troops focused on fighting Confederate forces in the east, the Indians of the frontier grew bolder. The vastness of the American frontier meant that the regiment was seldom together, and was spread out, often with only one troop occupying a post. In December 1866, 25 troopers of the 2nd Cavalry under LT George W. Grummond accompanied CPT William J. Fetterman in his expedition against Chief Red Cloud. In northern Wyoming, these 81 men were engaged by a force of roughly 1,000 Indians, where they were all massacred in a desperate battle. On 29 June 1867, a small party of 10 troopers and 1 Indian scout under LT Lyman Kidder were ordered to take dispatches from General William Sherman to LTC George A. Custer. Custer grew impatient and moved out ahead of schedule, and when LT Kidder's party arrived, they found the camp to be deserted. Making their way to Fort Wallace, the troopers were set upon by a band of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors near present-day Goodland, Kansas. The 12 cavalrymen and scout were surrounded and killed to a man, and their bodies were scalped and mutilated. However, they managed to kill an enemy chief, Yellow Horse, in the fight (known as the Kidder massacre). On 23 January 1870, elements of Companies F, G, H, and L participated in the Marias Massacre in the Montana Territory, where 200 Piegan Blackfeet Indians were killed. After this massacre, Federal Indian policy changed under President Grant, and more peaceful solutions were sought. On 15 May 1870, SGT Patrick James Leonard was leading a party of 4 other troopers from C Company along the Little Blue River in Nebraska attempting to locate stray horses. A band of 50 Indians surrounded this detachment and the men raced for cover and made a fortified position with their two dead horses. One trooper, PVT Thomas Hubbard, was wounded, but they managed to hold the Indians at bay and inflicted several casualties. When the hostile band retreated after an hour of fighting, the troopers left, took a settler family under their charge and returned safely. All 5 men were awarded the Medal of Honor (SGT Patrick J. Leonard, and PVTs Heth Canfield, Michael Himmelsback, Thomas Hubbard, and George W. Thompson). Today, junior NCOs in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment compete for the Sergeant Patrick James Leonard award. On 17 March 1876, troopers from Companies E, I, and K (156