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Battle Of Warbonnet CreekThe Battle of Warbonnet Creek was at most a skirmish characterised by the duel between "Buffalo Bill" Cody and Yellow Hand and the battle is often referred to as the First Scalp for Custer because of this. After the defeat of George A. Custer at the battle of Little Bighorn many Indians joined with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse encouraged by the Indians' success. About 800 Cheyenne warriors set out from their reservation in nebraska. The U.S. army was also recieving reinforcements. Colonel Wesley Merritt, commanding the 5th Cavalry, had set out to join with George Crook in Montana, guided by the legendary Buffalo Bill Cody. Merritt was able to intercept the 800 Cheyenne before he reached Crook. Merritt planned an ambush and hid most of his 200 troopers inside covered wagons and posted sharphooters nearby but out of sight. Spotting Merritt's seemingly unescorted wagon train along Warbonnet Creek in Nebraska, the Cheyenne charged right into the trap. A few warriors were wounded by the troopers but the only real action of the engagment was a duel between "Buffalo Bll" and Chief Yellow Hand. Cody pulled his Winchester rifle on the chief and killed him. The rest of the warriors under Chief Lone Wolf broke and fled so quickly that not a single trooper was killed or injured. Merritt was able to join with Crook who in turn linked up with Alfred H. Terry bringing a combined strength of the U.S. force to about 4,000. Source - Dillon, Richard H. North American Indian Wars (1983)
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