Wagon Box Fight

Wagon Box Fight
Part of Red Cloud's War
An illustration of the engagement
Date August 2, 1867 Location Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming Territory Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
United States	Lakota Sioux
Commanders and leaders
James Powell	Red Cloud Crazy Horse High Backbone
Strength
26 soldiers 6 civilians	300–1,000 warriors
Casualties and losses
7 killed 2 wounded[1]: 22	~6 (2 to 60) killed 6 wounded[2]

The Wagon Box Fight was an engagement which occurred on August 2, 1867, in the vicinity of Fort Phil Kearny during Red Cloud's War. A party of twenty-six U.S. Army soldiers and six civilians were attacked by several hundred Lakota Sioux warriors. Although outnumbered, the soldiers were armed with newly supplied breech-loading Springfield Model 1866 rifles and lever-action Henry rifles, and had a defensive wall of wagon boxes to protect them. They held off the attackers for hours with few casualties, although they lost a large number of horses and mules driven off by the raiders.

This was the last major engagement of the war, although Lakota and allied forces continued to raid European-American parties along the Bozeman Trail. The area has been designated as a Wyoming State Historic Site and is marked by a memorial and a historic plaque.