This date in 1823 saw the second day of combat in “The Arikara War.” That morning, Colonel Leavenworth's Sixth Infantry bombarded the upper and lower villages of the Arikara in the vicinity of what is now Mobridge, South Dakota. His howitzers attacking the upper village mostly fell into the Missouri River or onto the river sands. By noon, his artillery ran out of ammunition.
On the previous day, a coalition force of the Sixth Infantry, the Missouri Legion consisting of fur traders, and about 500 Lakota warriors, had marched to the outskirts of the lower Arikara village. Once the village was in sight, Lakota warriors mounted a cavalry charge. In a fierce melee outside the village, Arikara warriors pushed them back.
One hour into the combat, the Sixth Infantry and the Missouri Legion arrived. Arikara warriors retreated into their village, leaving Lakotas to loot corn, squash, and beans in nearby fields. Colonel Leavenworth did not pursue the Arikara further that day because his men were tired, his supply train was still behind him, and military doctrine required an infantry assault to be preceded by an artillery barrage.
That barrage started on the second day of combat. Unbeknownst to the besiegers at the time, the artillery killed the lower village's mayor, Grey Eyes, in the midst of “solemn ceremonies for deliverance.” In his official report, Colonel Leavenworth wrote, “The Ricaras said ... the first shot of our cannon had killed the celebrated chief, called 'Grey Eyes,' who caused all the mischief, and that we killed a great many of their people and of their horses. They were evidently very much terrified, and completely humbled.”
Despite rising tensions between the United States and the Arikara confederacy, Arikara villages had a reputation for being peaceful. That reputation had changed the early morning of June 2nd, when two men from William Ashley's fur trading party cruised the lower Arikara village looking for sex in the middle of the night. One of the men was killed and mutilated, while hundreds of angry Arikaras followed the other to the fur traders' camp in an impromptu ambush. Twelve men died and eleven were wounded.
Calls for vengeance and deterrence ensued, leading to the August assault.
Dakota Datebook by Andrew Alexis Varvel
References:
- William R. Nester, “The Arikara War” (Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 2001), page 172.
- Ibid., pages 169-171.
- Edwin Thompson Denig (John C. Ewers, editor), “Five Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri” (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961), page 55.
- “From the National Intelligencer, OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS, Colonel Leavenworth to General Atkinson, 21 September 1823”, The National Gazette (Philadelphia), 7 October 1823, page 1.
- Nester, page 136.
- Ibid., pages 140-145.
- Ibid., pages 151-154.
- “Col. Leavenworth's second dispatch to Gen. Atkinson”, 20 October 1823, Edwardsville Spectator (Illinois), 27 December 1823, page 1.
- President James Monroe, “OPENING OF CONGRESS: MESSAGE”, The Morning Post (London), 27 December 1823, page 1.
