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The Gunfight at the OK Corral, the Wild West’s most famous gun battle, lasts just 30 seconds with approximately 30 shots being fired. The gunfight occurs on October 26, 1881, killing Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton. Virgil Earp, Morgan Earp, and Doc Holliday are wounded. Wyatt Earp is not injured in the shootout.

After the fight the bodies of the dead outlaws are displayed in a window at a local undertakers with the sign: “Murdered in the Streets of Tombstone.” Contrary to what has been depicted in movies about the Gunfight at the OK Corral, the Cowboys did have some popular support, and the Earps were not universally liked. Several hundred people join the funeral procession for the dead Cowboys, and as many as 2,000 people watch from the streets.

The gunfight may have been the climax of the conflict between the Cowboys and the Earps, but the events of this story lasted many more months. On the map below, click on the markers to view details on some of the key events from this story.

October 30, 1881

Despite many months of Cowboy threats, Ike Clanton was able to file murder charges against the Earps following the gun battle. Virgil and Morgan could not leave home due to the injuries they sustained in the gunfight, so Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday are the only two to be arrested and they spent 16 days in jail during the hearing.

The hearing concluded on November 30th with Justice Spicer concluding that the Earp’s and Holliday had not broken the law in the events leading up to, or during, the fight.

December 1881

Ike Clanton again files murder charges against the Earp’s, this time in nearby Contention City. Fearing an ambush, a large posse escorts the Earp’s to the court appearance. The charges are quickly dropped.

December 14, 1881

Justice Spicer receives anonymous death threats and is ordered to leave town. Tombstone mayor John Clum, who had been a supporter of the Earps, is the target of a murder attempt.

December 28, 1881

Virgil Earp is ambushed and hit in the left arm with a shotgun. The wound is serious, and Virgil must carry the arm in a sling for the rest of his life. The following day, Wyatt Earp is appointed as Deputy U.S. Marshal for eastern Pima County.

January 25, 1882

Wyatt leads a posse to Charleston to search for Virgil’s assailants. Upon returning to Tombstone, they find that several Cowboys had turned themselves in but for lesser charges, apparently in an attempt to escape the posse’s wrath. The charges against the outlaws are dropped due to lack of evidence.

February 9, 1882

Ike Clanton once again files charges against the Earp’s in Contention City. The Earp’s travel to Contention City under heavy guard for fear of a Cowboy Ambush. The judge refuses to indict the Earp’s without new evidence.

Virgil Earp is no longer drawing a salary and  for increased security the brothers and their wives had been living at the Cosmopolitan Hotel since the gunfight. Hard up for cash, Wyatt takes out a mortgage on his house and ultimately loses the house when he defaults on the loan.

March 18, 1882

While playing a late round of billiards, shots are fired through the billiard hall window, and Morgan Earp is struck in the spine by the gunfire. Morgan dies from his wounds less than an hour later.

Cowboy Pete Spence, who is suspected in Morgan’s murder, turns himself into Sheriff Behan presumably so he could be protected in Behan’s jail. Charges against Spence are dropped due to lack of evidence. Doc Holliday would later say that he considered Behan responsible for the assassination of Morgan Earp.

March 21, 1882

Wyatt received information that Frank Stilwell, Ike Clanton, and two other cowboys are watching the passenger trains in Tucson intending to kill Virgil Earp, who is leaving Tombstone for California. Wyatt forms a posse with Warren Earp, Doc Holliday, “Turkey Creek” Jack Johnson, and Sherman McMaster to accompany Virgil and Allie (Virgil’s wife) to the rail head in Benson. They board the train to Tucson along with Virgil and his wife, armed with pistols, rifles and shotguns.

Upon their arrival in Tucson, the Earp posse spot Stilwell and other Cowboys. “Almost the first men we met on the platform there were Stilwell and his friends, armed to the teeth”, Virgil later told the San Francisco Examiner “Upon seeing the posse, the Cowboys initially withdraw. Returning later to finish the job, the Cowboys are met with gunfire from the Earp posse, and Frank Stilwell is killed.”

