Big Mound ND001

supportedunresolved Sibley says his scouts reported a large camp about 1 p.m., that Red Plume warned through a scout of a plan to kill officers at a council, and that Surgeon Weiser, who joined the scouts talking with Indians, was shot by a young man, which precipitated the engagement. NPS says many Indians appeared expressing friendship before the shot. Sibley also says his order to McPhaill was improperly delivered as an order to return to camp.

Warnings and the killing as reported by Sibley and the NPS summary; Sibley's word 'treacherously' is his own. No account by the Dakota bands was inspected; their numbers, aims and losses come from their opponents' estimates, prisoners' or scouts' statements relayed by them, or the NPS summary.

supportedunresolved Sibley says the pursuit ran at least 12 miles after a full day's march, about 40 miles without rest, and so exhausted men and animals that he could not advance until the 26th. McPhaill's men were twenty-four hours in the saddle without guide, provisions or water.

Exertion described in interested reports; not a return.

supportedunresolved NPS says Sibley was pursuing the Santee who began the 1862 uprising. Sibley ordered McPhaill to press the rear of the retreating Indians but not continue after nightfall; the Indians' families were seen moving on the distant hills.

Stated aims from an interested report and the NPS summary. No account by the Dakota bands was inspected; their numbers, aims and losses come from their opponents' estimates, prisoners' or scouts' statements relayed by them, or the NPS summary.

supportedpost_outcome The frozen and live results read Union victory; NPS says the Sioux forces were broken and dispirited. Sibley says the Indians fled in confusion and were chased at least 12 miles; McPhaill says his cavalry pursued about 15 miles. Sibley's troops burned the provisions and robes found at the abandoned camp on the 26th.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads US unknown and I 13; the live field reads 87 (US 7; CS 80). McPhaill says 31 Indians are known to have been killed by his regiment in the series of fights, and the compiler's note on his list shows 3 men killed and 4 wounded, including the skirmish of the 26th. Sibley gives his column's loss in actual combat for the whole expedition as 3 cavalrymen killed and 4 wounded, besides a man killed by lightning and Lieutenant Freeman killed while hunting; his figure of at least 150 Indians killed and wounded covers all three engagements.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. McPhaill's figures span July 24 and 26; Sibley's 150 is campaign context and is not assigned to this record. Sibley's 3 killed and 4 wounded, like his 150, covers the whole expedition and is not assigned to this record; it coincides with McPhaill's nominal-list 3 and 4 and may be the same casualties. McPhaill's July 24 pursuit also reached Dead Buffalo Lake, so his 31 Indians killed are not assigned between this record and Dead Buffalo Lake.

supportedunresolved The frozen US commander is Brigadier General Henry Hastings Sibley. The frozen and live Native American commander is Inkpaduta (no rank; the live page tags him [CS], not adopted); none of the inspected reports names him, so his role is not established here. Sibley took a 6-pounder up the hill toward the Big Mound himself and directed McPhaill, Marshall and Crooks; McPhaill led the mounted charges and pursuit; Crooks drove back the threat on the left.

Command roles from interested reports; no automatic sole credit.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. The frozen side-specific numerical strength bounds are blank (missing_numeric_strength). No figure in this pass is adopted as a simultaneous opening force.

supportedunresolved The frozen force field names the District of Minnesota and the Santee and Teton Sioux without figures; the live field reads 0. Sibley says he had left a third of his force at Camp Atchison and moved with 1,400 infantry and 500 cavalry, and saw the whole body of Indians, 1,000 to 1,500, retiring. McPhaill says the Indians engaged could not have been less than 1,000 and would reach 1,500 warriors.

The 1,400 and 500 describe the column one day's march beyond Camp Atchison as reported in Sibley's July 21 dispatch, before the action; the 1,000 to 1,500 are opponents' estimates of July 24. No account by the Dakota bands was inspected; their numbers, aims and losses come from their opponents' estimates, prisoners' or scouts' statements relayed by them, or the NPS summary. None is adopted as a matched opening strength.

supportedunresolved Sibley corralled his train on the shore of a salt lake and had the camp intrenched; the Indians held the upper part of a large ravine and its tributaries, from which a 6-pounder on a hill toward the Big Mound dislodged them into broken prairie. McPhaill says the ground was rocky and broken and his men dismounted to skirmish the hills.

Natural ravines and a prepared camp from interested reports; tag unresolved. No map verification.