Battle of the Tongue River
Encyclopedia
The Battle of the Tongue River, sometimes referred to as the Connor Battle, was the major engagement of the Powder River Expedition of 1865, directed against the Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho and Lakota Sioux. It destroyed for a time the Arapaho
capability to raid the Bozeman Trail
and overland mail routes.
Grenville M. Dodge
assumed command of the Department of the Missouri
in 1865. Dodge ordered a punitive campaign to suppress the Southern Cheyenne, Sioux
, and Arapaho
Indians who had been conducting raids against overland mail routes. He gave tactical command of the expedition to Brigadier General
Patrick Edward Connor
, commander of the District of Utah
.
s Black Bear and Medicine Man along the Tongue River
in north central Wyoming
. Connor had only 400 men at his immediate disposal but moved against the Indians nonetheless. On August 29 Connor caught up to the Indian village on a piece of land where the Tongue River makes a bottleneck. Chief Black Bear and many of the warriors were away fighting the Crow
along the Big Horn River, but Medicine Man and some older men, women and children were still in camp.
At 0730 hours, Connor charged the village. The remaining warriors attempted to make a stand to allow the women and children to escape before the village was overrun. After the soldiers had captured the village, the Indians staged a counterattack
. Connor had brought up two howitzers and held off the attack. Skirmishing lasted until dark, but the battle resulted in a victory for US forces. The Army killed or wounded 54 Indians. The soldiers captured 18 women and children, but eventually released them. Additionally, the soldiers killed over 1,000 Indian horses and ponies.
No physical evidence of the battle remains. The battleground is preserved in the Connor Battlefield State Historic Site in Ranchester, Wyoming
. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Arapaho
The Arapaho are a tribe of Native Americans historically living on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Sioux. Arapaho is an Algonquian language closely related to Gros Ventre, whose people are seen as an early...
capability to raid the Bozeman Trail
Bozeman Trail
The Bozeman Trail was an overland route connecting the gold rush territory of Montana to the Oregon Trail. Its most important period was from 1863-1868. The flow of pioneers and settlers through territory of American Indians provoked their resentment and caused attacks. The U.S. Army undertook...
and overland mail routes.
Background
Major GeneralMajor General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Grenville M. Dodge
Grenville M. Dodge
Grenville Mellen Dodge was a Union army officer on the frontier and during the Civil War, a U.S. Congressman, businessman, and railroad executive who helped construct the Transcontinental Railroad....
assumed command of the Department of the Missouri
Department of the Missouri
Department of the Missouri was a division of the United States Army that functioned through the American Civil War and the Indian Wars afterwards.-Civil War:...
in 1865. Dodge ordered a punitive campaign to suppress the Southern Cheyenne, Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
, and Arapaho
Arapaho
The Arapaho are a tribe of Native Americans historically living on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Sioux. Arapaho is an Algonquian language closely related to Gros Ventre, whose people are seen as an early...
Indians who had been conducting raids against overland mail routes. He gave tactical command of the expedition to Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
Patrick Edward Connor
Patrick Edward Connor
Patrick Edward Connor was a Union General during the American Civil War. He was most famous for his campaigns against Native Americans in the American Old West.-Early life and career:...
, commander of the District of Utah
District of Utah
During the American Civil War, the District of Utah was a subordinate district of the Army's Department of the Pacific.On August 6, 1862, the Department of the Pacific absorbed the District of Utah, the territory of the former Department of Utah which had been discontinued on July 3, 1861; the...
.
The battle
General Connor had experienced little fighting until late August 1865, when he discovered 500 Arapaho Indians under chiefTribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
s Black Bear and Medicine Man along the Tongue River
Tongue River (Montana)
The Tongue River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately 265 mi long, in the U.S. states of Wyoming and Montana. The Tongue rises in Wyoming in the Big Horn Mountains, flows through northern Wyoming and southeastern Montana and empties into the Yellowstone River at Miles City,...
in north central Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. Connor had only 400 men at his immediate disposal but moved against the Indians nonetheless. On August 29 Connor caught up to the Indian village on a piece of land where the Tongue River makes a bottleneck. Chief Black Bear and many of the warriors were away fighting the Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
along the Big Horn River, but Medicine Man and some older men, women and children were still in camp.
At 0730 hours, Connor charged the village. The remaining warriors attempted to make a stand to allow the women and children to escape before the village was overrun. After the soldiers had captured the village, the Indians staged a counterattack
Counterattack
A counterattack is a tactic used in response against an attack. The term originates in military strategy. The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy in attack and the specific objectives are usually to regain lost ground or to destroy attacking enemy units.It is...
. Connor had brought up two howitzers and held off the attack. Skirmishing lasted until dark, but the battle resulted in a victory for US forces. The Army killed or wounded 54 Indians. The soldiers captured 18 women and children, but eventually released them. Additionally, the soldiers killed over 1,000 Indian horses and ponies.
Results
The battle effectively ended the Powder River Expedition. Even though the expedition in general achieved inconclusive results, the battle was a tactical victory for the army. The ability of the Arapaho to threaten the overland routes was reduced. Emigrant travel became safer for a while.No physical evidence of the battle remains. The battleground is preserved in the Connor Battlefield State Historic Site in Ranchester, Wyoming
Ranchester, Wyoming
Ranchester is a town in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 701 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ranchester is located at ....
. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
External links
- Connor Battlefield, Wyoming Division of State Parks and Historic Sites
- Connor Battlefield, Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site
- John Dishon McDermott, Circle of fire: the Indian war of 1865