The Lincoln County War

The Lincoln County War was a small skirmish between civilian factions in the New Mexico territory in 1978. It started as a feud between two rival general stores in Lincoln County. It was plagued by poor dissemination of information because, both sides were deputized and assumed they were operating with the law. By the end of the conflict twenty-two people had died, and with the exception of Billy the Kid, both sides were pardoned for their actions. There was no clear winner, and due to questionable tactics, distrust in the local government was the main result of the conflict.

Table of Contents

i. Introduction___________________________________________4

ii. Strategic Setting_______________________________________5

iii. Tactical Situation______________________________________6

iv. The Action___________________________________________7-8
v. Significance___________________________________________9
vi. Analysis_____________________________________________10
vii. Conclusion______________________________________¬_____11
viii. Appendix (Map of Battle, Table of Units Involved)__________12
ix. Bibliography__________________________________________13

Introduction
The Lincoln County War took place in Lincoln County, New Mexico in 1878.

The war originated from a feud between two rival stores in Lincoln County, which encompassed about one fifth of the land mass of the New Mexico territory. In 1874, Lawrence Murphy opened a general store and partnered with James Dolan. Their store was the only general store in Lincoln County and price-gouged the cost of goods to local inhabitants and bought cattle well below market value from local ranchers. In 1876 Alexander McSween and John Tunstall opened a rival store nearby. Tensions grew over the next two years and on February 18, 1878 Tunstall was killed, allegedly by hands hired from Dolan and Murphy. This officially started the Lincoln County War (Weiser, 2012).

Infuriated by the cold blooded killing of their employer, Tunstall’s cattle hands, including the infamous Billy the Kid, swore vengeance. The cattle hands started a posse named The Regulators and hunted Tunstall’s murderers. After several run-downs and questionable killings the decisive point of the war came down to a three day standoff between the two factions. By the time the war ended on July, 20th 1878, twenty-two people had died and twenty-three were wounded (Nolan

2009).

Strategic Setting:

Lincoln County New Mexico was a fairly desolate area. All livelihoods were either cattle ranching or mining; or supported the ranchers and miners. With only one store for residents to buy goods from and ranchers to sell meat to, L. G. Murphy & Co owned by James Dolan and Lawrence Murphy made great returns. Murphy and Dolan held a tight grip on local politics and the County Sherriff, William Brady. This monopoly was formally known as “The House” and was extremely unpopular to the local populace, due to price-gouging and unfair trading (Tower 2016).
Word of the injustices from The House led London born John Tunstall and lawyer Alexander McSween to establish the H. H. Tunstall and Co. in 1877 to undercut their prices. Tunstall and McSween were backed by John Chism who owned the largest stake of cattle in the area. Tunstall quickly gained contracts from the local ranchers trying to get a better deal and had his lawyer partner McSween ready for the fallout that would ensue. Tower (2016) claimed, “Tunstall naively expected the battles to be fought in court, as economic wars were waged in Europe and Eastern America. He never dreamed that when his business acumen began to ruin his opponent that Murphy’s forces would react so aggressively” (par 4).
The feud between Tunstall and The House was fueled by ethnic differences as well. Tunstall and his posse were Protestant and The House was comprised of primarily Irish Catholic (O’Tool 1998). In February 1878, the house obtained a questionable warrant, which was later overturned, and rode to seize some of Tunstall’s horses. In the scuffle, Tunstall, a non-violent man, was shot in the head in sight of Tunstall’s cattle hands. Billy the Kid, one of Tunstall’s men, and others formed a posse called The Regulators to bring justice to Tunstall’s murderers. This started the Lincoln County war (Nolan 2009).
Tactical Situation:

With the Lincoln County War taking place in small town out West during the late 1800s, much of the equipment and tactical advantages were similar thus, hard to decipher as to which were advantageous to whom. Although the war was started due to competing commercial enterprises, it quickly turned into a feud splitting much of the town into two sides. It was a skirmish between civilians. The Regulator’s mission was to avenge the killing of Tunstall while The House was trying to regain control of their monopoly.
Equipment from both sides consisted of colt 45’s and henry lever action rifles. Allegedly, a five hundred yard shot was made by a man fighting for the Tunstall side. The three day standoff came to a decisive point when Colonel Nathan Dudley who, against orders, decided to quell the standoff by encircling the McSween house with troops, a gatling gun, and two canons. U.S. troops or one of The House members torched the McSween house shortly thereafter. This was the turning point of the tactical standoff of the battle. With their cover and concealment on fire, The Regulators were forced to make a decision. They peacefully sent out McSween’s wife and children from the house. Some of the faction then tried to gain fire superiority and break contact out the back door. Several Regulators, including Billy the Kid, got away while several members were killed or wounded (Mordisett 2016).
After The Regulators made their run, McSween fled the burning house unarmed and tried to surrender. He was shot by members of the US Cavalry who were not supposed to be engaged in civilian conflicts. McSween’s wife later brought a lawsuit against Colonel Dudley. He was acquitted of all charges, but was always remembered for his controversial involvement of the Battle of Lincoln County (Mordisett 2016).

