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Sometime in December 1958, at 125th and Lexington, in the heart of Harlem, a fight over a girl between two gangs erupted.\u00a0 Fighting over girls was probably the biggest reason for gang fights, besides the struggle over turf.\u00a0 The assailants in this case were McNeil Robertson and Nelson Harrison, the Prime Minister and War Counselor of the Scotchmen, a “down” club, known for its jitterbugging reputation to use the vernacular of youth gangs in the 1950s.\u00a0 (See this page for more information on the Scotchmen<\/a>).<\/p>\n The victim in this attack was Ernest Herbert, who was either an Assassin (enemies with the Scotchmen) or the “Zircons,” a gang I have no other information on besides the name.\u00a0 McNeil and Nelson attacked not only Herbert, but others in the fight over the unnamed girl.\u00a0 Hurling gasoline bombs at Herbert and his companions, Herbert suffered injuries affecting his school work and he failed several of his tests.<\/p>\n Six months later, tension between the Assassins and the Scotchmen was still smouldering.\u00a0 On June 9, 1959, 22 members of the Scotchmen went hunting for some Assassins.\u00a0 The reason was because some Assassins found and beat up a Scotchman.\u00a0 It’s not clear if that was because of the December 1958 gasoline bomb attack or not, but in the gang world of revenge, it is sometimes difficult to ferret out the truth of who did what and when.<\/p>\n The war party of Scotchmen split up into two groups of 11 in order to escape the attention of the police from the 25th Precinct.\u00a0 But despite the clandestine nature of the boys’ skulking about, vigilant radio patrol cars (some NYPD cars had radios in them allowing them to call for help quicker than those who had no radio-equipped cars where the police had to use a call box) intercepted the gang, breaking up the impending attack.<\/p>\n The Scotchmen, not deterred by the police, reassembled later that evening.\u00a0 About 18 of them went looking for revenge again, their thirst for revenge as strong as ever.\u00a0 Armed with baseball bats, car aerials, knives and even swords, they entered a park on East 128th Street and third Avenue (Harlem River Park) at 11 p.m.\u00a0 There, the Scotchmen spotted William Bailey and Ernest Herbert sitting on a park bench.\u00a0 Supposedly they were Assassins.<\/p>\n Harlem River Park in 2014. Today it has problems of drugs, prostitution and the homeless.<\/p><\/div>\n Surrounding Bailey and Herbert, the Scotchmen engaged them in conversation when all of a sudden, Nelson punched Herbert, who fell to the ground.\u00a0 Herbert sprang to his feet and began to run.\u00a0 Screaming to his friends, Nelson yelled, “Don’t let him get away.\u00a0 Cut him!”\u00a0 In the confusion, Herbert unfortunately ran directly towards Robertson who took out his pen knife and promptly stabbed Herbert in the thigh.\u00a0 Herbert was supremely unlucky, this was the second time he was attacked in less than a year.<\/p>\n Robertson wasn’t finished his deadly work.\u00a0 While three Scotchmen seized and held William Bailey against a fence, Robertson stabbed him in the stomach.\u00a0 Their mission complete, the gang scattered, fleeing from the violent scene, leaving the victims in their wake.\u00a0 Bailey and Herbert were both taken to Harlem Hospital to be treated for their wounds.\u00a0 There they told a detective who their attackers were.<\/p>\n Herbert had two sutures inserted into his thigh wound, but Bailey’s injuries were much worse.\u00a0 If not treated quickly, stomach wounds can be lethal.\u00a0 Bailey received 18 sutures to heal the damage and recovered in the hospital for two weeks.\u00a0 Even when he was released, he experienced pain whenever there was bad weather.<\/p>\n Because the victims were able to identify their attackers, the police were able to arrest them in their homes the next day, on June 10, 1959.\u00a0 Both Robertson and Nelson were found guilty for their role in the attack.\u00a0 The detective also arrested 11 other Scotchmen who were held on charges of Unlawful Assembly, but were eventually acquitted.\u00a0 Five other Scotchmen – too young to be tried in Adult Court – were arrested and sent to Children’s Court and discharged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before you get to the article\u2026 On February 23, 2018, my book on the Mau Maus and Sand Street Angels, who were two Brooklyn youth gangs from the 1950s, has been completed.\u00a0 It took 15 years of research and writing … Continue reading ![\"Harlem](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newyorkcitygangs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Harlem-River-Park_Harlem-River-Park.jpg?resize=640%2C231&ssl=1\")
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