Last updated: August 22, 2021
Place
Howitzer Capture Site
NPSPhoto
Quick Facts
Location:
8/10 of a mile round trip from the fork of the siege trail.
Significance:
An Important turning point in the overall battle.
Designation:
Viewpoint/Interpretive point
Amenities
3 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information, Scenic View/Photo Spot
Colonel John Gibbon the post commander of Fort Shaw in 1877 was ordered to pursue the non-treaty Nez Perce during the Flight of 1877. He chose to bring a “mountain howitzer” along on this campaign, but because the 7th U.S. Infantry assigned to him was not an artillery unit, a raw crew of six enlisted men was assembled to travel with the howitzer. This crew was composed of Sergeant Fredrick, Sergeant Daly, Corporal Sale, Privates McGregor, Goale, and Bennett. Traveling with the crew were two civilians, William Woodcock, a black manservant leading a pack mule and Joseph Blodgett, a guide.
Colonel Gibbon’s report of the campaign states; “…The howitzer could not accompany the column in consequence of the quantity of fallen timber obstructing the trail and the noise which would have been made in removing it. Orders were therefore given that at early daylight it should start out after us with a pack mule loaded with 2,000 rounds of extra [rifle] ammunition.”
The howitzer and crew arrived on the steep hillside south of the Nez Perce camp late morning of August 9, 1877 and fired two ineffective rounds at the encampment 1,200 yards away. Taking advantage of the inexperienced crew, a group of warriors, among them pıyopıyó·t̉alıkt and hotó·to, overran them. In the ensuing struggle, Private Bennett was trapped beneath the mule he was holding, both sergeants were wounded, and Corporal Sale was killed. At the first sign of trouble, Privates Goale and McGregor ran. All surviving members of the party were able to escape.
Mountain Howitzer No. 111 was captured by the Nez Perce along with the rifle ammunition and mules. The warriors disassembled the carriage, rolling the wheels down the hillside, “burying” the bronze tube and scattering the contents of the limber. To this day the Nez Perce sing of the bravery of their men in a song called “The Duck and Dive”.
After the arrival of General Oliver O. Howard on August 11, soldiers recovered the howitzer and took it with the wounded soldiers and civilians to Deer Lodge, Montana, 80 miles away where the territorial prison is located. The prison infirmary, staffed by a doctor and nurses, tended to the wounded. When the command departed Deer Lodge, they left the howitzer behind and in an unsigned letter from prison files it states the howitzer was a gift to the penitentiary. The howitzer sat in the courtyard of the prison for 31 more years before it was returned to Big Hole Battlefield
Colonel Gibbon’s report of the campaign states; “…The howitzer could not accompany the column in consequence of the quantity of fallen timber obstructing the trail and the noise which would have been made in removing it. Orders were therefore given that at early daylight it should start out after us with a pack mule loaded with 2,000 rounds of extra [rifle] ammunition.”
The howitzer and crew arrived on the steep hillside south of the Nez Perce camp late morning of August 9, 1877 and fired two ineffective rounds at the encampment 1,200 yards away. Taking advantage of the inexperienced crew, a group of warriors, among them pıyopıyó·t̉alıkt and hotó·to, overran them. In the ensuing struggle, Private Bennett was trapped beneath the mule he was holding, both sergeants were wounded, and Corporal Sale was killed. At the first sign of trouble, Privates Goale and McGregor ran. All surviving members of the party were able to escape.
Mountain Howitzer No. 111 was captured by the Nez Perce along with the rifle ammunition and mules. The warriors disassembled the carriage, rolling the wheels down the hillside, “burying” the bronze tube and scattering the contents of the limber. To this day the Nez Perce sing of the bravery of their men in a song called “The Duck and Dive”.
After the arrival of General Oliver O. Howard on August 11, soldiers recovered the howitzer and took it with the wounded soldiers and civilians to Deer Lodge, Montana, 80 miles away where the territorial prison is located. The prison infirmary, staffed by a doctor and nurses, tended to the wounded. When the command departed Deer Lodge, they left the howitzer behind and in an unsigned letter from prison files it states the howitzer was a gift to the penitentiary. The howitzer sat in the courtyard of the prison for 31 more years before it was returned to Big Hole Battlefield