{"chunks_used":1,"query":"The Night Sergeant Douglass Fell","report":"**The Night Sergeant Douglass Fell: A Tragic Episode in the 1900 New Croton Dam Strike**  \n\n**The Incident**  \nOn the evening of April 16, 1900, at 9:50 p.m., Sergeant Robert Douglass of the Eleventh Separate Company, New York National Guard, was fatally shot near Little Italy at Croton Landing during the New Croton Dam strike (Cortland Evening Standard, 1900). Douglass, a member of the Mount Vernon Militia, was relieving a guard post when he was struck by a bullet fired from an unknown assailant. According to the *Cortland Evening Standard*\u2019s account, Douglass was conversing with Corporal McDowell and other guards when he suddenly clutched his stomach, exclaimed, \u201cLoad, boys, I\u2019m shot,\u201d and collapsed. The darkness of the night obscured the shooter\u2019s identity, and no witnesses reported seeing the flash or hearing the shot that killed him. McDowell and others fired into nearby bushes in response, but no one was apprehended. Douglass died shortly after being carried to his tent, leaving the circumstances of his death shrouded in mystery.  \n\n**Aftermath and Reactions**  \nThe shooting sent shockwaves through Camp Roosevelt, where the soldiers reacted with \u201cfrantic\u201d outrage to the \u201ccowardly crime\u201d (Cortland Evening Standard, 1900). The article notes that the location of the attack\u2014on a hill overlooking the dam site\u2014was frequented by armed strikers who had been drilling with rifles and shotguns. While the article does not name a perpetrator, it highlights the heightened tensions between laborers and military forces during the strike. The lack of a clear suspect and the absence of a visible shooter deepened the sense of unease, framing the incident as a pivotal moment in the conflict.  \n\nThis tragedy marked the first fatality of the New Croton Dam strike, a labor dispute","sources_consulted":["Cortland Evening Standard, Tuesday, April 17, 1900: \"SERGEANT MURDERED. First Bloodshed in Croton Landing Strike. SOLDIER SHOT BY ASSASSIN. Member of Mount Vernon Militia, While Relieving Guard, Suddenly Falls, Pierced With Bullet Fired By Unknown\u2014Excitement Runs Wild Over Affair.\" Public-domain newspaper dispatch from Croton Landing covering the first death at Camp Roosevelt during the 1900 New Croton Dam strike \u2014 Sergeant Robert Douglass of the Eleventh Separate Company, New York National Guard, shot at 9:50 p.m. April 16, 1900. Transcribed verbatim by Jeff Paine at https://jeffpaine.blogspot.com/2022/12/first-bloodshed-during-croton-dam.html"]}