Dutch Schultz SENT 22 Men to Harlem — NONE of Them Saw the Morning

October 24th, 1935, 6:47 a.m. The sun was rising over a remote wooded area in the Bronx. Beneath freshly turned earth, covered with leaves and branches, lay 22 men. All still alive 30 minutes ago. All members of Dutch Schultz’s invasion force sent to conquer Harlem by force. All buried, standing, and kneeling in a mass grave.

soil covering their legs, then torsos, then shoulders, finally their faces as they screamed into the earth, filling their mouths. Detective James Murphy would later describe finding the site three decades later during construction excavation. 22 skeletons in a pit, some standing, some kneeling, all positioned like they’d been restrained, hands still bound with rotted rope.

 The formation suggested they’d been buried alive, watching the earth cover them, unable to escape. In 30 years with NYPD, I’d never seen anything like it. But in 1935, nobody found them. Nobody knew what happened to Dutch Schultz’s 22man invasion force. They’d entered Harlem at midnight, heavily armed with Thompson submachine guns, planning to seize control of the numbers rackets in coordinated strikes. By 12:47 a.m.

, 47 minutes later, all 22 had vanished, captured, transported, buried alive before dawn. What Dutch Schultz didn’t understand, what his white supremacist assumptions made him blind to, was that he’d just sent 22 men into the most sophisticated defensive trap in organized crime history. And Bumpy Johnson was about to teach him a lesson so brutal that it would echo through the underworld for decades.

 Try to take Harlem by force and you’ll be buried in the ground like the threat you represent. October 23rd, 1935, 9:47 p.m. 15 hours before the burial. Bumpy Johnson received urgent intelligence from Illinois Gordon that would determine Harlem’s future. Boss Schultz has 22 men moving into position right now. They’re heavily armed.

Thompson submachines, shotguns, pistols. The plan is simultaneous hits on all our major numbers banks starting at midnight. They’re not negotiating. They’re taking over by eliminating anyone who resists. Dutch Schultz, the most powerful white gangster in New York, bootleger, murderer, racist who believed black operators controlled Harlem only because white criminals hadn’t bothered to take it yet.

 He wanted Harlem’s numbers rackets, illegal lottery generating millions annually. And he planned to take it with overwhelming force in one night. 22 professional enforcers, Irish, Italian, Jewish gangsters experienced in violence. The plan hit eight numbers banks simultaneously at midnight. Overwhelmed security through superior numbers and firepower, seize approximately $100,000 in cash, establish control through display of force so devastating that resistance would seem feutal.

 But here’s what Schultz didn’t know. Bumpy had been receiving intelligence about the invasion for weeks. Informants within Schultz’s organization had provided detailed information. By October 20th, Bumpy knew the invasion date. By October 22nd, he knew target locations and timing. The invasion wasn’t a surprise.

 It was walking into a trap. The defensive strategy. Make the numbers banks appear vulnerable. Let Schultz’s men commit to their attacks. Then close in with hidden forces. 120 armed defenders positioned in adjacent buildings, rooftops, alleyways near the eight target locations. The goal, capture, not kill. Take them alive.

 deal with them in ways that would send maximum deterrent message. By evening October 23rd, defensive positions were set. 120 men loyal to Bumpy positioned throughout Harlem, armed, waiting with specific instructions. Let Schultz’s teams start their attacks, then surround and capture them before they can fire more than a few shots.

 Midnight October 24th, the invasion began. Schultz’s 22man force divided into eight teams. The largest, five men, led by Vincent Mad Dog Call, notorious for extreme violence, targeted the main counting house on 135th Street where the night’s largest cash collection was being tallied. Call’s team approached with weapons ready, confident, expecting vulnerable targets.

 Instead, they were suddenly surrounded by 15 defenders emerging from concealed positions. Before Call could react, weapons seized, men restrained using techniques prioritizing speed and silence. The entire capture, 90 seconds, similar scenarios at seven other locations. Schultz’s teams arrived expecting easy targets.

 encountered prepared defenders who’d been waiting specifically for them. Surprise and numerical superiority meant most captures occurred without gunfire. A few shots fired at two locations, but brief exchanges ended quickly when Schultz’s men realized they were outnumbered and surrounded. By 12:47 a.m., 47 minutes after the invasion began, all 22 of Schultz’s men were captured, transported to a warehouse in Harlem, held while Bumpy decided their fate.

 2x a.m. Bumpy arrived at the warehouse. The 22 captured invaders, restrained but conscious, sitting on the floor, guardedby dozens of armed defenders. Some defiant, others beginning to understand the severity of their situation. Bumpy stood before them, voice clear, carrying throughout the warehouse. You came to Harlem to take over our numbers operations by force, armed with automatic weapons, planning to rob our counting houses.

