Commanding OfficersThe Hancock ExpeditionThe year 1867 opened with Brvt. Maj. Henry Asbury in command of Fort Larned. The coming year would be a challenging one for the U.S. Army’s frontier forces and Fort Larned would be unable to avoid any of the coming trouble. The fort provided a staging area for mail and commercial wagon trains along the Santa Fe Trail, sent out frequent patrols to deal with the roving Indians while also serving as a central location for Indians to meet with their agents and collect their annuity goods. The winter of 1866-1867 was a typically cold one for the area so traffic along the trail was relatively light until the spring. Maj. Asbury had command of only 100 men to take care of all the fort’s duties both on and off post. Without consideration for his diminished garrison he was asked to provide pickets for Fort Zarah, to which he replied to his superiors, “Let Harker furnish some of the pickets, they have five companies to my one! ”Throughout the first part of the year he had to deal with more shortages of men and supplies, threats from the Indians upset at more incursions into their lands, as well as increased trail traffic that came with the warmer spring weather. |
Probably most alarming were the reports to the Indian Agent, Edward Wynkoop from the Dog Soldier Chief, Roman Nose, that many tribes planned uprisings in the spring. These warnings would eventually bring Civil War hero, Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock to Fort Larned in April of 1867 to deal with restive Cheyenne and Lakota Indians in the area. Hancock commanded the Military Department of the Missouri, which the Army created in August of 1866 to provide better protection to travelers crossing Kansas into Colorado and New Mexico. |
![]() NPS Photo While the chiefs were conferring with Hancock they received word that the women and children in the village, fearing another incident like the one at Sand Creek, had begun to flee the village. Furious, Hancock ordered Custer to take his men and surround the village to prevent any more Indians from leaving. By the time Custer got there the village was empty except for a young girl and an old man. On April 19th Hancock decided to burn the village as retaliation for attacks he believed the Indians had made after fleeing. Afterwards he marched his troops to Fort Dodge.
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Last updated: May 22, 2019