that two hundred men would be enough for the undertaking. So about that number was selected. There were four bands — my own, Hushasha's (Red Legs), Gray Bird's and Mankato's. I had about thirty men. Nearly all the Indians had double-barreled shotguns, and we loaded them with buckshot and large bullets called 'traders' balls.' After dark we started, crossed the river and valley, went up the bluffs and on the prairie, and soon we saw the white tents and the wagons of the camp. We had no difficulty in surrounding the camp. The pickets were only a little way from it. I led my men up from the west through the grass and took up a position two hundred yards from the camp, behind a small knoll or elevation. Red Legs took his men into the coulee east of the camp. Mankato (Blue Earth) had some of his men in the coulee and some on the prairie. Gray Bird and his men were mostly on the prairie." Ambush Sometime after 4 am on the morning of September 2, 1862, one of the guards at the campsite fired at a figure crawling through the grass. The Dakota commenced their ambush immediately, killing at least a dozen men, wounding dozens more, and killing most of their horses within the first few minutes. However, the soldiers in the burial party had gone to sleep with their muskets loaded, and many were able to return fire, crouching behind the fallen horses they used as barricades, and driving back the Dakota warriors who approached the wagons. According to Big Eagle:"Just at dawn the fight began. It continued all day and the following night until late the next morning. Both sides fought well. Owing to the white men's way of fighting they lost many men. Owing to the Indians' way of fighting they lost but few. The white men stood up and exposed themselves at first, but at last they learned to keep quiet. The Indians always took care of themselves. We had an easy time of it. We could crawl through the grass and into the coulee and get water when we wanted it, and after a few hours our women crossed the river and came up near the bluff and cooked for us, and we could go back and eat and then return to the fight. We did not lose many men. Indeed, I