Wednesday, September 9, 2020

The Battle of Lyman's Wagon Train

Painting by Frederic Remington
(The Handbook of Texas Online) The five-day siege of Capt. Wyllys Lyman's wagontrain, sometimes known as the battle of the Upper Washita, was the longest and one of the most publicized engagements of the Red River War.
During Col. Nelson A. Miles's first thrust against recalcitrant Cheyenne, Comanche, and Kiowa bands in late August 1874, Miles overstretched his supply lines despite warnings from the department headquarters, and provisions began to run dangerously low.
He sent a military escort under Lyman back with thirty-six empty supply wagons. Lyman met the train from Camp Supply at Commission Creek, in what is now Ellis County, Oklahoma, and, after transferring the supplies to his own wagons, started back with 104 men to rejoin Miles. Continued

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