 You came because Dutch Schultz believes white criminals should control what black people have built. You believed we couldn’t defend ourselves. You were wrong about everything. Vincent Call, despite being restrained, maintained his arrogance. Johnson, you’re making the biggest mistake of your life. We work for Dutch Schultz, the most powerful gangster in New York.

You kill us and he’ll bring a 100 men next time. He’ll burn Harlem to the ground. Let us go now and maybe he’ll show mercy. Bumpy’s expression didn’t change. Dutch Schultz sent you here believing overwhelming force would break us. Instead, you walked into a trap. We knew you were coming. We knew your targets. We knew your timing.

 We captured all 22 of you in less than an hour without significant resistance. As for consequences, you won’t be going back to Schultz. You won’t be warning him about anything. You’re going to disappear so completely that he’ll spend years wondering what happened. Marco Devito, Schultz’s trusted lieutenant, tried negotiation.

We were following orders. Schultz pays well and we’re professionals. We didn’t have anything personal against you. This was just business. Let us go and we’ll tell Schultz Harlem’s too strong to take. Bumpy shook his head slowly. This wasn’t just business. This was an attempt to take by force what we’ve built.

 an assertion that white criminals should dominate black communities, a test of whether we’d fight back or submit. You chose to participate in that test. Now you discover what happens when you fail. The decision had been made hours earlier. Mass burial while alive. Traditional mob execution wouldn’t send the right message.

 These 22 men needed to disappear so completely that uncertainty about their fate would haunt Schultz and deter future invasions. A location in the Bronx had been prepared. A large pit 20 feet long, 15 feet wide, 8 feet deep, excavated in remote wooded area large enough to hold 22 bodies and the earth that would cover them.

 3:30 a.m. The 22 captured invaders transported from Harlem to the Bronx burial site, multiple vehicles in convoy. When they arrived and saw the large excavated pit illuminated by portable lights, the psychological impact was immediate. Some began begging, others tried to negotiate. A few prayed. All understood what was about to happen.

Bumpy addressed them one final time. You came to Harlem to take what’s ours. You’re going to be buried in the ground, removed, eliminated, erased. When Dutch Schultz wonders what happened to his 22man invasion force, the answer will be that they disappeared. They tried to take Harlem and Harlem buried them.

 The burial process was methodical, designed to be psychologically devastating. The 22 men positioned in the pit in multiple rows, some standing, some forced to kneel, all restrained. Then Earth systematically shoveled back into the pit, covering the restrained men gradually. The burial took approximately 90 minutes. During that time, the buried men experienced escalating terror as soil covered their legs, then torsos, then shoulders finally reaching their heads.

 Some lost consciousness from panic before being completely covered. Others remained conscious until earth covered their faces and breathing became impossible. By 6:47 a.m., as dawn broke, all 22 members of Dutch Schultz’s invasion force were buried in a mass grave. The site carefully concealed, disturbed earth covered with leaves and branches, area chosen for remoteness, natural settling would make it virtually undetectable within days.

Dutch Schultz began to realize something was wrong when none of his 22man invasion force reported back by morning. Initial assumption arrested during raids, but no arrests reported. No one had seen the invaders after midnight. By October 25th, Schultz understood his entire invasion force had disappeared. The question, captured for ransom, defected, or worse.

 Schultz sent representatives to Harlem, Illinois. Gordon delivered a simple message. Dutch Schultz sent 22 men to invade Harlem last night. All 22 are gone. They won’t be coming back. Tell Schultz if he sends more men, they’ll disappear the same way. Harlem is not for sale and is not for taking. This is his only warning.

The message delivered with physical evidence. personal items belonging to several invaders, including Vincent Cole’s distinctive pocket watch. But no bodies offered, no ransom demanded, no explanation given about what happened. The uncertainty was deliberate. Not knowing was often more unsettling than knowing.

 Schultz’s reaction, rage mixed with calculated assessment. He’d lost 22 experienced enforcers, including VincentCall. One of his most feared killers. The financial investment was substantial. The strategic failure demonstrated Harlem’s defenses were far more sophisticated than anticipated, but most significantly, the complete disappearance without trace created psychological impact Schultz couldn’t ignore.

 If he sent another invasion force, would they also vanish? How had Harlem captured all 22 so efficiently? What actually happened to them? Schultz consulted with Lucky Luchiano and Meer Lansky. Their advice cautious. Harlem had proven it could defend itself. The invasion failure suggested intelligence breaches in Schultz’s organization. Escalating into full war would be expensive with uncertain outcome.

