The battle occured on somewhat difficult terrain, in a deep canyon. As Crook himself related: "The sides were very steep, covered with pine and apparently impregnable.". The battle lasted for some six hours and was a victory for the United States forces.
The results of the battle were not especially shocking in terms of human loss- although there are suggestions of mutilation carried out on the Indian dead- but it was the first instance tribes had shown enough cohesion to fight along side one another.
Given the number of combatants, the Battle of the Rosebud was one of the largest confrontations waged in the Indian Wars.
As a result of the battle, one of the three army columns converging on the Indians was effectively incapacitated and taken out of the campaign for two months.
To historians of the battle as well as Native Americans today, the Rosebud is acknowledged as a positive chapter in the Lakota and Cheyenne defense of their lands and lifeways.
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