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Outlaw John Wesley Hardin

Six Telegrams That Tell a Story:
The Arrest of John Wesley Hardin

by Mike Whittington

Six historic telegrams from Lieutenant John Barclay Armstrong are the only official records of the capture of John Wesley Hardin on August 23, 1877, at Pensacola Florida.

Telegram number one was sent from Whitney, Alabama, on August 23. It is addressed to William Steele, adjutant general of the Texas Rangers. It reads:

Arrested John Wesley Hardin, Pensacola Florida this P.M. He had four men with him. Had some lively shooting. One of their number killed. All rest captured. Hardin fought desperately. Closed in and took him by main strength. Hurried ahead. Train then leaving this place. We are waiting for a train to get away on. This is Hardin’s home and his friends are trying to rally men to release him. Have some good citizens with, and will make it interesting.

J.B. Armstrong
Lt. State Troops

Texs Ranger John B. Armstrong

This telegram tells the story but does not explain what a lieutenant in the Texas Rangers was doing in Florida (where he had no authority). It also doesn’t relate how a dangerous killer like John Wesley Hardin let himself be taken by "main strength."

Armstrong was recuperating from an accidentally self-inflicted bullet wound. It was said that he shot himself in the leg while cleaning his revolver. A reported sighting of someone believed to be Hardin in the town in which Armstrong was staying prompted Armstrong to enlist the help of the local sheriff to arrest the man and share the $4,000 reward for Hardin’s capture.

Hardin was wanted for the murder of Deputy Sheriff Charles Webb of Comanche County in the town of Comanche on May 26, 1874. Hardin had been captured in Louisiana in September of the same year and returned to Texas, but he escaped and dropped out of sight until August 1877.

The man that Armstrong arrested turned out to be an impostor. After the embarrassment subsided, Armstrong applied to the adjutant general of the Texas Rangers for permission to pursue Hardin.

Permission given, Armstrong was allocated an assistant. He was John Duncan, a Pinkerton man. Duncan set up home near a relation of Hardin’s in the hope of learning his whereabouts. Discovering that a wagon on the relative’s property was the property of Hardin, Duncan applied to buy it. This meant that Hardin had to be contacted about the price. The relative duly sent a letter to a John Swain at an address in Alabama. Believing this to be Hardin’s alias, Duncan notified Armstrong. Armstrong requested that arrest warrants be issued under both names, a copy of each to be sent by mail to Alabama, and another copy sent by express.

Meanwhile, Armstrong and Duncan hastened to Alabama, only to learn that Hardin had left for Florida along with four other men. Armstrong and Duncan continued on to Florida, but they were without warrants because they had not yet arrived in Alabama.

Just outside Pensacola, Armstrong identified himself, explained that he was after Hardin, and recruited the assistance of the local law enforcement officers. They all entered the train on which Hardin was travelling.

Armstrong was walking with the aid of a cane because of his gunshot wound. Moving his cane to his left hand, he drew his seven-inch-barrelled Colt .45 and, approaching Hardin, ordered him to surrender. Hardin recognized the weapon as one popular with the Rangers and cried, "Texas by God!" He reached for his own concealed revolver, a cap-and-ball .44, only to get it caught in his suspenders.

While Hardin was struggling to free his revolver, one of his companions, nineteen-year-old Jim Mann, drew and shot a hole in Armstrong’s hat. Armstrong retaliated with a shot through Mann’s heart. Mann jumped through the carriage window, but fell dead after a few steps.

In the meantime, Armstrong grabbed Hardin’s gun. He was promptly kicked away into an opposite empty seat. He rebounded back and hit Hardin with his revolver so hard that Hardin remained unconscious for two hours.

This is how Armstrong related the incident in later years, according to Walter Prescott Webb in his book, The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense. Hardin, however, tells it differently in a letter he wrote to his wife while in jail:

Jane they had me foul, yes very foul. I was sitting in the Smoking car, Neal Campbell and poor Jimmie Mann by my side with my arms stretched on the side when they came in. Four men grabbed me, one by each arm and one by each leg so they stretched me locking me quick, but poor Jimmie, he broke to run out of the cars and was shot dead by some of the crowd on the outside…

This letter was written two days after Hardin’s arrest, and the events of that day were obviously still clear in his mind. Without taking anything away from the arrest, it seems that Armstrong’s recollection of the incident may have altered over the years. Or was Hardin trying to make excuses to his kin for an easy capture? Who knows?