Schultz made a pragmatic decision influenced by several factors. Legal pressure from prosecutor Thomas Dwey building tax evasion cases. The failed invasion had cost reputation and resources. Intelligence suggested other criminal organizations might not support him in prolonged Harlem conflict. And decisively, the complete disappearance of 22 men created genuine uncertainty about Harlem’s capabilities and willingness to inflict consequences.

Schultz withdrew from attempting to control Harlem’s numbers operations. The decision was framed publicly as strategic reallocation, but everyone in the underworld understood it as retreat, forced by the October 23rd invasion failure. The 22 buried invaders were never found. The Bronx burial site remained undiscovered for decades until urban development eventually disturbed the area.

 By then, any remains were so degraded that no one could identify what had once been a mass grave. The families of the 22 missing men were told various stories, arrested under false names, fled to avoid Schultz’s anger, eliminated by rival gangsters. None learned the truth about the mass burial.

 The uncertainty became one of organized crimes enduring mysteries. The story spread. Dutch Schultz sent a large force to take Harlem by force, and the entire force disappeared in a single night. Some versions said they’d been killed and disposed of. Others suggested they’d been captured and held indefinitely. A few claimed they’d defected.

 the truth that all 22 had been buried alive in a mass grave remained closely guarded by those who’d participated. Illinois Gordon decades later obliquely confirmed what happened. Schultz sent 22 men to take Harlem by force. We knew they were coming. We captured all of them in less than an hour. Boss decided they needed to disappear completely.

 not just be eliminated, but vanish so thoroughly that their fate would be uncertain. That uncertainty would create more deterrent than bodies in the river. The method used ensured they’d never be found. It ensured Schultz would never know exactly what happened, and it ensured that anyone else considering invading Harlem would remember that 22 professionals went in and none came out.

The symbolism of burial was understood by those who knew. Schultz had come to take Harlem’s wealth, wealth built by black communities excluded from legitimate economic opportunities. The invaders who came to steal that wealth were returned to the ground, buried in earth, eliminated through method that symbolized permanent removal.

The October 23rd to 24, 1935 defensive operation became a turning point in Harlem’s criminal history. Dutch Schultz, one of New York’s most powerful and violent gangsters, forced to retreat by black operators he’d assumed would be easy to dominate. The complete failure and mysterious disappearance demonstrated.

Harlem couldn’t be taken by force. Black criminal organizations had sophisticated capabilities. White supremacist assumptions about easy domination were dangerously wrong. The broader impact extended beyond Schultz. Other white gangsters considering moves into Harlem reconsidered. Lucky Luciano consolidating power and forming what would become the commission took note that Harlem had defended itself successfully.

This contributed to later decisions to recognize Harlem operators as independent rather than attempting forcible subordination. The mass burial established Bumpy’s reputation as someone willing to use extreme methods to defend territory and community. Capturing and executing 22 men in one night demonstrated organizational capacity and ruthlessness that made Bumpy respected and feared throughout New York’s underworld.

When Dutch Schultz was eliminated in 1935 by other gangsters concerned about attracting law enforcement attention, his organization fractured. But notably, none of his successors attempted to take Harlem by force. The lesson of the 22 buried invaders had been learned permanently. When Bumpy passed in 1968, 33 years after the mass burial, the incident was mentioned prominently in remembrances.

People recalled that Dutch Schultz had sent 22 men to invade Harlem and Bumpy had buried them all alive in one night. The story had achieved legendary status as the ultimate example of how Harlemdefended itself. If you made it to the end, hit that like button. If this story showed you that in 1930s America, black communities sometimes had to defend their economic independence through extreme measures when white criminals tried to take by force what black people had built. Drop a comment.

 Was the mass burial of 22 invaders justified as defense against armed invasion? Subscribe because these stories illuminate how black criminal organizations resisted white domination during an era when such resistance required sophisticated organization and extreme measures. Remember what happened in that single night, October 23rd, 9:47 p.m.

 Intelligence confirmed 22man invasion force moving into position. Defensive operations activated. 120 defenders positioned. Midnight. Invasion began simultaneously at eight numbers banks. 12:47 a.m. All 22 invaders captured. Minimal gunfire. Complete tactical success. Two Connors A.M. Bumpy addressed captured invaders. 3:30 a.m. 22.

 transported to pre-exavated mass grave. Four dacho 647 a.m. Mass burial executed. All 22 buried alive, covered with earth as dawn broke. Schultz’s entire invasion force vanished. Investigation found nothing. Schultz withdrew from Harlem. 22 bodies never found. Deterrent lasted decades. That’s not just defense.

 That’s complete annihilation of invasion force through method designed to eliminate threat permanently while creating uncertainty that deters future attempts. 22 men came to take Harlem. 22 men were buried alive in one night. One clear message. Harlem defends what’s ours.