Battle of Bone Pile Creek

The Battle of Bone Pile Creek, part of the Powder River Expedition, was fought on August 13, 14, and 15, 1865, by United States Soldiers, and Civilians, against Sioux, and Cheyenne Warriors. The Battle occurred near Bone Pile Creek, in Dakota Territory, in present day Campbell County, Wyoming, United States.

The Battle
On August 13, 1865, the soldiers, civilians, and wagon train of the Sawyers Expedition were moving west. The soldiers accompanying the train included Company B, of the 1st Dakota Cavalry Battalion under Captain George Williford, the commander of Company C, 5th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In the evening near Pumpkin Butte, Cheyenne and Sioux Native American Warriors attacked the train, killing Nathaniel Hedges, a 19-year-old civilian employee. Later in the evening of the thirteenth, the wagons were corralled near Bone Pile Creek, and Hedges was buried at the center of the corral. The next morning, the warriors returned and attacked again. The warriors again attacked the corralled wagons on the fifteenth, but they could not overtake the wagon train. Chief Red Cloud of the Sioux, and Dull Knife of the Cheyenne, accompanied by George Bent and Charles Bent of the Cheyenne negotiated with Lieutenant Colonel Sawyers for a safe passage of the wagon train in exchange for one wagon's load of supplies. Soldiers of the 1st Dakota Cavalry Battalion reported that at this time that the Cheyenne warrior George Bent was dressed in a United States military uniform. Sawyers agreed to give the supplies, which included a wagon full of sugar, bacon, coffee, flour, and tobacco. When the wagons began moving again, the Natives attacked again, killing Privates Anthony Nelson, and John Rouse of Company B, 1st Dakota Cavalry. The soldiers fired back, killing two warriors, and the Native Americans quickly withdrew from the corralled wagons. After burying Private Nelson beside Nathaniel Hedges, and being unable to locate the body of Private Rouse, the Sawyers Expedition continued on.

Order of Battle
United States Army, Lieutenant Colonel James A. Sawyers, 196 men.
 * 1st Dakota Cavalry Battalion, Company B, 143 men. Commanded by Captain George Williford of Company C, 5th U.S. Volunteer Infantry.
 * Civilians, 53 men.
 * 56 Wagons.
 * 90 Oxen.

Warriors, 500 Sioux and Cheyenne.
 * Oglala Lakota Sioux: Red Cloud.
 * Cheyenne: Dull Knife, George Bent, Charles Bent.

The battlefield today
The Bone Pile Creek Battlefield is at an unknown location in Campbell County, Wyoming, near present-day Wright, Wyoming.