Early in the afternoon of September 3, U.S. forces at Birch Coulee heard two cannon blasts from the east and hoped help was near, but when reinforcements did not appear they gave up hope. Several hours later, troops from Fort Ridgely finally arrived, and the Dakota forces spotted them, ceased fire, and vanished, ending the Battle of Birch Coulee after 36 hours. According to Wamditanka, Dakota men had planned to charge the campsite and believed they could have taken it despite the breastworks the whites had thrown up, but Dakota leaders changed their plans when they saw U.S. reinforcements. Mankato and about 50 Dakota men rushed toward the reinforcements and stopped them for several hours, but when additional U.S. troops moved in, the Dakota headed south across the Minnesota River to their old villages and then upriver to Yellow Medicine.