Wounded Knee Massacre 1890
Background
On the morning of December 29, 1890 a detachment of the 7th U.S. Cavalry massacred some 185 Lakota men, women and children in a camp near Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
The massacre started with an attempt to disarm the Lakotas. After the murder of Chief Sitting Bull on December 15, 1890, Chief Spotted Elk and his band left the Cheyenne River Reservation to seek the protection of Chief Red Cloud at Pine Ridge. The band was intercepted by the 7th Cavalry under Colonel James Forsyth, and escorted to a camp at Wounded Knee.
At dawn on December 29, the army entered the Lakota camp, separated the men from the women, and began to disarm them, taking mostly knives and axes. A scuffle started when troops tried to take the rifle of a deaf man, Black Coyote. The rifle discharged. Both sides started firing. American soldiers fired into the tipi camp of women and children. The women scattered over the prairie and into ravines, some of them for miles, but soldiers hunted them down and killed them with their children.
The fighting lasted less than an hour. Casualty estimates vary. Lakota casualties included at least 185 killed and 51 wounded (some of whom died later). General Nelson Miles put the death toll at 90 warriors and about 200 women and children. Military records show that 84 men, 44 women and 18 children were buried in an unmarked grave. Some estimates place the number of Lakota dead at 300. Twenty-five U.S. troops were killed, and 39 were wounded (6 of the wounded would later die). Many of the U.S. casualties were probably victims of friendly fire.
U.S. newspapers applauded the slaughter. Twenty Medals of Honor were awarded to American soldiers. Gen. Miles relieved Col. Forsyth of command and convened a Court of Inquiry, but Forsyth was exonerated and reinstated.
The massacre has become iconic in American history. Traditionally, it marks the end of Indian resistance and the closing of the American frontier.
The Wounded Knee Battlefield was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1965 and was listed on the U.S.National Register of Historic Places in 1966. In 1972 members of the American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee as part of a protest against broken treaties. In 1990, after extensive hearings on the matter, Congress issued a statement of "deep regret" for the massacre at Wounded Knee, but refused to issue a formal apology. (101st Congress, Concurrent Resolution #153).
Order of battle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_Knee_Massacre#Order_of_battle
Lakota Casualties
(From "The Wounded Knee Interviews Of Eli S. Ricker"; pp. 176-178)
- Chief Big Foot (Spotted Elk)
- Wife of Big Foot
- Horned Cloud
- Wife of Horned Cloud
- William Horned Cloud, son
- Sherman Horned Cloud, son
- Pretty Enemy, niece
- Wife of Beard, daughter-in-law
- Thomas Beard, grandson
- Shedding Bear
- Trouble In Front, son
- Last Running
- Red White Cow, daughter
- Mother-in-law of Shedding Bear
- High Hawk
- Wife of High Hawk
- Little Boy, son
- Little Girl, daughter
- Whirl Wind Hawk
- Wife of Whirl Wind Hawk
- Young Lady, daughter
- Young Girl, daughter
- Little Girl, daughter
- Little Boy, son
- Little Boy, son
- He Crow
- Pretty Woman, daughter
- Buckskin Breech Clout
- Running in Lodge, son
- White Feather, son
- Little Boy, son
- Bear Woman, the oldest woman in the band
- Crazy Bear
- Elk Creek
- Wife of Elk Creek
- Spotted Chief, son
- Red Fish
- Wife of Red Fish
- Old Good Bear
- Young Good Bear
- Wife of Good Bear
- Little Boy, son
- Pretty Hawk
- Wife of Pretty Hawk
- Baby Pretty Hawk
- Wife of Lap
- Shoots the Right
- Bad Wound, son
- Bear Parts Body
- Little Boy, son
- Brown Beaver
- White Beaver Woman
- Black Coyote (the one who made the touble)
- Red Water Woman
- Sun In The Pupil
- Wife of Sun In The Pupil
- Henry Three, or Pretty Bold Eagle
- Iron Eyes (Big Foot's brother)
- Wife of Iron Eyes
- Has a Dog
- Red Shirt Girl
- Pretty Woman
- Albert Iron Eyes
- White Day
- Little Boy, son
- Charge at Them
- Old Woman, mother
- Wife of Iron American
- Wife of Yellow Buffalo Calf
- Louis Close to Home
- Cast Away and Run
- Bad Braves
- Red Horn
- Winter
- Strong Fox
- Wife of Strong Fox
- Little Boy, son
- One Feather
- Little Boy, son
- Without Robe
- Old Man Yellow Bull
- Wife of Old Man Yellow Bull
- Brown Woman
- Shakes the Bird
- Red Ears Horse
- Shoots with Hawk Feather
- His mother
- Ghost Horse
- Little Boy, son
- Chief Woman
- Wife of Trouble in Love
- Hat
- Baby boy
- Wife of Stone Hammer
- Little baby
- Wolf Eagle
- Good Boy, son
- Edward Wolf Ears
- Little Girl
- Shoots the Bear
- Kills Assiniboine
- George Shoots the Bear
- Wife of Shoots the Bear
- Kills Crow Indian
- Little Body Bear
- Wife of Little Body Bear
- Little Boy, son
- Baby girl
- Red Eagle (This man was in the tent and killed by the cannon.)
