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Question: What lead to the Battle of Wounded Knee!?
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The Wounded Knee Massacre, also known as The Battle at Wounded Knee Creek, was the last major armed conflict between the Oglala Lakota and the United States, subsequently described as a "massacre" by General Nelson A!. Miles in a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs!.[1]

On December 29, 1890, 500 troops of the U!.S!. 7th Cavalry, supported by four Hotchkiss guns (a lightweight artillery piece designed for travel with cavalry and used as a replacement for the aging twelve pound mountain howitzer), surrounded an encampment of Miniconjou Sioux (Lakota) and Hunkpapa Sioux (Lakota)[2] with orders to escort them to the railroad for transport to Omaha, Nebraska!. One day prior, the Sioux had given up their protracted flight from the troops, and willingly agreed to turn themselves in at the Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota!. They were the very last of the Sioux to do so!. They were met by the 7th Cavalry, who intended to use a display of force coupled with firm negotiations to gain compliance from them!.

The commander of the 7th had been ordered to disarm the Lakota before proceeding!. During the process of disarmament, a deaf tribesman refused the order to give up his rifle unless he was paid fair value for it[citation needed] !. This set off a chain reaction of events that led to a scene of sheer chaos and mayhem with fighting between both sides in all directions!.

By the time it was over, more than 300 men, women and children of the Lakota Sioux lay dead!. Twenty-five troopers also died during the massacre, some believed to have been the victims of "friendly fire" as the shooting took place at point blank range in chaotic conditions!.[3] Around 150 Lakota are believed to have fled the chaos, an unknown number dying from hypothermia!.

The site has been designated as a National Historic Landmark!.[4]

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