General Crook immediately launches the first strike while General Terry stalls.

He dispatches Colonel Joseph J. Reynolds with six companies of cavalry, who locate a village of about sixty-five lodges and attack on the morning of March 17, 1876.

Crook accompanies the column but does not play any command role.

His troops initially take control of and burn the village, but they quickly retreat under enemy fire.

The U.S. troops leave several soldiers on the battlefield, an action which leads to Colonel Reynolds' court martial.

The U.S. army had captured the band's pony herd, but the following day, the Lakota recover many of their horses in a raid.

The Army believes they have attacked Crazy Horse; however, it was actually a village of Northern Cheyenne (led by Old Bear, Two Moons and White Bull) with a few Oglala.