Early the next morning a small detachment of 26 men was ordered out to bring in the wagon train. Following a short distance behind, acting as a rear guard, were the 14 Galvanized Yankees from Company I and a few troopers from the 11th Ohio Cavalry.
The small band had barely made it across the long bridge spanning the Platte River when the nearby hills suddenly disgorged hundreds of Sioux and Cheyenne fighting men.
Lybe quickly ordered his own men forward to unite with the lead column, but it was too late. The warriors had appeared between the two columns so suddenly and in such overwhelming force, the badly outnumbered men of Company I and their Ohio comrades could do little beyond defend themselves and the bridge behind them.
Somehow, 20 of the 26 men in the lead column managed to break through to the relative safety of the bridge. The rest were quickly killed.
The attacking Indians, estimated to be as many as 1,000 strong, apparently intended to destroy both the bridge and the post if possible, and kill or capture the garrison.
The former Confederates and their Yankee allies stood firm at the far end of the bridge, fighting off vicious attacks from several times their number. At last, the warriors mercifully broke off their assault and pulled back. But they were not yet gone. The men began digging in, prepared for the worst.
Later that day the Native Americans cut the telegraph line linking the outpost with Fort Laramie to the east. The overmatched garrison was now isolated, with no request for reinforcements having been sent. An attempt to repair the line was unsuccessful, managing nothing beyond getting one man killed and another wounded.
Just when it seemed that things could not get any worse, the wagon train of the 11th Kansas came into view, twenty-four men strong.
In a flash, the Sioux and Cheyenne warriors laying siege to the fort went after them, driving the astonished new arrivals into a ravine several miles west of the outpost.
