Red Cloud motioned and 1,000 warriors swarmed Fort Kearny, only one day after the Hayfield fight, in 1867. Six miles west of the post, loggers were cutting firewood for the soldiers.

Fortunately for his men, Captain Powell led them. Others officers had and would have fallen for the bait and chased the invaders, right into an ambush. Not Powell. He formed the 14 wood-hauling wagons into an oval-shaped defense. The thin-walled wagons stopped arrows and deflected bullets.

A feeling of confidence the soldiers had in his barrier made them unafraid of the hordes. Each soldier, flattened out in wagons, could hear and feel support from his comrades. Inside the oval wagon fort were cases of ammo, grain, cord wood and yokes.

It was only two hours after sunup when Powell¹s men, relieving another crew, were attacked. The detail on their way into Fort Kearny was also hit, losing the Indians the element of surprise that would¹ve cost the lives of many more soldiers. The returning detail did make the fort safely and alerted the garrison.

Natives rode circles around the oval, clinging to the backside of their mounts, but the horses themselves made excellent targets for the soldiers with their breechloading Springfield rifles. The natives didn¹t know of the new guns and expected a time lapse for repacking muzzle loaders which would have allowed them to overrun the wagons. Didn¹t happen. The Sioux retreated, having killed only one officer and two enlisted of the 32 men who faced a thousand. Snipers, not rushing warriors, killed these three.

From a safe distance, Red Cloud watched as his men gave away their advantage in battle. He then ordered them to attack on foot, in a wedge-shaped formation. Instead of having his braves low crawl in relative safety, Red Cloud had them become the perfect target just as the English did in the Revolutionary War.

Powell shifted all his men to one side of the oval protection so that they had perfect sight of the target. Five feet from coming over into the wagons, what was left of the Sioux scattered.

Red Cloud understood ambushes well. Offensive action against a defensive stronghold, not so much.

About noon, a howitzer with a relief column reached the site. The Sioux saw, understood and fled.

After five hours of fighting Powell lost two more, making five soldiers killed whereas the Sioux saw over 100 of their bravest die.

Crimsoned Prairie, S.L.A. Marshall, Da Capo Press, 1972