14. General Sherman orders General Sheridan to take action to quell the Indian uprising
Responding to white encroachment onto reservation land Southern Cheyenne and Comanche warriors swept across the two-hundred-mile radius of the reservation attacking settlers, travelers as well as army parties. General Sherman ordered General Philip Sheridan in to quell the uprising. Adopting the same brutal strategy as he had used in the winter campaign of 1868-1869, Sheridan embarked on another winter campaign of total warfare targeting, not just the warriors themselves but the entire Southern Cheyenne and Comanche population. Surrounding the tribes on all sides Sheridan commanded a five-pronged attack which moved inwards burning encampments as they encountered them. In order to maximize the devastation and inflict as much suffering as possible, all food, animals, and weapons were destroyed.
Some Southern Cheyennes managed to evade the army and join the Northern Cheyennes at the Red Cloud Agency. The remainder, exhausted and hungry from the relentless pursuit had no alternative but to surrender at Fort Sill. On the 13th March 1875, to prevent any further uprisings, Grant ordered that seventy-four leading warriors of the southern plains tribes be sent to Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida. Once again the Red River War highlighted that the army was willing to carry out the Concentration policy by whatever means necessary.