Battle of Rush Creek The Battle of Rush Creek took place February 8 – 9 , 1865 between about 185 soldiers of the U . S . army and 1 , 000 warriors of the Lakota Sioux , Cheyenne , and Arapaho tribes . The inconclusive battle took place four miles southeast of present - day Broadwater , Nebraska along both banks of the North Platte River . Background . After the Sand Creek Massacre in November 1864 in Colorado , the Plains Indians of the three tribes in that region decided to move northward to the more - isolated Powder River Country of Wyoming and Montana . En route they sought revenge for Sand Creek , raiding along the South Platte River in Colorado and burning the settlement of Julesburg on February 2 . On February 4 – 6 , the Indians attacked a stagecoach station in the Battle of Mud Springs . Breaking off that battle to resume their journey northward , they crossed the North Platte River on the ice and camped among bluffs about five miles north of the river . Lt . Col . William O . Collins and soldiers from his command , variously reported at between 140 to 185 in number , left Mud Springs on February 8 to find the Indians who may have numbered , with women and children , as many as 4 , 000 to 5 , 000 . The food and other provisions the Indians had collected in their raids enabled such a large number to remain together rather than divide into smaller groups for hunting . On Rush Creek ( today Cedar Creek ) Collins found their previous encampment scattered over several miles of the creek valley and littered with the plunder from their raids , including empty cans of oysters , meat , and fruit . Collins followed the trail northward to the North Platte where , across the river , he saw Indians grazing their large horse herd . The Indians had not anticipated that the out - numbered soldiers would pursue them and had set up their camp intending to remain there four days to rest their horses before undertaking a waterless 40 mile passage through the Nebraska Sand Hills . The young men and women had spent all night dancing and were asleep but were awakened suddenly at 2 p . m . when a single Sioux warrior signaled from a hilltop that soldiers were approaching . One thousand warriors mounted their horses and crossed the flat Platte Valley to engage the soldiers . Battle . Collins saw the large number of Indians coming his way and formed up his wagons and horses into a corral and put his soldiers to work digging rifle pits and establishing defense lines among the sandy ridges on the plain . The Indians crossed the North Platte above and below the soldiers and advanced , attempting to capture the soldier ' s horses and put the soldiers afoot . A long - distance shooting match ensued . Shots from a howitzer kept the Indians at a distance , although many of the shells were defective . One group of Indians crept close enough to be a danger and Collins ordered a detail of 17 men to charge and disperse them . Collins reported that the charge was successful , although two men were killed . George Bent , the Cheyenne warrior , said that the soldiers retreated in haste and with many casualties after a counter - charge by Indians . A young Cheyenne named Yellow Nose was wounded . Eleven years later Yellow Nose would capture Custer ’ s flag at the Little Bighorn . The Indians withdrew in the late afternoon . Collins remained in his defensive position overnight . The next morning several hundred Indian warriors returned to resume the attack on Collins and to attempt again capturing his horses . After long - distance sniping for several hours , the Indians broke off the battle . Collins reported two men killed and nine wounded with another 10 men suffering frostbite . He estimated the Indian casualties at Mud Springs and Rush Creek at 100 to 150 . Bent , by contrast , says only two Indians were wounded at Rush Creek . Collins , however , tells a detailed story of one Indian killed ; Bent tells an equally detailed story of a third soldier , a courier , being killed . Aftermath . The Sioux , Cheyenne , and Arapaho broke camp February 9 and set off northward while many of the men were still keeping Collins pinned down . Collins did not continue his pursuit , stating that it would have been “ injudicious and useless . ” On February 10 , he began the journey back to Fort Laramie . In 10 days , he and his men had ridden nearly 400 miles , fought two battles , and were exhausted and suffering from cold and lack of food . Public opinion was that the battle had dealt a severe blow to the Indians . However , a soldier commented that the Indians were “ well armed , well mounted , cunning and brave . ” Another said that catching the Indians was easy but , “ we had a terribly hard time letting them go . ” The Indians crossed the Sand Hills in two long , difficult days and angled westward toward the Powder River . They sent envoys ahead to inform their fellow tribesmen in that region of their arrival . Once they were certain that soldiers were not on their trail , the large caravan of Sioux , Cheyenne , and Arapaho broke up into tribal units , with each joining their own northern relatives . They had no further clashes with soldiers until June . The march of the Indians north from Sand Creek to the Powder River Country was " an amazing feat , " in the words of George E . Hyde , " These Indians had moved 400 miles during the worst weather of a severe winter through open , desolate plains taking with them their women and children , lodges , and household property , their vast herds of ponies , and the herds of captured cattle , horses , and mules . On the way they had killed more whites than the number of Cheyenne killed at Sand Creek and had completely destroyed one hundred miles of the Overland Stage Line . " Archaeology . The battle site was discovered in the summer of 2008 , when local residents led a University of Nebraska – Lincoln archaeological field school group , led by faculty members Peter Bleed and Doug Scott , to a possible site . During the summer field seasons of 2008 and 2009 , over 225 artifacts were found , persuading the researchers that they had in fact found the location of the battle . The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places under the name " Rush Creek Battlefield " in 2011 .