Rank: Private
Unit: 2d Cavalry
Campaign: Plains Indian War (post Civil War)
Died: 14 August 1872
Cause of death: Killed in action
Location of fatality: near Pryor‘s Fork, Montana (Billings, Montana)
Note: From ONE HUNDRED YEARS WITH THE SECOND CAVALRY
By Joseph I. Lambert, Major, Second Cavalry Copyright 1939 Commanding Officer, Second Cavalry, Fort Riley, Kansas Capper Printing Company, Inc.
A column consisting of Companies F, G, H, and L, and four companies of the Seventh Infantry, all under Major Eugene M. Baker, Second Cavalry, was ordered into the field July, 1872, as an escort to surveyors of the Northern Pacific Railroad along the Yellowstone River. On August 13 camp was pitched on that stream near Pryor’s Fork. Before daylight the next morning the camp was attacked by eight hundred Sioux, Arapaho, and Cheyenne Indians, apparently in an attempt to drive off the stock. Because of the vigilance of the pickets, the savages were discovered before the attack and the alarm was given. On account of the darkness there was much confusion, making it difficult to distinguish friend from foe. The fight lasted about three hours, during which time the Indians were driven to cover first in the surrounding bluffs, and later down the valley. The casualties on the side of the troops were one killed and six wounded, while the savages had at least two killed and ten wounded. No doubt the small loss on both sides here was on account of darkness.