Battle of Platte Bridge

Battle of Platte Bridge
Part of Colorado War, Sioux Wars, American Indian Wars
Date July 26, 1865 Location Near present day Casper, Wyoming Result Indian victory
Belligerents
United States	Lakota Cheyenne Arapaho
Commanders and leaders
Maj. Martin Anderson Capt. Adam Smith Leib Lt. Caspar Collins  † Sgt. Amos Custard  †	Man Afraid Of His Horses Red Cloud Roman Nose Crazy Horse Dull Knife
Strength
150 soldiers, a few civilians and Shoshoni scouts	2,000 to 3,000
Casualties and losses
29 killed, 10 seriously wounded	Between 8 and 60 killed

The Battle of Platte Bridge, also called the Battle of Platte Bridge Station, on July 26, 1865 was the culmination of a summer offensive by the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne Indians against the United States army. In May and June the Indians raided army outposts and stagecoach stations over a wide swath of Wyoming and Montana. In July, they assembled a large army, estimated by Cheyenne warrior George Bent to number 3,000 warriors, and descended upon Platte Bridge. The bridge, across the North Platte River near present-day Casper, Wyoming, was guarded by 120 soldiers. In an engagement near the bridge, and another against a wagon train guarded by 28 soldiers a few miles away, the Indians killed 29 soldiers while suffering at least eight dead.

The Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado in December 1864 catalyzed an uprising among the Plains Indians of the central Great Plains. About 4,000 Brulé Lakota, Southern Cheyenne, and Southern Arapaho, including about 1,000 warriors, moved north from Colorado and Kansas to join their northern relatives in the Powder River Country of the future states of Wyoming and Montana. Along the way they raided ranches and wagon trains, acquired a huge amount of plunder, and fought battles with the army at Julesburg, Mud Springs, and Rush Creek.

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