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After what appeared to be successful negotiations with five chiefs at the White River Agency in efforts to avoid hostility, the cavalry encountered a large Indian force on September 29, 1879. Major Thornburg again opened negotiations, but talks broke down and turned into gunfire. The cavalry troops were pushed back towards their wagon train at Milk River, and serious fighting continued throughout the day, with hostilities lasting for three days. After the first day of battle the cavalry was surrounded on three sides. During the night Sergeant John Lawton and First Sergeant Jacob Widmer daringly slipped out of the camp to travel through hostile country, bearing a dispatch reporting the attack with a request for reinforcements. Both men earned the Medal of Honor for this courageous and important mission. In all, eleven men earned the Medal of Honor during the three-day battle, and a twelfth was awarded for the final action in the White River Agency/Milk River battle on October 20.
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