July 3, 1878; San Patricio, Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory---Twice in one day the Regulators have evaded Dolan forces. The first posse, sent at dawn to San Patricio under the command of Dep. Jose Chavez y Baca, was met with gunfire and lost two horses and had a man wounded. The second posse, sent later in the day, under the command of deputies John Kinney and John Long and Jimmy Dolan, was also met with gunfire and lost two horses. Enraged over being humiliated like this, the Kinney posse turns back to San Patricio. The small, peaceful village has been a haven for the Regulators ever since the war began, and the Dolan forces are intent on making sure that it won't be any longer.
The posse ride into the village like the horsemen of the Apocalypse. They fire their guns into the air and through windows and doors and charge their horses through the plaza. Seeing men working in the fields, they fire at them, but apparently none of their shots take affect. They loot the Dowlin Brothers' store and tear the roof off the building. They steal $408 from an old woman in the street and enter private homes, tearing them upside-down, all the while saying they're searching the Regulators, when they already know that the Regs are long gone from San Pat. Finding a horse belonging to an alleged McSween sympathizer tethered to a post outside a building, one the Kinney men kills it. With the village more than terrified, Kinney and Dolan announce that if they catch anyone in town harboring the Regulators again, they will take their homes and all their property. Feeling they've done enough damage and released the anger they held for letting the Regulators escape twice today, the posse leaves.
Murphy-Dolan-Riley men involved
Civilians involved