Armstrong’s associates disarmed the remainder of Hardin's companions, and the train was ordered to continue on to the town of Whitney in Alabama. The three remaining members of the party were dropped off at different stations along the way. Armstrong’s main interest was in the capture of Hardin. At Whitney, Armstrong put Hardin under guard in prison while he awaited the warrants from Texas.

So now we know why a Texas Ranger was in Florida and why Hardin was unable to shoot his way out of a tight spot. But the story continues.

Hardin was under arrest, but Armstrong had no warrant. As the first telegram explains, Hardin had friends who were threatening to free him in a less than peaceful manner.

Armstrong sent word to the friends that should they attempt to free Hardin, Hardin himself would be the first to get shot. This action goes back to the time when Armstrong served under Captain Leander McNelly. McNelly had issued an order to shoot the prisoner first if any attempt was made to free him. McNelly called it "ley de fuga."

Hardin was moved from Whitney under armed guard to Montgomery, Alabama, where he was again placed in prison. While Armstrong was wainting for the arrival of the warrants from Texas, he sent the second telegram to the adjutant general in Texas on August 24, 1877. It reads:

Arrived this A.M. Prisoner in jail. No Papers whatsoever received by the Governor. What is the matter?

Shortly after sending this telegram, Armstrong was ordered to appear in court. He had to convince a judge why Hardin should be kept in jail without proper warrants. Armstrong showed the judge his commission as a Texas Ranger and a copy of the telegram requesting the warrants. This, along with the description of Hardin’s character and reputation, convinced the judge to hold the case over until the following Wednesday.

Armstrong was now under the gun. To take Hardin back to Texas to stand trial, he had to have those warrants and quick!

Once more the telegraph office was busy. This time Armstrong sent two telegrams-- one to the adjutant general and one to the governor of Texas.

To Steele, the adjutant general:

Hardin taken out on writ of Habeas Corpus. Case continued until Wednesday. Send another requisition by man or express. Am afraid it will miscarry by mail as did the first. Answer.

And to the governor of Texas:

Please telegraph the Governor of Alabama that you have forwarded requisition for John Wesley Hardin alias John Swain. They were trying to release him on count of Habeas Corpus.

The governor was obviously quicker to respond than the express service because, on the same day, Armstrong sent General Steele this telegram:

If requisition does not come tonight Go. Houston will issue warrant on Gov. Hubbard’s telegram so I can leave here at six tomorrow morning. Have arranged to have Bower captured.

Bower (or Bowen) was the brother-in-law of Hardin, who had married Jane Bowen. Bower was arrested September 1, 1877, for the murder of Tom Haldeman in Gonzales County back in 1872. He was returned to Texas and hanged for first-degree murder.

The warrants did arrive in time for Armstrong to read them to Hardin. Hardin did not admit to his identity until he had also been served the warrant issued under the name of John Swain.

John Wesley Hardin was duly transported to Texas, where he was sent for trial in Comanche County. In the spring of 1878, he was sentenced to twenty-five years’ imprisonment for second-degree murder.

Hardin was pardoned on February 17, 1894, after serving nearly sixteen years of his sentence. The reason for release was "that good citizens ask it." Hardin became a lawyer (left), a profession he had studied while in prison, but his days on the right side of the law were brief. He was shot dead by John Selman in El Paso, Texas, on August 19, 1895.

J. B. Armstrong collected the $4000 reward for the capture of Hardin and used the money to set up a ranch of some 50,000 acres in Willacy County, Texas. It was here that he died on August 19, 1913.

The sixth telegram? Oh yes, that was sent on August 25, 1877. It was from Verbena, Alabama, and addressed to Adjutant General William Steele. It’s cryptic message reads:

It’s all day now. On our way papers O.K.

I have a feeling the "it’s all day now" could refer to Hardin’s relentless profanities directed at the law and Lieutenant. J. B. Armstrong of the Texas Rangers in particular!

Note: Michael J. Dabrishus, archivist at the Texas State Library in Austin, Texas, kindly furnished copies of the six telegrams.