Wagon Box Fight

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Wagon Box Fight
Part of Red Cloud's War
Image:Wagon Box Fight.jpg
Monument at the scene of the fight
Date August 2, 1867
Location near Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming Territory
Result U.S. victory
Combatants
United States Sioux Indians
Commanders
James Powell Red Cloud
Strength
31 soldiers 1,000-2,000
Casualties
5 killed
2 wounded		 60 killed
120 wounded

On August 2, 1867, Capt. James Powell with a force of 31 soldiers from the U.S. Army survived repeated attacks by one to two thousand Sioux warriors under the leadership of Red Cloud near Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming Territory.

Powell's defenders, acting as guards for civilian crews cutting wood for the construction of the fort, took refuge in a corral formed by laying 14 wagons end-to-end in an oval configuration. The battle lasted five hours with Powell losing five men killed and two wounded. Powell reported killing 60 Indians and wounding 120 (although published accounts have put the number of casualties as high as eleven hundred). The disproportionate casualties, and the soldiers survival, was primarily due to the recent issue of Springfield Model 1866 "Trapdoor" .50-caliber breech-loading rifles, that had been supplied as a direct result of the Fetterman massacre; Indian attack strategy was based on the long reloading time of muzzle-loading weapons. The fight lasted throughout the day until a relief force from Fort Phil Kearny arrived.

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