The Tucson sheriff issues arrest warrants for Wyatt and Warren Earp, Holliday, McMaster, and Johnson for the death of Frank Stilwell.

Following the events in Tucson, Wyatt concludes that they will get no justice from the courts, and that it was time to take the law into their own hands. It turns out that Wyatt will not be going it alone though, as some Federal assistance becomes available as attitudes start to sour about the lawlessness of the Tombstone area.

With funds available to hire more men, Wyatt and Warren Earp, Doc Holliday, Johnson and McMaster are now joined by “Texas Jack” Vermillion, Dan Tipton, Charlie Smith, Fred Dodge, Johnny Green, and Louis Cooley to form a federal posse under Wyatt’s authority as the Deputy US Marshal.

March 22, 1882

County sheriff Behan forms his own posse consisting of many deputized cowboys, including Johnny Ringo, Phineas Clanton, Johnny Barnes and about 18 more men. The posse rides out to arrest Wyatt and his men for the murder of Frank Stilwell.

That morning, Earp’s posse locates and kills wanted cowboy “Indian Charlie” Cruz.

March 24, 1882

The Earp Posse unknowingly ride into a Cowboy camp at Iron Springs. The Earp posse had six men at this encounter, to the Cowboy’s nine. Both parties were surprised, and gunfire started almost immediately. Curly Bill shot at Wyatt but missed. Wyatt returned the fire and hit Bill in the chest with a shotgun blast, killing him instantly.

In the ensuing chaos, members of Earp’s posse were pinned down by Cowboy gunfire. Wyatt, still standing in the middle of the fight, without cover, shot Johnny Barnes in the chest and Milt Hicks in the arm. Wyatt was then able to get back on his horse and retreat. Incredibly, he was shot seven times through his clothes, but none of the shots injured him.

March 25, 1882

Sheriff Behan again rides out with a 25-man posse in pursuit of Earp’s posse. he pursues the Earp’s for 10 days, but never finds them.

Epilogue

The true story Wyatt Earp’s vendetta ride is much less spectacular than movies like Tombstone have portrayed. After killing “Indian Charlie” Cruz and Curly Bill Brocius, it seems that Wyatt considered his brother’s avenged, or maybe he was well aware of how lucky they had all been over the last few days.

Whatever the reason, the Earp Posse left Arizona and hid out in New Mexico for several weeks. Near the end of April, the posse split up, and Wyatt and Doc left the lawless territory behind permanently.

17 MILLION ROUNDS! Long-time @winchesterrepeatingarms employee John Riedel at work targeting rifles in the Shooting Gallery located at Tract C-84 of the Winchester Factory in New Haven. Some days, Riedel would shoot as many as 250 guns, five shots through each. He would eventually test-fire an estimated 17 million rounds or more through Winchester firearms before he retired from the company in 1943. He reportedly regretted having to leave during wartime production, expressing genuine concern that every firearm leaving the factory needed to be exactly right, a feeling of personal responsibility that was undoubtedly shared by many or all at the time.

 

 

 

 

While compiling the timeline for “Pistol of the Century,” our tribute to the 1911 in the June issue of Field & Stream, I read through many accounts of the 1911 in combat. The most unusual shot,(and possibly the best ever) made in wartime with a 1911 pistol had to be the one fired by a USAAF B-24 co-pilot named Owen J. Baggett in March, 1943 in the skies over Burma. Of course, I am biased toward this one as it involves a flying target . . .

On a mission to destroy a railroad bridge, Baggett’s bomber squadron was intercepted by Japanese Zero fighters and his plane was badly damaged. After holding off the enemy with the top turret .50s while the gunner tried to put out onboard fires, Baggett bailed out with the rest of the crew. He and four others escaped the burning bomber before it exploded.

The Zero pilots circled back to strafe the parachuting crewmen, killing two and lightly wounding Baggett, who played dead in his harness, hoping the Japanese would leave him alone. Though playing dead, Baggett still drew his .45 and hid it alongside his leg…just in case. A Zero approached within a few feet of Baggett at near stall speeds. The pilot opened the canopy for a better look at his victim.

