Battle of Wounded Knee

Wounded Knee Massacre
Part of the Ghost Dance War and the Sioux Wars
Mass grave for the dead Lakota after the conflict at Wounded Knee Creek
Date 29 December 1890 Location Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota Result United States victory
Belligerents
United States	Miniconjou Lakota Hunkpapa Lakota
Commanders and leaders
James W. Forsyth	Spotted Elk †
Strength
500 effectives: 7th U.S. Cavalry: 438 troopers 22 artillerymen with four 1.65–inch guns 30 Oglala Indian scouts	120 men
Casualties and losses
25 killed, 39 wounded (6 fatally)	150-300 killed: 90 men killed 200 women and children killed 51 wounded (7 fatally) Native American losses include civilian casualties

500 effectives:
7th U.S. Cavalry:
438 troopers
22 artillerymen with four 1.65–inch guns

150-300 killed:
90 men killed
200 women and children killed
51 wounded (7 fatally)

The Wounded Knee Massacre (also called the Battle of Wounded Knee) occurred on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek (Lakota: Čhaŋkpé Ópi Wakpála) on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of South Dakota.

The previous day, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M. Whitside intercepted Spotted Elk's band of Miniconjou Lakota and 38 Hunkpapa Lakota near Porcupine Butte and escorted them 5 miles (8.0 km) westward to Wounded Knee Creek, where they made camp. The remainder of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, led by Colonel James W. Forsyth, arrived and surrounded the encampment. The regiment was supported by a battery of four Hotchkiss mountain guns.

On the morning of December 29, the U.S. Cavalry troops went into the camp to disarm the Lakota. One version of events claims that during the process of disarming the Lakota, a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote was reluctant to give up his rifle, claiming he had paid a lot for it. A scuffle over the rifle ensued, causing several Lakota to draw their weapons and open fire on the cavalry regiment. The situation quickly devolved as both sides began firing indiscriminately.

By the time the battle was over, more than 150 men, women, and children of the Lakota had been killed and 51 were wounded (4 men and 47 women and children, some of whom died later); some estimates placed the number of dead at 300. Twenty-five army soldiers also died, and 39 were wounded (6 of the wounded later died). At least twenty soldiers were awarded the (Congressional) Medal of Honor. In 2001, the National Congress of American Indians passed two resolutions condemning the military awards and called on the U.S. government to rescind them.

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