The "Wagon Box Fight" was a replay of the "Hayfield" - and more. Powell gave his best sharpshooters three repeating rifles each, probably. 50 caliber Spencers, with other soldiers at their sides to reload the guns. The rest of his men hold their fire until the warwhooping 500 redmen were a scant 50 yards away. The sudden and unrelenting rain of fire split the Indian charge into bits. Never had the Sioux taken such losses and so quickly. At close range, some rifle-balls passed through one victim to kill or wound a second man behind him. There were none of the lulls in firing, the loading delays on which the Indians counted. The Sioux and their allies fled, leaving dead men and horses all around the improvised fort. Powell lost six dead and two wounded of his 32-man force. For once, white estimates of Inidan losses were probably accurate -60 dead and 120 wounded. The Indians had rushed the defenders six separate times and Red Cloud's horse was shot from under him, perhaps by Powell himself. The Hayfield and Wagon Box Fights were classic battles in which a few badly outnumbered men held off overwhelming odds. (9)

Wagon Box Fight Battlefield

Behind such wagon boxes soldiers found safety