Baggett raised his pistol and fired four shots into the cockpit. The Zero spun out of sight. Although Baggett could never believe he had shot down a fighter plane with his pistol, at least one credible report said the plane was found crashed, the pilot thrown clear of the wreckage with a single bullet in his head.

If Baggett really did shoot down a fighter with his 1911, it has to count as one of the greatest feats ever accomplished with a .45.

Baggett survived two years in a Japanese prison camp in Singapore and eventually retired from the Air Force as a colonel.

 

The Germans referred to their massive 1944 counteroffensive through the Ardennes as “Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein” or “Operation Watch on the Rhine.”

We called it the Battle of the Bulge. Regardless of the terminology, this sweeping attack represented the Germans’ final hope at staving off unmitigated disaster.

The stakes really could not have been higher. Success might mean a negotiated peace. Hitler hoped to turn the US and the UK against the Soviets for a united fight against the forces of Bolshevism. Failure would mean abject defeat and a ravaged homeland. Such pressures on young men can precipitate some fairly egregious behaviors.

Kampfgruppe Peiper led by SS Obersturmbannfuhrer Joachim Peiper represented the vanguard of the 6^th SS Panzer Army commanded by Sepp Dietrich. Racing against the clock and an ever-dwindling fuel supply, Peiper’s panzers crushed American resistance and punched deep into the Allied rear. The farther they pushed the more precarious their situation became and the more desperate they grew.

On December 17, 1944, German SS troops captured some 120 American troops from the 285^th Field Artillery Observation Battalion. Desperate to continue the advance and lacking the facilities to manage prisoners, SS troops opened fire on the unarmed Americans. 84 Allied soldiers were killed.

Sepp Dietrich, Joachim Peiper, and their immediate subordinates were all tried after the war for murder. There resulted 43 death sentences and another 22 defendants sentenced to life in prison. None of the executions were actually carried out. Peiper was eventually released from prison and settled in Traves in Eastern France. In the early morning of July 14, 1976, unknown assailants set Peiper’s house alight. The unrepentant Nazi died of smoke inhalation.

The Malmedy Massacre came to define the Battle of the Bulge. Once word of the shootings got out very few SS prisoners survived to see the inside of a prison camp. Through the shaded lens of history it is easy to look down our long Roman noses at the SS troops involved and rightly revile them. However, our own behavior in this regard was not without blemish.

The Setting

Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, kicked off on July 9, 1943. The command structure for this convoluted operation was complex, but LTG George Patton commanded the American ground element. In the lead-up to the invasion, Patton was in rare form.

Patton addressed his officers prior to the invasion so as to dispense last-minute command guidance and encourage his men. Many of the troops involved in Operation Husky had not seen combat before. Emotions were running high.

One of Patton’s regimental commanders, Colonel Forrest E. Cookson, later testified that General Patton had stated, “If the enemy continued to resist after US troops had come within 200 yards of their defensive position, surrender of those enemy soldiers need not be accepted.” Some of Patton’s troops apparently took that directive quite literally.

Event Number 1

Green troops from the 180^th Infantry Regiment were given the task of capturing Biscari Airfield and linking up with the US 1^st Infantry Division. The 180^th so struggled in the first two days of the invasion that the Division commander MG Troy Middleton considered sacking the Regimental commander. By July 14^th the men of the 180^th were tired, frightened, and frustrated.

SGT Horace West was tasked with securing a group of some 45 Italian and 3 German POWs. The prisoners were stripped of their shoes and shirts to discourage attempted escape. West and a few others marched the prisoners about a mile back from the lines before peeling off eight or nine for submission to the Regimental S2 (Intelligence Officer) for questioning. SGT West then borrowed a Thompson submachine gun from his company First Sergeant Haskell Brown. When the 1SG asked why he wanted the Thompson, West replied that he was going to, “Kill those sons of bitches.”

SGT West directed his men to turn away and raked the group of unarmed shirtless prisoners with automatic fire. Once he had the group knocked down he swapped out magazines, switched his Thompson to semiauto, and shot each of the fallen POWs through the chest. The following day the Regimental Chaplain discovered the 37 bodies and alerted his superiors.

