The Battle of the Tongue River, sometimes referred to as the Connor Battle, was an engagement of the

Powder River Expedition :''This event should not be confused with the Big Horn Expedition during the Black Hills War.'' The Powder River Expedition of 1865 also known as the Powder River War or Powder River Invasion, was a large and far-flung military operation of the U ...

that occurred on August 29, 1865. In the battle, U.S. soldiers and

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

scouts attacked and destroyed an

Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...

village.

Background

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Grenville M. Dodge assumed command of the

Department of the Missouri The Department of the Missouri was a command echelon of the United States Army in the 19th century and a sub division of the Military Division of the Missouri that functioned through the Indian Wars. History Background Following the successful ...

in 1865. Dodge ordered a punitive campaign to suppress the Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho Indians who had been raiding overland mail routes, wagon trains, and military posts along the

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and Overland trails. He gave tactical command of the

, as it was called, to

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Patrick Edward Connor Patrick Edward Connor (March 17, 1820Rodgers, 1938, p. 1 – December 17, 1891) was an American soldier who served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He is most notorious for his massacres against Native Americans during th ...

, commander of the

District of Utah During the American Civil War in the early 1860s, the District of Utah was a subordinate district of the U.S. Army's Department of the Pacific. The district was composed of territorial areas that later became parts of the modern U.S. states of Id ...

. The expedition was a multi-pronged affair involving 2,600 soldiers, civilians, and Indian scouts. Three columns of soldiers were to descend upon the

Powder River Country The Powder River Country is the Powder River Basin area of the Great Plains in northeastern Wyoming, United States. The area is loosely defined as that between the Bighorn Mountains and the Black Hills, in the upper drainage areas of the Powder, ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

and

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

, unite, and "make vigorous war upon the Indians and punish them so that they will be forced to keep the peace." Connor was in overall command and led the westernmost or left prong of the expedition. The forces under his direct command consisted of 380 soldiers: 6 companies of the 6th Michigan Cavalry, Company F of the 7th Iowa Cavalry, and Companies E and K of the 11th Ohio Cavalry. Also included were civilian guides headed by mountain man

Jim Bridger James Felix "Jim" Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was known as Old ...

, 95

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

scouts under

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Frank J. North, 84

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

and Winnebago scouts under Captain E. W. Nash, and 195 civilian teamsters. Connor left

Fort Laramie Fort Laramie (founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading-post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte rivers. They joined ...

on July 30, 1865, marching north. He established a fort on the upper Powder River which he named Fort Connor (later renamed Fort Reno) and left some of his men there to staff the fort.

The battle

Jim Bridger saw the smoke of an Indian village and Connor sent out Frank North and two Pawnees to find the village. On August 28, the scouts reported back that they had found the village about 35 miles west of Connor's force. Connor quickly collected his most mobile soldiers, consisting of about 200 soldiers with two mountain howitzer cannon and 40 Omaha and Winnebago and 30 Pawnee scouts, and marched that night toward the village. With Bridger leading them, they reached the village about eight a.m. the next morning. The soldiers charged the village, having achieved complete surprise. The howitzers pounded the village while the soldiers rushed in, catching the Indians unprepared. In the melee, there was a great deal of indiscriminate firing and women and children were killed as well as warriors. The village, led by

Black Bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

and Medicine Man, had about 500 inhabitants. Many of the men were absent for a raid on the

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...

along the Big Horn River, leaving mostly old men, women, and children in the village. After the initial attack the few able warriors in the village put up an effective defense, retreating about twelve miles up Wolf Creek while covering the flight of the women and children. Most of the soldiers remained in the village to loot and burn the

tipi A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan languages, Siouan, and in use in Dakot ...

s, but Connor and about 30 men, including 15 Pawnee, pursued the retreating Arapaho. The Arapaho counterattacked and Connor, his horses spent, was forced to retreat back to the village. The soldiers there completed their work of destruction as the Indians harassed them from a distance, attempting to re-capture their horse herd. The soldiers abandoned the destroyed village about 2:30 that afternoon, North and the Pawnee leading and driving before them more than 500 captured horses. The Arapaho persisted in their attacks but were unable to re-capture the horses, eventually giving up the effort. At 3 a.m. the next morning, the soldiers reached their starting point, having covered more than 70 miles and fought a battle in less than 36 hours.

Casualties

Connor claimed to have killed 63 Arapaho warriors and wounded many more, although a large number of casualties occurred among the Arapaho women and children. Private Little Bird of the Omaha Scouts was killed, and Acting Sergeant Charles M. Latham of the Signal Corps was mortally wounded, while six men, including Second Lieutenant Oscar Jewett, were wounded. Connor singled out four Winnebago, including the chief, Little Priest, along with North and 15 Pawnee for bravery. He strictly forbade looting, and the next day ordered all the property collected during the occupation of the village burned, and had the captured women and children released.

Aftermath

The Arapaho were apparently not cowed by the destruction of one of their villages. Two days later, they killed Captain Osmer F. Cole of the 6th Michigan Cavalry, commander of the military escort for the Sawyers Expedition. The next day, on September 1, 1865, 100 or more Arapaho attacked the well-armed Sawyers train of 60 ox wagons along the Tongue River under the command of James A. Sawyers. They killed two men, wounded several more, stole livestock, and kept the wagon train under siege for two weeks until General Connor's soldiers rescued it. The effectiveness of the Arapaho attack was limited by their shortage of powder for their

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

s, and many of the bullets they fired failed to penetrate the skin of either men or oxen. (See

Sawyers Fight The Sawyers Fight was part of a surveying expedition in late 1865 to improve the emigrant trails from Nebraska to Montana. Not a military venture, the expedition was named for and led by James A. Sawyers. The expedition was attacked by Arapaho ...

)McDermott, pp 124-127

Officers in the Engagement

* Brigadier General

Patrick E. Connor Patrick Edward Connor (March 17, 1820Rodgers, 1938, p. 1 – December 17, 1891) was an American soldier who served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He is most notorious for his massacres against Native Americans during the ...

* Captain Nicholas J. O'Brien, Company F, 7th Iowa Cavalry * Captain Jacob L. Humphreyville, Company K, 11th Ohio Cavalry * Captain Edwin R. Nash, Omaha and Winnebago Scouts * Captain Frank J. North, Pawnee Scouts * Second Lieutenant Oscar Jewett, Company D, 1st Nevada Cavalry (wounded)

Order of battle

United States Army, Powder River Expedition, August 29, 1865. Native Americans

The Battlefield today

A portion of the battlefield is preserved by the Connor Battlefield State Historic Site in

Ranchester, Wyoming Ranchester is a town in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1064 at the 2020 census. Geography Ranchester is located at (44.908347, –107.162876). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total are ...

. It is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

References

External links

Connor Battlefield
Wyoming Division of State Parks and Historic Sites
John Dishon McDermott, Circle of fire: the Indian war of 1865
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tongue River Conflicts in 1865 Battles involving the Arapaho Battles involving the United States

Battle of the Tongue River The Battle of the Tongue River, sometimes referred to as the Connor Battle, was an engagement of the Powder River Expedition that occurred on August 29, 1865. In the battle, U.S. soldiers and Indian scouts attacked and destroyed an Arapaho vil ...

Wars between the United States and Native Americans

Protected areas of Sheridan County, Wyoming Idaho Territory 1865 in Wyoming Territory Conflict sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming National Register of Historic Places in Sheridan County, Wyoming August 1865 events