The Action

On February 18, 1878 Alexander Tunstall was murdered by members of the The House. This prompted supporters of Tunstall to form a posse called The Regulators. The Regulators consisted of roughly twelve main members, but at times surged up to twenty four (Nolan 2009). The Regulators were deputized by the Justice of the Peace and started their escapade of rounding up the men responsible for Tunstall’s death. On March 6th, 1878 The Regulators captured two of the men responsible. On March 9th, while escorting them back to Lincoln County, The Regulators shot the captors and one of their own party for resisting and claimed they were trying to escape (O’Toole 1998).
Sherriff Brady, concerned of the suspicious deaths of The House’s men, appealed to the governor to revoke the deputies badges. The governor declared the deputization of The Regulators was an illegal act, removed the Justice of the Peace, and named them outlaws. The second phase of the battle started on April 1, 1978 when The Regulators ambushed and killed Sherriff Brady and another deputy. George Peppin became the new Sherriff of the county and started hunting down The Regulators (Weiser 2012).
Over the next two months several small shootouts resulted in The Regulators having two killed, five wounded, and one captured but later escaped. The House had five killed, one wounded, and one captured who was later killed. On July 15th, 1878 the third and last main phase of the war began. The Regulators were surrounded and held up McSween’s house and store. For three days the rivals traded shots. On the third day, The US Cavalry came to quell the violence. The McSween house was set ablaze, and the Regulators were forced to make a decision. They peacefully sent out McSween’s family to surrender. Some of the faction then tried to gain fire superiority and break contact out the back door. Many were gunned down; however, at least five, including Billy the Kid, got away (Mordisett 2016).
In September 1878, the President of the United States, Rutherford Hayes relieved New Mexico’s governor and advised for those involved in the Lincoln County War be pardoned. However, this did not include Billy the Kid. This officially ended the Lincoln County War. Over the three months the Regulators lost eight men and had twelve wounded. The House lost fourteen men and had eight wounded. There was no clear victor; however, both Tunstall and McSween died in the conflict. Sue McSween carried on the cattle side of the business but, H. H. Tunstall and Co was bought out by the Dolan Murphy faction (Weiser 2012).

Significance
Nolan (2009) stated, “The Lincoln County War accomplished little other than to foster distrust and animosity in the area” (pg 426). It was not part of a larger operation and had no decisive winner although, LG Murphy and Co remained an operable store while H. H. Tunstall and Co was sold to LG Murphy and Co. It was a skirmish between two business entities in the New Mexico territory that got a little out of hand. Some long term effects from the Lincoln County War was it set the tone for the anti-trust laws such as the Sherman act of 1890 and the Clayton Anti-Trust act 1914. It also put more emphasis on taming the West to Congress and President Hayes.

Analysis
With a few exceptions, this was a John Wayne skirmish with little adhering to the principles of war or elements of combat firepower. Most engagements lacked clear leadership and several times, factions split under pressure. That being said, there are minor instances in the conflict that resembled military planning. At one point The Regulators utilized the element of surprise when they ambushed and killed Sherriff Brady and his deputy. The Regulators also used massing fires when they tried to gain fire superiority in order to break contact from their compromised defensive position. Colonel Dudley’s forces also used economy of force to surround the enemy and ignite the defensive position The Regulators were strong holding. However, many called his actions despicable and he was ordered not to interfere with civilian affairs. The only long-lasting effect of the Lincoln County War was elevating Billy the Kid to an idol in American Culture. Also, Young Guns was a pretty good movie.

Conclusion
Ultimately this was a textbook Wild West shoot out. It consisted of sporadic, opportunity-based skirmishes fought by a volunteer force that had no obligation to the fight. Participation ebbed and flowed throughout the conflict based on local disposition of the conflict. After a three day standoff Colonel Dudley got involved and forced The Regulators into action by burning down their defensive position, even though civilians were inside. Overall this caused distrust amongst the local populace with the government. It is a good learning experience of how not to implement COIN. Although Colonel Dudley’s tactics stopped the battle, it was detrimental to the overall operating environment and civilians in the area of operations.