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This month's Forgotten Battle is...
The Battle of the Big Hole
Intro
The battle of the Big Hole took place on August 9-10, 1877, in what is now the state of Montana. It was fought between soldiers of US Army and warriors of the Nez Perce Tribe. This battle would be the costliest during one of the most tragic chapters in American history.
Part I
The Nez Perce War began on June 14, 1877. In command of the US Army, was General Oliver Otis Howard, a highly decorated veteran of the American Civil War. His orders were to hunt down the Nez Perce Tribe and force them to relocate to reservations within the state of Idaho. Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce adamently refused to move his people from their ancestral homeland in Montana.
Twenty-two years earlier in 1855, the Nez Perce (along with four other tribes) met with officials of the American government to sign a number of treaties that would be ratified by the US Senate. These treaties (called the, Walla Walla Council) ceded large swaths of land to each of these tribes and granted them the rights to hunt and farm the lands as they saw fit. For the Nez Perce, the treaty granted them a total of 7.5 million acres in Montana. The Senate ratified the treaties in 1859 and the Washington Territory's first governor (Issac Stevens) secured the treaty for the two most powerful tribes (the Nez Perce and the Yakama).
Tragically, Governor Stevens was killed while fighting at the battle of Chantilly during the Civil War. His death (along with the deaths of other signers of the treaties) allowed new leaders in the American government to renege on their promises to the tribes located in the Washington Territory. Instead of giving in to the government's demands, Chief Joseph and other Nez Perce leaders decided to raise the tribe in revolt. The stage was set for a confrontation between them and the US Army.
Part II
With US Army in pursuit, Chief Joseph led the Nez Perce on a long and difficult trek north to reach the Canadian border. As they had more than 500 non-combatants (women, children, and old men) in the tribe progress was painfully slow. It was not long before elements of the Army caught up with them.
Leading the US Army in pursuit were many experienced generals who had seen heavy combat during the American Civil War. The four most notable of them were Oliver O. Howard, John Gibbon, Nelson A. Miles, and Samuel D. Sturgis. With them, were more than 1,500 soldiers, civilian volunteers, and Indian scouts. With superior numbers and combat experience, they were expecting a quick and easy victory.
Instead, the conflict quickly turned into a series of running battles which always ended in the Nez Perce evading the army. Although he suffered a defeat at the battle of the Clearwater, Chief Joseph and his tribe were able to successfully evade the Army and move into Montana. After gaining what they believed to be a long lead on their pursuers, Chief Joseph and his top strategist (Looking Glass) decided to make camp at the Big Hole River (located in present-day Beaverhead County).
They were unaware, that Colonel John Gibbon and 206 soldiers and civilian-volunteers had discovered them. Gibbon and his small army reached the Big Hole River on the night of August 8. In the morning, they would launch their attack.
Part III
At 3:30 AM, Gibbon and his soldiers left their camp and silently advanced on the Nez Perce who were sleeping in 89 tipis in a wedge-shape pattern. They crossed the Big Hole River, formed a skirmishing line, and began shooting into the Nez Perce's camp. Since they didn't know where the warriors were located, the soldiers fired indiscriminately into every tipi they saw. As a result, many women and children were killed during the battle.
Caught by surprise, many of the Nez Perce people began to flee into the darkness. Some men and women grabbed rifles and began to return fire and inflicted casualties on Gibbon's men. From there, the battle quickly turned into a mash of confusion as the soldiers began to fire in every direction. Gibbon was forced to temporarily pull his men back and reorganize them. He then ordered them to burn the camp. By then however, Chief Joseph and Looking Glass had rallied their warriors and launched a counter-attack.
From concealed positions in the hills surrounding their burning camp, the warriors picked off dozens of soldiers. Just twenty minutes after launching his attack, Gibbon and his men were forced to pull back from the Nez Perce camp and take up defensive positions. What followed was a sniping duel between the warriors and the soldiers all throughout the day and into the night. The next day, the warriors finally withdrew, met up with the women and children, and set up a new camp 18 miles south at Lake Creek. Gibbon and his soldiers did not pursue them.
Epilogue
The casualties for the Battle of the Big Hole had been heavy both sides. The US Army had suffered 31 killed and 38 wounded (including Colonel Gibbon). The casualties for the Nez Perce are not officially known but also believed to have been severe. Historians have put their casualties between 70 to 90 killed and an unknown number of wounded. Nearly half of the dead are believed to have been women and children. Since both sides had suffered high casualties and disengaged, the battle is considered a draw.
The Nez Perce war would continue for another two months. Finally on October 5, Chief Joseph and his tribe were cornered at the Bear Paw Mountain in northern Montana. With so many of his tribesmen dead, Chief Joseph approached General Howard and General Miles and agreed to surrender. He is quoted as saying, "I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. Hear me my chiefs; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever". He and his tribe were then taken into custody and sent to a reservation down in Oklahoma. In 1885, they were permitted to return to a new reservation in their former territory in what is now Washington State. Chief Joseph would die there in 1904. It would not be until 2021, that the Nez Perce tribe would finally return to their former reservation in Idaho (where they currently live now).
Although they had won the war, there was no celebrating within the Army. Their casualties had been very high and many felt that the conflict was pointless to begin with. General Philip Sheridan is quoted as saying, "We took away their country, broke up their mode of living, their habits in life, introduced diseases and decay among them and was for this and against this that they made war. Could anyone expect any less?". For his part, General Oliver Howard would remain in the army until his retirement in 1894. At the time of his death in 1909, he was the last living Union Army general to have held a permanent rank in the US Army. John Gibbon eventually recovered from his wounds and served in the Army until 1891. He died in 1896 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Today, the Nez Perce war of 1877 is remembered as one of the most tragic conflicts fought on American soil. The battles fought have all since been preserved as part of the Nez Perce National Historical Park. Among the historic sites is the Big Hole National Battlefield. In 1966, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It remains a solemn reminder of worst battle of one of the darkest chapters in American history.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/31549/31549-h/31549-h.htm
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nez-perce-fight-battle-of-big-hole
https://www.wallowanezperce.org/news/2020/8/10/143-years-remembering-the-battle-at-big-hole
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/big-hole-montana/
https://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/MT/Beaverhead/state.html#google_vignette
