On the morning of September 16, the combined forces crossed the Verdigris River at Sand Town. In the early afternoon they discovered a small detachment of Federal troops guarding hay operations fifteen miles northwest of Fort Gibson. The first report brought in by the Union scouts placed the number of the attacking force at 200. Captain E. A. Barker, the Union officer in charge, went to see for himself. He was met by the advance troops of the Confederates, which themselves numbered over 200 men and did not include the main force. Captain Barker fought his way back to his troops and dismounted his small force of the Second Kansas Cavalry in a small ravine with a detachment of the First Kansas Colored Infantry. General Gano sent a regiment of Texas Cavalry and a regiment of Cherokee Indians into the rear of the Union position and, as Captain Barker reported, "attacked me from five different points."l7 The determined Union forces held out for a half an hour before Captain Barker, realizing the futility of his position, mounted the troops that had horses in order to make a final attempt to break throughthe Confederate lines. There were 65 men in this desperate charge.  Only 15 managed to break through, while the remaining dismountedmen were left to escape in the best way possible. There were reports of indiscriminate slaughtering of the colored troops by the Texans.18 These were all Union Army reports and cannot be substantiated. Although it is true that Southern troops had no love for their former slaves, there is very little difference, in war, between men being killed by the rules or not. The end result is always death. The Union forces suffered over 100 casualties and the loss of all of their equipment, haying machines, and several hundred tons of hay. General Gano worded the results of the engagement as, "The sun witnessed our complete success and its last lingering rays rested upon a field of BIood."l9 The general's linguistic flair, which was later to serve him well in some forty-five years in the ministry following the war, makes the traditional stylized army report read more like a novel. 

On the morning of September 17, General Gano sent a small party to burn the hay at a nearby farm but the place was strongly protected. Rather than waste more time, the attackers withdrew to rejoin the rest of the command which was already heading north to meet the expected train.