The Battle of the Badlands was fought in

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of No ...

, in what is now western

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, between the United States army led by General

Alfred Sully Alfred Sully (May 22, 1820 – April 27, 1879), was a military officer during the American Civil War and during the Indian Wars on the frontier. He was also a noted painter. Biography Sully was the son of the portrait painter, Thomas Sully, of ...

and the

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples Place names In the United States: *Lakota, Iowa *Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County *Lakota ...

Yanktonai The Dakota (pronounced , Dakota language: ''Dakȟóta/Dakhóta'') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe (Native American), tribe and First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government in North America. They compo ...

, and the

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, a ...

Indian tribes. The battle was fought August 7–9, 1864 between what are now Medora and Sentinel Butte, North Dakota. It was an extension of the conflict begun in the

Dakota War of 1862 The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several ban ...

. Sully successfully marched through the badlands encountering only moderate resistance from the Sioux. BG Alfred Sully

Background

In the aftermath of the Dakota War of 1862, the U.S. government continued to punish the Sioux, including those who had not participated in the war. Large military expeditions into Dakota Territory in 1863 pushed most of the Sioux to the western side of the Missouri River and made safer the frontier of white settlement in Minnesota and the eastern Dakotas. An important impetus to another military campaign against the Sioux was the desire to protect lines of communication with recently discovered goldfields in

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 ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. The lifeline for the American gold miners were

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

s plying the Missouri River through the heart of Sioux territory. During the winter of 1863-1864, Sully's superior,

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 ...

John Pope ordered Sully to establish several forts along the Missouri River and in the eastern Dakotas to secure the communication routes to the goldfields and to eliminate the Sioux threat to the settlers east of the Missouri River. Sully's army was the largest ever assembled to combat the

Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of N ...

, comprising more than 4,000 men, many of them in support and supply roles along the

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and

Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

Rivers. Sully established

Fort Rice Fort Rice (Lakota: ''Psíŋ Otȟúŋwahe''; "Wild Rice Village") was a frontier military fort in the 19th century named for American Civil War General James Clay Rice in what was then Dakota Territory and what is now North Dakota. The 50th Wisconsi ...

on the Missouri River in what is now North Dakota on July 7, 1864. From there, he led 2,200 men into western Dakota Territory. In the

Battle of Killdeer Mountain The Battle of Killdeer Mountain (also known as the Battle of Tahkahokuty Mountain) took place during Brig. Gen. Alfred Sully's expedition against the Sioux in Dakota Territory July 28–29, 1864. The location of the battleground is in modern Du ...

on July 28, Sully defeated about 1,600 Sioux warriors. After the battle the Sioux, along with their women and children, scattered into the

Badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, m ...

west of Killdeer Mountain, near where the present-day South Unit of

Theodore Roosevelt National Park Theodore Roosevelt National Park is an American national park of the badlands in western North Dakota comprising three geographically separated areas. Honoring U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, it is the only American national park named direct ...

is located. The Dakota badlands are characterized by "deep, impassable ravines" and "high rugged hills." Although running short of rations, Sully decided to continue his pursuit of the Sioux. A

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bla ...

scout said he knew a route through the Badlands passable by Sully's wagon train. After resting, Sully and his men plunged into the unknown terrain ahead. His objective was to continue to pursue the Sioux through the Badlands and then resupply his expedition by marching north to the

Yellowstone River The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountains an ...

where two steamboats full of rations awaited him. Sully followed the Heart River upstream, entering the Badlands on August 5. "One minute they were rolling along on what seemed like limitless prairie; the next men and horses were lost in a maze of narrow gullies and malevolent steeps." Traveling with Sully was an emigrant wagon train of miners and their wives and children. Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Lakota leader

Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...

described the Indians in the Battle of the Badlands as

Hunkpapa The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...

Sans Arc The Sans Arc, or Itázipčho (''Itazipcola'', ''Hazipco'' - ‘Those who hunt without bows’) in Lakota, are a subdivision of the Lakota people. Sans Arc is the French translation of the Lakota name which means, "Without bows." The translator o ...

s, and

Miniconjou The Miniconjou (Lakota: Mnikowoju, Hokwoju – ‘Plants by the Water’) are a Native American people constituting a subdivision of the Lakota people, who formerly inhabited an area in western present-day South Dakota from the Black Hills i ...

Lakota, Yanktonai, and others.

The battle

On August 6, Sully and his men camped on the banks of the Little Missouri River. The next morning a small group of Sioux opened hostilities by raiding the horse herd of the Seventh Iowa Cavalry, and ambushing one company of the regiment. Hundreds of Sioux warriors appeared on the hilltops near Sully's camp. A few cannon shots dispersed them, but the soldiers spent a nervous night. The next morning Sully and his column moved forward through the badlands. Sully took all precautions for defense, but a large number of Indian warriors—Sully estimated their numbers at 1,000—appeared on the bluffs and hills at his front and flanks. The Indians showered arrows on the soldiers, and attempted to creep close enough to do serious harm to Sully's army, strung out over three or four miles in the rugged terrain. Sully responded with cannon fire and sallies by some of his cavalry. The assault by the Sioux was more desultory than determined. Near the end of the day, Sully's Blackfoot guide was wounded. Despite the opposition of the Sioux, Sully and his men advanced about 10 miles on August 8. The next day, Sully was again confronted by a large number of Indians at his front who harassed his passage. About noon Sully broke out of the Badlands onto a large, level plain. With room to maneuver and deploy artillery, he soon dispersed the Indians and the battle was over. Sully found the remains of a large, recently vacated Indian camp. The Indians had apparently scattered in all directions. Sully estimated the Indian loss in the battle at 100 killed. That seems much exaggerated as the Indians remained at long distance. Sully's losses were probably only the Blackfoot scout and a dozen soldiers wounded.

Aftermath

The Sioux strategy in the Battle of the Badlands, which was more of a running skirmish than a battle, appeared to have been to harass the soldiers, retard their advance, and deprive them and their horses of water. That strategy came close to working after the end of hostilities as Sully and his men struggled across parched desert to reach the Yellowstone River, some 50 miles (80 km) distant. The men were on short rations and only a pint of coffee each, made with alkaline water, per day; the livestock of the expedition died of thirst in large numbers. On August 12, the soldiers reached the Yellowstone and found there the two steamboats loaded with supplies. With great hardship because of lack of grass for horses and low water, Sully then marched downstream, finding on his arrival at Fort Union at the junction of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers, that the Sioux had stampeded and stolen all but two of the horses belonging to the fort. Lacking horses and with an army of worn-out men, Sully abandoned his plan to continue the expedition against the Sioux.Clodfelter, pp 189-190 The Sully expedition of 1864 pushed the majority of the hostile Sioux west of the Missouri River into their last strongholds of 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, ...

and the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...

. The U.S. would send another large army against them in 1865 in 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 ...

, but they would successfully resist.

Opposing Forces

United States

Department of the Northwest The Department of the Northwest was an U.S. Army Department created September 6, 1862 to put down the Sioux uprising in Minnesota. Major General John Pope was made commander of the Department. At the end of the Civil War the Department was rede ...

: MG John Pope ''(not present in the field)''

Native Americans

(

), and

(

) Sioux:

Notes

{{authority control the Badlands

the Badlands the Badlands 1864 in the United States

August 1864 events