Lieutenant-Colonel George Custer fought the so-called Battle of the
Washita in November 1868.  This raid on Cheyenne Chief Black kettle's camp
on Oklahoma was in retaliation for Cheyenne raids on Kansas settlements
the previous month.  It was part of a massive military campaign to
contain all Indians who refused to stay within their newly assigned
reservations.  The soldiers were under orders to destroy the village, kill
the men, and take all women and children as prisoners.  They descended in
a surprise attack, killing more than a hundred warrior (including Black
Kettle himself) and close to forty noncombatants.  The Indians were
reinforced by warriors from neighboring Arapaho, Kiowa, and Comanche
villages, and Custer withdrew his troops-but without the knowledge that he
had wreaked revenge.