From CGI member oldmaninthedesert:

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We come to the conclusion of ' The Heart of Everything That is,The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend '.Drury and Clavin fill the reader in on just what is 'The Heart of Everything That Is'. To be honest,I had never heard of Red Cloud before I was turned on to this book.Having read it now, I understand why. Like anything else with the victor's history,they do one of two things,either they twist the truth,or they just ignore it.In Red Cloud's case they chose the latter,in hope that not many would come to find out that Red Cloud was the only Indian who made Washington say Uncle and win peace on his terms....

..... At 9 a.m., as the two wood trains were about to converge three miles from the fort, troopers spotted the Indians. Powell immediately ordered the fourteen empty wagons to form an oval. This could not be readily done with the incoming train, which was laden with logs and planks, and the Sioux fell on it and burned every wagon. They then regrouped to attack the oval of empty wagons. In overwhelming numbers they charged the makeshift corral on horseback and on foot; this was perhaps the only time in the history of the West that an Indian offensive involved sacrificing a large number of lives in order to take a position. They absorbed the volley they were expecting and assumed they had the usual thirty seconds to swoop in while soldiers reloaded. Instead they were shocked and repelled by steady fire from the Springfield-Allins.

For the next five hours they came in waves, but they never breached the American defenses. Six soldiers were killed, including Captain Powell’s second in command, Lieutenant John Jenness. Jenness had been warned to keep low behind cover. He had shouted back, “I know how to fight Indians.” Then he rose to fire and was shot through the head. Indian losses were much more severe, Powell claimed: about 60 dead and over 100 wounded. In this case the Army estimates do not appear to be exaggerated. Red Cloud had seen the future, and it was shaped by a Springfield Allin.

But the U.S. government lacked this foresight. To the Americans the synchronized incidents on the outskirts of two forts ninety miles apart burnished Red Cloud’s reputation as the leader of a large hostile force to be reckoned with. That his imposing personality had held together a large intertribal alliance for over two seasons of hard fighting was literally awesome, and his influence showed no signs of abating. His overall leadership, his organizing genius, and his ability to persuade contentious tribes to band together and direct their hatred against the whites had enabled perhaps the most impressive campaign in the annals of Indian warfare. One general ominously informed the War Department that he would need 20,000 soldiers to defeat Red Cloud’s forces. This perceived siege of the mighty United States of America was what forced the country to the negotiating table.

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The first step took place in October 1867, when Captain Dandy, now the quartermaster at Fort Phil Kearny, held a meeting within sight of the post’s bastions with representatives from the Lakota, Arapaho, and Cheyenne. They conveyed Red Cloud’s insistence that the Bozeman Trail be closed forever and the three forts built along it abandoned before he would even consider peace. The Army was staggered by Red Cloud’s effrontery. But in Washington the Reconstruction of the South and the protection and completion of the Union Pacific were deemed higher priorities than control of the Powder River Country.

It was not until April 1868 that another peace commission arrived at Fort Laramie. Red Cloud would not legitimize the council by his presence and instead sent a message reiterating his original message: begone. A month later the concessions were agreed to. Major General Christopher C. Auger, representing General Sherman on the commission, ordered the Bozeman Trail closed to all emigrants and miners, and issued a proclamation to abandon “the military posts of C. F. Smith, Phil Kearny and Reno, on what is known as the Powder River route.”

Still Red Cloud waited. He had heard too many white promises in his lifetime. This time he intended to see the results before signing anything. Thus it was with a sense of grim finality that the contents of Fort C. F. Smith were sold to a Montana freighting company, and anything that could be hauled from the two lower outposts was loaded onto wagons bound for Fort Laramie. In the final weeks of August the last train rolled out of Reno Station and Fort Phil Kearny. Whether the departing troops felt anger or relief as they struck the colors from the latter’s towering flagpole for the final time is unrecorded. An eerie silence fell over the little plateau between the two Piney Creeks, broken the following dawn when Red Cloud led his warriors down from the hills and burned the forts to the ground.

https://exploringrealhistory.blogspot.com/2019/08/part-13-of-13-heart-of-everything-that.html