Carrington survived the immediate aftermath partly because his orders to Fetterman — don’t cross Lodge Trail Ridge — were on record and had clearly been disobeyed.

But his career was effectively ended by the disaster at his post.

He spent years writing about the events, trying to establish the historical record in a way that supported his own conduct, and his account is one of the primary sources for the events of 1866.

More broadly, the conflict generated debate about the Army’s approach to fighting against mobile, light-cavalry forces on familiar terrain.

The standard tactics of Civil War campaigning — massed infantry, coordinated artillery, deliberate advance against fortified positions — were not well-suited to chasing warriors who could vanish into the plains and mountains and reappear at unexpected points.