army's offensive operations on the Kansas frontier for the year, and in the fall treaties were signed with the tribes of the Southern Plains.  The proud tradition of the 18th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry is carried on today by the men and women of the Kansas Army and Air National Guard.", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "900", "Image YResolution": "900", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2004:03:07 14:26:03", "Image Artist": "Painting by Ralph Heinz", "Image ExifOffset": "2320", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2458", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "16454", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "8528", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "6286"}