- Eagle Body, daughter
- Little Girl
- Little Elk
- Wife of Little Elk
- Black Shield's little girl
- White Wolf
- Red Ears Horse, sister
- Old Woman, her mother
- Wood Shade
- Wife of Wood Shade
- Running Stand Hairs
- Wife of Running Stand Hairs
- Young lady, daughter
- Scabbard Knife
- Wife of Scabbard Knife
- He Eagle
- Wife of He Eagle
- Edward He Eagle, son
- Young girl, daughter
- Young boy, son
- Log
- Wife of Log
- Really Woman, son
- Brown Hoops
- Little boy, son
- Young girl, daughter
- Mule's daughter, young lady
- Red Other Woman
- Black Flutes, young boy
- Takes away the Bow
- Gray in Eye
- Wife of Drops Blood
- Young boy, son
- Little boy, son
- Old Woman
- Wife of Long Bull
- Young girl, daughter
- Spotted Thunder
- Swift Bird
- Wife of Swift Bird
- Boy, son
- Boy, son
- Strike Scatter
- Boy, son
- Wolf Skin Necklace
- Last Talking, old woman. She is alone, her property, two horses, bedding, and lodge
- Not go in Among, son of Hailing Bear, and Her Good Medicine
- Wounded Hand
- Comes Out Rattling, wife
- Big Voice Thunder
- Mercy to Others
- Long Medicine
- Broken Arrow
- Wife of Broken Arrow
- Young Man
- Young Woman
- Brown Turtle
- Old Woman, mother
- Bird Wings
- Not Afraid of Lodge
- Bear Comes and Lies
- Wears Calf's Robe
- Yellow Robe
- Wounded in Winter, son
- Wife of Black Hair
- Bad Spotted Eagle - a Cree (visiting Big Foot's tribe)
- Wife of Bad Spotted Eagle - a Cree (visiting Big Foot's tribe)
- White American
- Long Bull
- Courage Bear
- Wife of Courage Bear
- Fat Courage Bear
- George Courage Bear
- Black Hawk
- She Bear, wife
- Weasel Bear, daughter
List of American Casualties
Killed:
Attached
- Hospital Steward Oscar Pollak, U.S. Army
- Indian Scout High Backbone
Headquarters, 7th Cavalry
- Captain George D. Wallace
- Sergeant Major Richard W. Corwin(e)
Troop A, 7th Cavalry
- Sergeant Arthur C. Dyer
- Private Henry Frey,
- Private George P. Johnson
- Private Michael Regan
- Private James Logan
Troop B, 7th Cavalry
- First Sergeant Dora S. Coffey
- Corporal Harry R. Forrest
- Private John Costello
- Private Ralph L. Cook
- Private William S. Meze(?)
Troop C, 7th Cavalry
- Private James DeVrsods(?)
Troop D, 7th Cavalry
- Private Frank T. Reinecky
Troop E, 7th Cavalry
- Sergeant Robert H. Nettles(?)
- Private August Kellner
Troop I, 7th Cavalry
- Blacksmith Gustav Korn
- Private Daniel Twohig
- Private James E. Kelley
- Private Pierce Cummings
Troop K, 7th Cavalry
- Sergeant William T. Hodges
- Private John H.(?) McCue
- Private Joseph Murphy
- Private William F. McClintock
- Private Philip Schwenkey
Wounded:
Headquarters, 7th Cavalry
- Lieutenant Ernest A. Garlington
- Lieutenant John C. Gresham
- Father Kraft - was badly wounded with a knife
Troop A, 7th Cavalry
- Sergeant A.H. Hazelwood
- Private Adam Nador(?)
- Private Harry L. Duncan
- Private Daniel McMahon
- Private Herman Granberg
Troop B, 7th Cavalry
- Sergeant William H. Toohey
- Sergeant James Ward
- Corporal Charles H. Nervell - died the same night before reaching the agency
- Private Frank Lewis
- Private Harry B. Stone
- Private John McKenzie
Troop C, 7th Cavalry
- Private Ervin Schriver
- Private William H. Green
Troop D, 7th Cavalry
- Wagoner George York
Troop E, 7th Cavalry
- Sergeant John F. Tritle
Troop I, 7th Cavalry
- Sergeant George Loyd
- Sergeant Henry Howard
- Corporal Albert S. Bone - died the same night before reaching the agency
- Private Bernhard Zolinder(?) - died the same night before reaching the agency
- Private Gottleb(?) Hipp
- Private Harvey H. Thomas
Troop K, 7th Cavalry
- Corporal Harold L. Clifton
- Trumpeter Jas. Christienson
- Private William Adams
- Private Edward A. Sullivan
- Private C.F. Martin
- Private William J. Davis
- Private Samuel F. Smith
- Private Frederick C. Yoder
- Private George Elliott
- Private Hugh McGuiness
- Private Herman Granberg - died of wounds
2nd Artillery (Attached to Light Battery E, 1st Artillery)
- Second Lieutenant Harry L. Hawthorne
Adjutant, 2nd Infantry
- First Lieutenant John Kinzie(?) - who was by permission with Major Whiteside.
Resources
Notes
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 153--RELATIVE TO THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRAGEDY AT WOUNDED KNEE CREEK, SD (Senate - October 15, 1990)