The desolate and rugged landscape of Harding County, South Dakota, silently bore witness to a pivotal and often brutal conflict known as the Battle of Slim Buttes. Fought with fierce determination on September 9 and 10, 1876, this engagement stands as a significant turning point in the Great Sioux War, marking the United States Army’s first substantial victory following the devastating defeats at the Rosebud and Little Bighorn rivers earlier that year.
In the aftermath of the disastrous summer campaigns of June 1876, where General George Custer and his command were annihilated at Little Bighorn and General George Crook faced a strategic setback at Rosebud, a palpable frustration permeated the U.S. military command. General Philip H. Sheridan, overseeing the Department of Missouri, issued unequivocal orders: pursue and decisively engage the elusive Native American warriors and their followers. Generals Alfred Terry and George Crook, leading separate columns, embarked on a relentless pursuit across the vast territories of Montana and Dakota. By September, after months of grueling campaigning, neither general had successfully located any major bands of Native Americans. Their forces, weary and running low on supplies, eventually separated at the mouth of the Powder River in Montana.
Crook’s Starvation March: A Campaign of Desperation
General George Crook, convinced that the Native American trails led towards the vital Black Hills, redirected his command eastward towards the Little Missouri River in western North Dakota. Despite his troops being perilously low on provisions, he made the audacious decision to embark on a 200-mile journey south, a move born of desperation and the unwavering resolve to find his quarry. This arduous trek, involving approximately 2,000 men, would become infamously known as “Crook’s Starvation March.”
The conditions endured by Crook’s men were nothing short of brutal. Persistent rain had transformed the prairie into a muddy quagmire, while earlier fires had stripped the land of vital forage, leaving the horses and mules with little to eat. Despite these immense hardships, the soldiers pressed on, often covering 25 to 35 miles a day. As the march continued, the toll on the animals became unbearable; many exhausted horses and mules collapsed, forcing the desperate men to kill and butcher them for sustenance. Their own provisions were virtually nonexistent, making the desperate measure of consuming their mounts a daily reality.
By September 7, 1876, as the campaign stretched into the harsh fall, Crook’s column reached the Grand River. With supplies critically depleted and his men on the verge of collapse, he dispatched Captain Anson Mills of the 3rd Cavalry with 150 men. Their mission: to make a forced march to Deadwood, South Dakota, and return with essential food and provisions, a lifeline for the starving command.
The Unexpected Discovery at Slim Buttes
The course of events took an unforeseen turn on September 8th. As Captain Mills’ column pressed on towards the Black Hills, Frank Grouard, Crook’s highly skilled chief scout, made a crucial discovery. He spied an Indian village nestled at Slim Buttes, straddling both banks of a small stream known as Rabbit Creek. Further reconnaissance revealed it to be the camp of Oglala Chief American Horse, along with his followers and other Native Americans from the Minneconjous, Brule, and Cheyenne tribes. The village consisted of 37 lodges, housing an estimated 260 people, with approximately 30 to 40 warriors prepared for defense.
Upon reporting this significant find, Captain Mills, against General Crook’s earlier directive to avoid large engagements if possible, ordered his troops to hide within a nearby ravine. His plan was clear: launch a surprise attack on the village the following morning.
The Fierce Attack: September 9, 1876
The dawn of September 9th broke with a sudden and brutal assault. Leaving a pack train guarded by 25 men, Mills’ Third Cavalry troopers, under the leadership of Lieutenant John W. Bubb, swiftly encircled the unsuspecting village. The attack was indiscriminate, catching the inhabitants entirely by surprise. The Native Americans, roused from their sleep, frantically cut their way out of the backs of their rawhide tipis, firing two hasty volleys into the advancing soldiers before scattering into the surrounding brush and ravines, carrying their dead and wounded with them. During this initial chaotic engagement, two men from Company E were wounded: Lieutenant Adolphus Von Luettwitz, who sustained a severe kneecap injury that necessitated partial leg amputation, and Private Currin, wounded in the thigh.
As soon as they had secured their women and children, the Native American warriors regrouped and returned, encircling the soldiers. The ensuing firefight was intense, resulting in more casualties among the Indians, including women and children, as they sought to defend their camp. When the initial heavy firing subsided, Captain Crawford ordered J.A. Kirkwood and five men to sweep through the lodges to confirm the village was clear, only to find it deserted. However, those Native Americans who managed to escape quickly dispatched word of the attack to other nearby villages, alerting them to the army’s presence and intentions.
Meanwhile, a persistent exchange of fire continued from a nearby ravine, where some warriors were still engaging the troops. In this renewed skirmish, John Wenzel of Company E was tragically shot through the forehead and killed instantly. Private Kirkwood and Private Clevensky attempted to flank the entrenched Indians but were unsuccessful. Kirkwood suffered a flesh wound to his side, and Sergeant Glass’s arm was shattered, underscoring the fierce resistance faced by the soldiers.
