The Battle of Lakay was a massive shootout which occurred between the Van der Linde Gang and the Pinkertons at the Louisiana fishing village of Lakay in 1899.
The Van der Linde Gang had been fragmented since the Louisiana National Bank robbery, as Dutch van der Linde, Arthur Morgan, Javier Escuella, Bill Williamson, and Micah Bell had been shipwrecked on Guarma while attempting to temporarily go into hiding in Cuba; Charles Smith had stayed behind in New Orleans to distract the Pinkertons so that Dutch and his men could make their escape; the women of the gang had remained at the gang's Shady Belle hideout during the heist and fled to Lakay afterwards (leaving a cryptic note to "Uncle Tacitus" - Arthur - telling him that they were on a visit to family in Lakay); and John Marston had been captured and imprisoned at the Sisika Penitentiary. The men returning from Guarma disembarked at different ports along the Mississippi River, with Morgan arriving at the Van Horn Trading Post in Arkansas. Ultimately, the scattered gang reassembled at Lakay, where they aimed to lay low before planning their next move.
That same night, however, the Pinkertons arrived, bringing with them a Gatling gun mounted on a wagon. Agent Andrew Milton planned to give the gang five seconds to surrender before opening fire, but he then whimsically had his men open fire immediately. The outlaws took shelter in the village's shacks and succeeded in shooting down the Gatling gunner, and Morgan then took control of the Gatling gun and used it to mow down the attacking Pinkertons. Milton and his surviving men retreated, and the gang was forced to make plans to hastily relocate north, ultimately choosing Beaver Hollow in Arkansas.