Battle of Lincoln (1878) - The Battle

The Battle

Alexander McSween, the former partner to John Tunstall, had organized and supported the Regulators, although he himself was a non-combatant during the conflict. On July 15, 1878, McSween gathered his Regulators in the town of Lincoln, while at the same time forces hired by the "Murphy-Dolan" faction organized to meet them, to include Jesse Evans and his gang, and the John Kinney Gang, and led by the newly appointed Sheriff George Peppin.

On July 15, the Regulators gathered in Lincoln, organized by McSween, and received word that a large posse was on its way into town. Instead of attempting to flee they elected to remain in town to meet the posse. The "Murphy-Dolan" forces soon rode into town from the west, and surrounded the McSween house, where the Regulators, as well as the new school teacher and the local Presbyterian minister and his family, had taken refuge.

The Murphy-Dolan men believed that they could take the Regulators by surprise, but were ill-informed. This opened up a barrage of gunfire from the posse, and return fire from the Regulators which soon changed to sporadic gunfire that continued throughout most of the day. At least five Murphy-Dolan men were wounded in the exchange, but the Regulators suffered no casualties. At around 4:30pm that afternoon, a detachment of cavalry arrived from Fort Stanton (bringing with them a Gatling gun and a howitzer cannon), under the command of Lieutenant George Smith. The soldiers placed themselves between the posse and the Regulators, effectively stopping the gunfire exchanges.

Shooting exchanges continued through July 18, and by that time Colonel Nathan Dudley had come from Fort Stanton and taken command. When a soldier was wounded, Dudley gave his soldiers authority to end the conflict, and the cavalry detachment who were present in Lincoln became involved, ultimately benefiting the Murphy-Dolan faction. Members of that faction then set fire to the house, but when McSween attempted to surrender, he was shot nine times and killed, while the remaining Regulators escaped. McSween, his business colleague Harvey Morris, and Tom Cullins were the fatal casualties suffered by the Regulators. The Murphy-Dolan faction had suffered several wounded and two, Bob Beckwith and Charlie Crawford, were killed.