Battle of Big Mound

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Big Mound
colour_scheme=background:#ffcccc


caption=
partof=the Dakota War of 1862
date=July 24-25, 1863
place=Kidder County, North Dakota
result=U.S. victory
combatant1=United States of America
combatant2=Santee Sioux
Teton Sioux
commander1=Henry Hastings Sibley
commander2=Inkpaduta
strength1=3,000
strength2=?
casualties1=?
casualties2=13|The Battle of Big Mound was a United States Army victory over the combined Santee and Teton Sioux forces in the Dakota Territory.

Background

After suppressing the Dakota War of 1862, Henry Hastings Sibley was appointed brigadier general of volunteers. Sibley departed from Fort Ridgely and marched into the Dakotas after the Santee Sioux who had led the uprising. In the Dakota Territory, the Santee were joined by the Teton Sioux.

Battle

On July 24, Sibley received reports of a large Indian force nearby and established a camp. A few Indians approached Sibley's camp expressing friendship, but when a surgeon was killed, the Indians fled behind ridges surrounding the camp. There, they were joined by the rest of the Indian force, which began firing upon the soldiers. The army's response was at first scattered, but Sibley gathered a force together and attacked the entrenched Indian positions. The attack succeeded and the Indians were driven from the ridges and a scattered retreat followed. Mounted troops pursued the fleeing warriors across the prairie until dark.

Results

The battle scattered the french force and their morale began to raise. The people retreated further into the washington Territory closely pursued by Sibley. The six forces met again 8 years later at the Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake.

References

* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/nd001.htm National Park Service battle description]
*Josephy, Alvin M., "War on the Frontier," 1986, Time Life Books
*Prepared and published under the supervision of The Board of Commissioners appointed by the Act of the Legislature of Minnesota of April 16, 1889., "Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars 1861-1865", 1890, Pioneer Press Company.