Editing Cheyenne (section)

====Punitive US expedition of 1857====
In April 1856, an incident at the Platte River Bridge (near present-day [[Casper, Wyoming]]), resulted in the wounding of a Cheyenne warrior. He returned to the Cheyenne on the plains. During the summer of 1856, Indians attacked travelers along the Emigrant Trail near Fort Kearny. In retaliation, the US Cavalry attacked a Cheyenne camp on [[Grand Island (Nebraska)|Grand Island in Nebraska]]. They killed ten Cheyenne warriors and wounded eight or more.

Cheyenne parties attacked at least three emigrant settler parties before returning to the [[Republican River]]. The Indian agent at [[Fort Laramie]] negotiated with the Cheyenne to reduce hostilities, but the [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] ordered the [[1st Cavalry Regiment (1855)]] to carry out a punitive expedition under the command of [[Edwin Vose Sumner|Colonel Edwin V. Sumner]]. He went against the Cheyenne in the spring of 1857. [[John Sedgwick|Major John Sedgwick]] led part of the expedition up the [[Arkansas River]], and via Fountain Creek to the [[South Platte River]]. Sumner's command went west along the North Platte to Fort Laramie, then down along the Front Range to the South Platte. The combined force of 400 troops went east through the plains searching for Cheyenne.<ref name=Berthrong/><ref name=Grinnell111>Grinnell, ''The Fighting Cheyenne'', pp. 111–21</ref><ref name="Hyde, pp. 99-105">Hyde, pp. 99–105</ref>

Under the influence of the [[medicine man]] White Bull (also called Ice) and Grey Beard (also called Dark), the Cheyenne went into battle believing that strong spiritual [[Magic (paranormal)#Native American medicine|medicine]] would prevent the soldiers' guns from firing. They were told that if they dipped their hands in a nearby spring, they had only to raise their hands to repel army bullets. Hands raised, the Cheyenne surrounded the advancing troops as they advanced near the [[Solomon River]]. Sumner ordered a cavalry charge and the troops charged with drawn sabers; the Cheyenne fled. With tired horses after long marches, the cavalry could not engage more than a few Cheyenne, as their horses were fresh.

This was the first battle that the Cheyenne fought against the US Army. Casualties were few on each side; [[J.E.B. Stuart]], then a young lieutenant, was shot in the breast while attacking a Cheyenne warrior with a sabre. The troops continued on and two days later burned a hastily abandoned Cheyenne camp; they destroyed lodges and the winter supply of buffalo meat.<ref name=Grinnell111/><ref name="Hyde, pp. 99-105"/><ref name="Berthrong">Berthrong, pp. 133– 40</ref><ref>Page 97-98, David Fridtjof Halaas and Andrew E. Masich, ''Halfbreed: The Remarkable True Story Of [[George Bent]] – Caught Between The Worlds Of The Indian And The White Man'', Da Capo Press (March 15, 2005), hardcover, 458 pages, {{ISBN|0-306-81410-2}} {{ISBN|978-0306814105}}</ref>

Sumner continued to [[Bent's Fort]]. To punish the Cheyenne, he distributed their annuities to the Arapaho. He intended further punitive actions, but the Army ordered him to Utah because of an outbreak of trouble with the Mormons (this would be known as the [[Utah War]]). The Cheyenne moved below the Arkansas into [[Kiowa]] and [[Comanche]] country. In the fall, the Northern Cheyenne returned to their country north of the Platte.<ref name=Grinnell111/><ref name="Berthrong" /><ref>Hyde, pp. 99–105</ref>