45°20′07″N 107°52′04″W / 45.335153°N 107.867645°W
| Hayfield Fight | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Red Cloud's War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| United States Government forces and civilians | Cheyenne and Sioux warriors | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Lt. Col. Luther P. Bradley Lt. Sigismund Sternberg D. A. (Al) Colvin | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 21 soldiers, 9 civilians | 500–800 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
3 killed 4 wounded | Unknown: estimates from 8 to 23 killed[1][2] | ||||||
The Hayfield Fight on August 1, 1867 was an engagement of Red Cloud's War near Fort C. F. Smith, Montana, between 21 soldiers of the U.S. Army, a hay-cutting crew of nine civilians, and several hundred Native Americans, mostly Cheyenne and Arapaho, with some Lakota Sioux. Armed with newly issued breechloading Springfield Model 1866 rifles, the heavily outnumbered soldiers held off the native warriors and inflicted casualties.
While similar in circumstance and casualties to the Wagon Box Fight, which took place the next day near Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming, this engagement has not received as much attention by historians. In both cases, the soldiers' defensive positions and new arms are considered critical to their holding off the larger forces of the Powder River warriors. The Wagon Box Fight was the last major engagement of the war, but native raids continued against travelers and soldiers, the telegraph, and Union Pacific Railway, which was under construction. It was brought to an end the next year under treaty. Historian Jerome Green believes that the Hayfield Fight "dramatized overall ineffectiveness of military policy in the region prior to its temporary abandonment by the federal government."[2]: 30