Sully's Expedition (1863–1864)
| Sully's Expedition Sully's Campaign of 1863-1864 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Sioux Wars and the American Civil War | |||||||
The 8th Minnesota Infantry Regiment during the Battle of Killdeer Mountain by Carl L. Boeckmann | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| United States of America | Lakota, Yanktonai, Santee Dakota, Teton (Hunkpapa, Sihasapa), Sioux, and Blackfeet | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Alfred Sully Minor T. Thomas (1864) |
Gall Sitting Bull Inkpaduta | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
|
First Brigade: Brackett's Minnesota Cavalry Battalion 1st Dakota Cavalry Battalion 2nd Nebraska Cavalry Regiment 6th Iowa Cavalry Regiment 7th Iowa Cavalry Regiment 4 Mountain Howitzers Second Brigade (Minnesota Brigade): 2nd Minnesota Cavalry Regiment 3rd Minnesota Light Artillery Battery 8th Minnesota Infantry Regiment (mounted) |
Gall's Band Sitting Bull's Band Inkpaduta's Band Multiple civilians and warriors | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
1,200 soldiers (1863) 2,200 soldiers (1864) | Between 600 to 1,500 warriors; multiple noncombatants including women and children | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
22 killed, 38 wounded (Whitestone) 5 dead, 10 wounded (Killdeer) |
~200 killed and wounded, including women and children 156 prisoners (Whitestone) 31 dead possibly more (Killdeer) Thousands displaced 500+ Tipis burned | ||||||
Sully's Expedition, also called Sully's Campaign of 1863-1864 was a series of two major punitive expeditions led by General Alfred Sully during the immediate aftermath of the Dakota War of 1862. The campaign was aimed at displacing the Dakota people, Yanktonai, and Lakota people out of the border region with the state of Minnesota in the Dakota Territory. The campaign primarily took place in a series of confrontations in the modern-day states of South Dakota and North Dakota and includes the Battle of Whitestone Hill, the Battle of Killdeer Mountain, and the Battle of the Badlands. The expeditions took place in two major waves, first from June to August 1863, and again from July to September 1864.