The Battle of Mud Springs took place February 4–6, 1865, in Nebraska between the U.S. army and warriors of the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes.

After the United States Army committed the Sand Creek Massacre in November 1864 in Colorado, the Plains Indians of the three tribes in that region decided to move northward to the more isolated Powder River Country of Wyoming.

En route, they sought revenge for Sand Creek, spending most of the month of January raiding along the South Platte River in Colorado and burning the settlement of Julesburg on February 2.

[2] They had abundant food and other supplies obtained from their raids in the South Platte Valley, thus were able to remain together in a large group for an extended period of time.

At daybreak the next morning, after an all-night ride, Lt. William Ellsworth and 36 men reached Mud Springs from Fort Mitchell to reinforce the station.

By that time, also, the Indians had tired of exchanging fire with the soldiers inside the thick-walled station and retired to their encampment about 10 mi east.

The main body of Indian warriors returned to Mud Springs soon afterward that morning (Collins estimated their number at 500–1,000).

[8] He found an abandoned camp littered with the spoils of the Indians' plunder—codfish, flour, and empty cans of oysters, meat, and fruit—and followed their trail to the North Platte.