Category:Wounded Knee Massacre

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In the Wounded Knee Massacre, on December 29, 1890, 500 troops of the U.S. 7th Cavalry, supported by four Hotchkiss guns, surrounded an encampment of Miniconjou Sioux (Lakota) and Hunkpapa Sioux (Lakota) near Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota. The Army had orders to escort the Sioux to the railroad for transport to en:Omaha, Nebraska. One day prior, the Sioux had given up their protracted flight from the troops and willingly agreed to turn themselves in at the Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota. They were the very last of the Sioux to do so. They were met by the 7th Cavalary, who intended to use a display of force coupled with firm negotiations to gain compliance from them. The commander of the 7th had been ordered to disarm the Lakota before proceeding. During the process of disarmament, a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote could not hear the order to give up his rifle. This set off a chain reaction of events that led to a scene of sheer chaos and mayhem with fighting between both sides in all directions. By the time it was over, about 300 men, women, and children of the Lakota Sioux had been killed. Twenty-five troopers also died during the massacre, some believed to have been the victims of en:friendly fire as the shooting took place at en:point blank range in chaotic conditions. Around 150 Lakota are believed to have fled the chaos, with an unknown number later dying from en:hypothermia. The massacre is noteworthy as the engagement in which the most en:Medals of Honor have ever been awarded in the history of the US Army. The site has been designated a National Historic Landmark.