Their absence was the clearest possible demonstration that the policy was failing.

The resistance also understood the Army’s logistical limitations.

Fort Phil Kearny was connected to the outside world only by the trail it was supposed to be protecting, and the trail was under attack.

The garrison could not receive reinforcements or supplies reliably without first solving the problem it was supposed to solve.

This circular dependency was the Army’s deepest vulnerability, and the consistent targeting of supply trains exploited it directly.

What the Lakota and allied coalition did not do — could not do, given their numbers and material — was mount a sustained offensive campaign that could take and hold the forts by direct assault.