Joseph Lee Heywood: His Life and Tragic Death

Joseph Lee Heywood is known as the bank cashier who dared to say "No!" to Jesse James and his party of bandits and lost his life in the process. Heretofore not much was known about Heywood other than his role in the great Northfield, Minnesota bank raid. In this book, the author uses Heywood's actual military and medical records to trace the course and context of his life during the Civil War, notes his heritage, examines his decision-making during the robbery, and draws a psychological portrait of the man that is consistent with the known facts. Heywood served as a skirmisher at Chickasaw Bayou, was in the center of the attack on Post Arkansas, and participated in two bloody assaults on Vicksburg before being taken down by a life-threatening disease. The self-effacing Heywood could aptly be considered a hero even before his courageous stand in Northfield, unarmed, before violent men with guns.