Although the reversal was not decisive enough to alter the ultimate outcome of the conflict, it was convincing enough to persuade Major General Frederick Middleton to temporarily halt his advance on Batoche, where the Métis would later make their final stand.

Middleton, having led his Field Force out from Qu'Appelle on April 10, was advancing upstream from Clarke's Crossing along the South Saskatchewan River when scouts discovered an apparent ambush by Gabriel Dumont's Métis / Dakota force at Fish Creek, about 17 kilometres (11 mi) south of Batoche.

[5]: p94 Upon learning that Middleton was marching toward Batoche, Dumont suggested to Riel the use of guerrilla warfare, by blowing up train tracks to slow their progress.

[7][8] The Métis pounded Middleton's men with one devastating fusillade before withdrawing into cover and restricting themselves to sniper fire in order to conserve ammunition.

[citation needed] Since the Métis were positioned in the coulée, they were restricted to shooting up towards the Canadian Militia, and many of the wounds were mainly in the upper body and head area.

[9] With half of his force on the opposite side of the river, Middleton was unable to bring his full numbers to bear.

One of his artillery batteries opened fire on the Métis to little effect, although well-fired cannonades did succeed in driving away Dumont's Cree allies before their weight could be added to the battle.

[8] Strung out along the coulée's edge, silhouetted against the sky, the militia fired a vast amount of ammunition at the resistance, succeeding mostly in showering tree branches across the ravine, but when the artillerymen pushed their guns to the coulée's edge to try to fire down at the concealed Métis, they suffered heavy casualties.

[10] Weeks later, after news reached him of the Cree victory over Colonel William Dillon Otter – to whom had been issued a Gatling gun – at Cut Knife, Middleton arrived at Batoche.

[14] In the spring of 2008, Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Christine Tell proclaimed in Duck Lake, that "the 125th commemoration, in 2010, of the 1885 Northwest Resistance is an excellent opportunity to tell the story of the prairie Métis and First Nations peoples' struggle with Government forces and how it has shaped Canada today.