Battle of Little Muddy Creek Battle of Little Muddy Creek The Battle of Little Muddy Creek, also known as the Lame Deer Fight, was fought on May 7, 1877 by United States soldiers and scouts, against a village of Miniconjou Lakota and Northern Cheyenne. The Battle occurred near Little Muddy Creek in Montana Territory, near present-day Lame Deer, Montana, United States. On May 1, 1877, Colonel Nelson A. Miles led a mixed force of his own 5th United States Infantry, the 22nd United States Infantry, and the 2nd United States Cavalry out of Cantonment Tongue River in search of Miniconjou Lakota under Lame Deer. On
Battle of the Little Bighorn also accepted. Historian James Donovan states that when Custer asked interpreter Fred Gerard for his opinion on the size of the opposition, he estimated the force at between 1,500 to 2,500 warriors. Additionally, Custer was more concerned with preventing the escape of the Lakota and Cheyenne than with fighting them. From his own observation, as reported by his bugler John Martin (Martini), Custer assumed the warriors had been sleeping in on the morning of the battle, to which virtually every native account attested later, giving Custer a false estimate of what he was up against. When he and his scouts