Sully was encumbered by a wagon train of 200 miners and their families headed for the goldfields who he reluctantly agreed to protect and escort. Sully's scouts reported 1,500 to 1,800 tipis in the Sioux encampment. Sully believed he would be faced by 5,000 to 6,000 warriors. The Sioux later claimed they had 1,600 warriors in the battle – likely closer to the truth with a calculation of one to two adult males per tipi. The Sioux in the encampment consisted mostly of Lakota (Teton) from the Hunkpapa, Sihasapa, Miniconjou, and Sans Arc bands plus Yanktonais, and a few Santees. The Sioux were mostly armed only with bows and arrows and a few short-range muskets and shotguns. Many of the Sioux, especially the Tetons, had not been hostile to the U.S. before this encounter. Sully, after leaving men at Fort Rice and to guard the emigrants, had 2,200 men for the attack. He also had two artillery batteries with eight howitzers. On July 26, Sully's Indian Scouts skirmished with 30 Sioux warriors near present-day Richardton, North Dakota and one scout was wounded. With the Sioux now aware of his presence, Sully advanced rapidly but carefully. On the morning of July 28, scout Frank LaFramboise, a mixed blood Santee, informed Sully of the location of the large Sioux encampment 10 miles ahead. Killdeer Mountain was at the edge of the Dakota badlands, cut up by "deep, impassable ravines" and "high rugged hills." Realizing that a cavalry charge would be difficult in the broken terrain Sully dismounted his soldiers and formed them in a hollow square, one mile and a quarter (2 km.) per side. His horses and artillery were sheltered inside the square. He advanced on foot, as the Sioux on horseback formed up in groups on Sully's flanks and on hilltops. Battle The two sides, Sully' soldiers drawn up in a hollow square and Native forces scattered around the hills, exchanged insults at long distance. One warrior, a Hunkpapa named Lone Dog rode within rifle range of the soldiers, taunting them. Sully ordered him shot by sharpshooters. Accounts differ as to whether Lone Dog was killed or unscathed. With the first shots fired at Lone Dog, the soldiers advanced with a skirmish line and the Sioux darted at the flanks of the army, seeking weak spots. Artillery fire discouraged the Sioux from congregating in large numbers. A thrust at Sully's