herd skirmish In the early morning hours of March 3, 1876 north of Fort Fetterman, Indian warriors attacked the Big Horn Expedition's Cattle herd, numbering over 200 animals. The two herders fired at the warriors, and the Indians fired back. One of the government civilian employees, cattle herder John Wright was severely wounded by a bullet. The warriors then drove off and captured most of the cattle. Wright died of wounds received in the fight on March 28, 1876. March 4-5 The soldiers had to heat their forks in the coals of fires to prevent the tines from freezing to their tongues. A blizzard on March 5 deposited over a foot of snow and significantly delayed Crook's progress. Temperatures fell so low that the thermometers could not record the cold. Crook's column slowly followed the Bozeman Trail north to Old Fort Reno, reaching it on March 5. The fort had been abandoned by the army eight years earlier. The expedition establish its supply base near the abandoned post and Crook ordered that the wagons be left at the depot. The Infantry accompanying the column, Companies C and I of the 4th U.S. Infantry, under the command of Captain Edwin M. Coates would serve as the station's guard. That evening, the expedition camped on the east bank of the Powder River opposite the site of the fort. Fort Reno skirmish By 8:00 p.m. on March 5, 1876, the soldiers' pickets were on duty and the camp was asleep, when Native American warriors hiding near the east end of the camp suddenly fired on the infantry picket lines. The soldiers on guard answered their fire, but being a dark night, all either side could see were the flashes of gunfire. The sleeping camp quickly awoke and many of the soldiers went toward the picket lines. In the firefight that ensued, Private James M. Slavey of Company I, 4th Infantry was wounded in the cheek by a bullet. The skirmish lasted for less than an hour. One aspect that made the engagement rare was that it was a night battle, which was not a common event during the American Indian Wars. March 6–16 On March 6, the Bighorn expedition continued north, and on March 7 the five cavalry battalions set out toward the confluence of Prairie Dog Creek and the Tongue River. After reaching that point on March 12, the ten cavalry companies