Event Number 2

CPT John Compton, commander of C Company, 1^st Battalion, 180^th Infantry Regiment, was undeniably strung out. He had been without sleep for three days, and his company had taken an absolute pummeling. Persistent and relentless sniper and mortar fire exacted a horrible toll.

By the time Compton got to his objective at the Biscari Airfield, they had already taken heavy casualties. Of the 34 men in Compton’s 2d Platoon, fully a dozen were either dead or severely wounded. Italian snipers had fired upon wounded American troops as well as the medics dispatched to tend to them. The pressure of such grinding sniper activity weighed heavily on Compton and his men.

When Compton’s company finally seized their objective they took some 35 Italian prisoners. These Italian troops were located in a dugout fighting position from which the sniper fire had been coming previously. Several of the Italians were in civilian clothing when they were captured.

Through an interpreter, an American squad leader named SGT Hair asked the Italians if they were the ones who had been shooting at the American wounded. The Italians refused to answer. SGT Hair reported all of this to his platoon leader, 1LT Blanks, who duly passed it on to CPT Compton. Compton said simply, “Get them shot.”

With CPT Compton in tow, his men formed an 11-man firing squad, lined up the unarmed Italian soldiers, and gunned them down. A few of the POWs attempted to run. When the dust cleared Compton’s men had killed them all.

The Guns

The Thompson submachine gun was designed to fight the First World War. The first operational prototypes became available within days of the 1918 armistice. With no massive government contracts to fill, General John Taliaferro Thompson marketed his handy little meat grinder to Law Enforcement and civilian users. Abuse by such sordid characters as John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd bought us the onerous National Firearms Act of 1934.

Everything about the Thompson is wrong. It is too heavy, too unbalanced, and too complicated. However, when the US was dragged kicking and screaming into WW2 it was all we had available. In competent hands, the Thompson was nonetheless a reliable and effective close-combat tool.

The M1 Garand was called simply the M1 by those who wielded it. At 9.5 pounds and 44 inches long the M1 was a beast of a thing. However, the .30-06 round it fired was inimitably powerful. A friend who carried one in WW2 once told me that so long as you hit a German soldier center of mass with the M1 he was down and out immediately.

The M1 soldiered on from 1934 until 1957. I actually saw images taken from Haiti that showed security guards armed with M1 rifles in the news just last week. The M1 rifle was one of the most critical weapons in the American arsenal during WW2.

The Rest of the Story

News like this is all but impossible to suppress in a congested war zone. Eventually, word got back to General Omar Bradley who confronted Patton over it. This was Patton’s subsequent entry in his war diary that evening, “I told Bradley that it was probably an exaggeration, but in any case to tell the Officer to certify that the dead men were snipers or had attempted to escape or something, as it would make a stink in the press and also would make the civilians mad. Anyhow, they are dead, so nothing can be done about it.”

Patton was later informed that the 45th Division’s Inspector General found “No provocation on the part of the prisoners…They had been slaughtered.” Upon further introspection, Patton purportedly said, “Try the bastards.”

SGT Horace West admitted to the killings but claimed that a combination of fatigue and LTG Patton’s ambiguous orders were mitigating circumstances. He was convicted of premeditated murder by court-martial and sentenced to life in prison. Eisenhower, ever eager to avoid an unnecessary scandal, remitted his sentence on November 24, 1944. West was restored to active duty and served in combat until the end of the war. He received an honorable discharge and lived out his days in Oklahoma. He died in 1974.

CPT John Compton was court-martialed over the deaths of the 36 prisoners under his charge and used a similar defense, particularly relying upon LTG Patton’s directives regarding prisoners resisting within 200 yards of friendly forces. He was acquitted on October 23, 1944, and transferred to the 179^thInfantry Regiment. Two weeks later he was killed in action fighting in Italy.

The winners write the history, and war is bad. Normal men forced into such abnormal circumstances are frequently driven to do things that seem unnatural from the comfort of our living rooms. The very act of combat is the most repugnant of human pursuits.

The Axis was ultimately defeated and with them went their death camps and dark aspirations for world domination. However, it took hard men doing hard things to put the final nail in the Nazi coffin. Sometimes war takes those hard men to some particularly dark places.