William J. Fetterman

William Judd Fetterman
William J. Fetterman's Headstone, Little Bighorn National Cemetery
Born	1833? New London, Connecticut (disputed)
Died	December 21, 1866 (aged 33) Near Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming
Buried	National Cemetery, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1861 - 1866
Rank	Captain
Unit	18th Infantry Regiment
Wars	American Civil War Indian Wars Red Cloud's War

American Civil War
Indian Wars

William Judd Fetterman (1833 – December 21, 1866) was an officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War and the subsequent Red Cloud's War on the Great Plains. Fetterman and his command of 80 men were killed in the Fetterman Fight.

Fetterman was probably born in New London, Connecticut, although this is uncertain. His father was a career Army officer of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) descent.

Fetterman enlisted in the Union Army on May 14, 1861, in Delaware, and was promptly commissioned a first lieutenant. He served with the First Battalion of the US 18th Infantry Regiment throughout the war and was twice brevetted for gallant conduct, finishing the war as a lieutenant colonel of Volunteers.

After the war, he chose to remain in the Regular Army and was assigned as a captain in the Second Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment. In November 1866, the regiment was stationed at Fort Phil Kearny, tasked with protecting immigrants traveling to the gold fields of Montana Territory along the Bozeman Trail. Fetterman allegedly boasted that with 80 soldiers, he could "ride through the Sioux Nation".

On December 21, 1866, a large band of Cheyenne and Sioux – which included Crazy Horse – under the leadership of Red Cloud attacked a wood train near the fort. Despite his unfamiliarity with frontier conditions and the methods of Indian fighting, Fetterman took command of a composite reaction force consisting of the former battalion quartermaster, Captain Frederick Brown, 2nd Lt. George Grummond, 49 enlisted troops of the 18th Infantry, 27 men of the 2nd Cavalry, and 2 civilian scouts, ironically totaling 80 men. Ignoring his orders not to venture beyond Lodge Trail Ridge (out of sight and support distance from the fort), Fetterman pursued a small band of Sioux and was lured into an ambush. He found himself facing approximately 2,000 Indians. Within 20 minutes, Fetterman and his command had been wiped out.