Battle of Washita River

The Battle of Washita River is often cited as a "slaughter" or "massacre."

If you believe Custer's numbers, it is.

If you believe the Cheyenne's numbers, not so much.

It's also another example of the wrong village being attacked because the Army trusted their Indian scouts.

The Osage scouts, the Osage being "at war" with the Cheyenne, led Custer's unit to Black Kettle's encampment.

The Osage were perfectly happy if the 7th Cav wiped out the entire village.

They almost certainly told Custer that it was the group they were looking for and not Black Kettle's group which had negotiated a separate peace.

The group they were looking for was a legitimate target.

In the end, Black Kettle was killed trying to get clear of the fight.

The number of Indians killed in the fight was hotly contested back when it happened.

The Cheyenne themselves stating it was a fight, not a slaughter.  As few as 15 killed out of an encampment of 250.

Custer clearly padded his numbers.  If his were to be believed then every Cheyenne at the camp was either killed or captured, and that was obviously not true.  Blatantly not true.