East Bluff: Initial Assault

Company K of the 7th U.S. Cavalry charged and outpaced the remainder of Miles’ command along this bluff. They expected little resistance. Racing northward with the 7th, Captain Myles Moylan recalls: After crossing the divide which separated us from the Indians village, the battalion formed a line about 11/2 miles from the village, Company K on the right, Company D in the center, and Company A on the left. During the movement to the front line, Company K struck the Indians first and was repulsed [after being] severely handled by the Indians. Somewhere near the trail as Lieutenant Henry Romeyn explains: Captain [Owen] Hale and Lieutenant [Jonathan] W. Biddle [of Comp. K] were killed at the first. Numerous officers and enlisted men were wounded. The element of surprise was lost.