Spoils of War and Lingering Tensions
After the Native American warriors finally withdrew, soldiers moved through the now-deserted village to survey its contents. The troops confiscated a substantial bounty: over 5,500 pounds of dried meat, large quantities of dried fruits, valuable robes, various arms, and ammunition. Several hundred ponies were also captured. More significantly, the soldiers recovered numerous items directly linked to the Battle of Little Bighorn, a poignant reminder of the army’s earlier defeat. Among these were a 7th Cavalry Regiment flag, found affixed to the lodge of Chief American Horse, the blood-stained gauntlets of the slain Captain Myles Keogh, approximately 30 saddles, three 7th Cavalry horses, and other personal effects belonging to the soldiers who had perished in that tragic battle. In a remarkable discovery, $11,000 was also found in one of the tipis. Following the thorough search, the village was torched, leaving a smoldering testament to the conflict.
In the interim, Captain Mills had dispatched three soldiers to General Crook with an urgent message: “Come as he had captured an Indian village.” Upon receiving the news, Crook’s reaction was one of extreme anger and frustration. His primary concern had been securing provisions for his starving men, and he had explicitly ordered Mills to avoid engaging a large village, instead instructing him to “cut around it” if encountered. The unauthorized engagement, while successful, had diverted critical resources and attention from the paramount task of resupply.
The Second Day: Crook’s Arrival and Chief American Horse’s Last Stand
The next morning, September 10th, brought a renewed and intensified assault from the Native Americans, whose numbers had significantly increased overnight due to the alerts sent out from the previous day. The fighting recommenced with vigor, but this time, General Crook himself arrived with the main body of his force around 11:30 a.m., adding considerable weight to the U.S. Army’s presence. Despite the reinforcements, the battle continued with ferocity, claiming the life of U.S. Scout Jonathan White, who was shot through the forehead by the Native Americans.
A determined group of warriors, under the valiant leadership of Chief American Horse, made a final, desperate stand in a ravine. Outnumbered and outmaneuvered by Crook’s now 2,000-strong force, they were ultimately compelled to surrender. During the intense fighting, Chief American Horse was tragically shot through the abdomen, a wound from which he would succumb several days later. While precise numbers of Native American casualties are difficult to ascertain, estimates suggest that the Indian forces had swelled to around 800 warriors by the second day.
That evening, the renowned Chief Crazy Horse and his band, having received word of the engagement, arrived on the scene, prepared to confront the soldiers. However, upon discovering the full strength of Crook’s combined forces, they wisely chose to withdraw after a minor skirmish. This brief encounter resulted in five American soldiers being wounded, including Private Edward Kennedy, who was so severely injured that he died during an amputation, adding to the grim toll of the Battle of Slim Buttes.
The Aftermath and Enduring Legacy
The full extent of the Native American losses during the Battle of Slim Buttes remains unknown, as many of their dead were carried away by their retreating comrades. However, soldiers discovered a burial site in a ravine where Native American women had dug a communal grave, interring four braves, six women, and 13 children. The U.S. Army reported its losses as three dead and fourteen wounded, a comparatively light toll given the intensity of the engagement.
The following day, the three fallen soldiers—Edward D. Kennedy, Jonathan White, and John Wenzel—along with Lieutenant Von Ludwick’s amputated leg, were solemnly buried. To conceal the burial place from potential desecration by the Native Americans, a large fire was built over the gravesite. The command then resumed its march towards Deadwood, transporting the wounded men in stretchers, a painful and slow journey. During this arduous journey, Lieutenant Von Ludwick, despite his critical condition, hauntingly insisted that the Native Americans were mutilating his buried leg. His premonition proved tragically accurate; the next day, Major Mason, dispatched with five companies of the 5th Cavalry to investigate, discovered that the remains of the deceased soldiers had indeed been exhumed, cut to pieces, and their bones crushed, a chilling act of retaliation.
The Battle of Slim Buttes marked a critical turning point. It was the first U.S. Army victory of the Great Sioux War of 1876, a much-needed morale booster after months of frustration and defeat. The sustained assaults by the U.S. forces throughout the subsequent fall and winter, coupled with the loss of key leaders like Chief American Horse, gradually convinced most of the Sioux and Cheyenne of the futility of continuing the armed struggle against the overwhelming might of the soldiers, ultimately leading to more surrenders and the end of widespread organized resistance.
Decades later, in August 1920, the Slim Buttes Battlefield Monument was dedicated, a solemn tribute to those who fought and fell. Located approximately a half-mile northwest of the village and battle site, the monument is flanked by three grave markers commemorating the U.S. military men who lost their lives: Edward D. Kennedy, Company C, 5th U.S. Cavalry; Jonathan White, U.S. Scout; and John Wenzel, Company A, 3rd U.S. Cavalry. A roadside historical marker, situated next to Highway 20, further educates visitors about this significant chapter in American history, reminding all of the sacrifices made in the remote, but historically rich, landscape of Slim Buttes, South Dakota.
