Cord McNally (born 1802) was a Union Army colonel during the American Civil War. He served as a cavalry commander in Texas, and, after the war's end, he set out to find the two men in his unit whose secret dealings with the Confederacy led to the death of his close friend Ned Forsythe in the River Junction ambush in 1865.
Biography[]
Cord McNally fought for the Union during the American Civil War, serving as a US Army colonel in the American Southwest. Before the war broke out in 1861, he met Pierre Cordona while gambling in Abilene. McNally went on to serve in Texas - a quiet theatre - during the war.
Civil War[]
McNally in 1865
In May 1865, during the final days of the war, his friend Lieutenant Ned Forsythe - who had been with him since the war began - was killed during a Confederate bushwhacker attack on a Union payroll train as it left River Junction in Texas. McNally led a force of Union cavalrymen to pursue the escaping train, but, during the pursuit, his squad was spread thinner and thinner in pursuit of the rebels to the point where McNally was forced to ride alone to search for the ambushers in his area. While searching for the rebels and their wagon of stolen gold, he was ambushed and knocked out by the Confederate soldier Buddy McComb and taken prisoner, where he was reunited with Cordona, now a Confederate captain. Cordona had McNally dress in a Confederate uniform as Cordona took McNally's Union uniform, and he instructed McNally to lead the Confederates to safety. McNally led them into the camp of the 10th Ohio Infantry and sounded the alarm, scaring off the Confederate troops and taking Cordona and Phillips prisoner.
Hunt for the Traitor[]
McNally at the tavern
McNally then returned to his men and took part in the occupation of Texas until the war's end, upon which the Confederate prisoners were paroled and released, each with blankets and $2. McNally met with Cordona and his right-hand man Sgt. Tuscarora Phillips, with the former rivals having gained a mutual respect for each other, and he bought them whiskey at the tavern and attempted to convince them to help him locate the man who had sold out his outfit. Cordona asked why it seemed as if catching the man was personal to McNally, and McNally revealed that one of the men whom he had watched grow up was in the car which the Confederates threw the hornet's nest into, and that the man - Forsythe - was buried a day later. Cordona never learned the traitors' names, but he described one as being a big man who was almost as big as McNally, while the other had white hair and white skin and was smaller. McNally told the two men to tell him if they ever ran into the traitors again (through his associate, the Sheriff of Blackthorne Pat Cronin), and he gave them money to return home; Phillips would be settling on a ranch at Rio Lobo, near Blackthorne.
Blackthorne[]
McNally meeting with Pat Cronin
McNally rode to Blackthorne when Cronin sent word that Cordona had come with news, and, when Cronin asked his business, McNally told him of his search for a traitor from the war; Cronin asked if McNally was doing so under orders from the army or because it was personal, McNally said that it was because of both. Just then, Shasta Delaney came into the sheriff's office and reported a murder in Rio Lobo. While McNally tried to convince her that Rio Lobo was out of his jurisdiction, she revealed that she could not go to Sheriff Blue Tom Hendricks, as it was his deputy Whiter Carter who had shot her boss. As the trio debated, Carter and three posse members from Rio Lobo entered the hotel and confronted Shasta. When Cronin asked for a warrant, George Hickman drew a pistol on him. Shasta then fired a concealed gun at Carter, starting a shootout which was later joined by Cordona, who ran down the stairs to intervene. After the posse members were killed, Cardona identified Whitey as one of the two traitors. McNally then met with Cordona upstairs and agreed to help Tuscarora's father fight off Sheriff Hendricks' attempts to steal his land in exchange for Cordona's continued help, and Shasta - who had been taken to Cordona's bed after passing out - awoke and asked to join them to retrieve her late employer's wagon and help them in their mission. They ultimately agreed, riding towards Rio Lobo and bonding along the way.
Rio Lobo[]
The trio at Maria's home
The trio arrived in Rio Lobo late at night and were welcomed into the home of Tuscarora's Mexican wife Maria, and they took shelter there as Cordona hid the horses across town. Maria told McNally that a good person to talk to was the dentist Ivor Jones, who was friends with her husband and his father. The next day, as Cord walked to the dentist, he saw Sheriff Blue Tom Hendricks' men beat and arrest Tuscarora on trumped-up charges, and he helped Maria - who had been assaulted by the officers - get up and run off. When Sheriff Hendricks asked who McNally was, McNally said that he had just rode in because of his toothache, and Hendricks told him to leave town immediately afterward. When McNally went inside to meet the dentist, he told him that his tooth did not ache, but Jones insisted that he pretend to undergo a root canal, as one of Hendricks' men had been assigned to keep an eye on McNally. Jones told McNally that Hendricks - with the help of a carpetbagger named Ketcham - had killed the previous sheriff and taken his job, and that he operated in blackmail. Jones also revealed that Hendricks had Tuscarora arrested and framed for horse theft in order to pressure his father to sell his farm at a low price in exchange for his son's freedom. Cord then paid the doctor 40¢ and returned to Maria's house with Maria, where he learned from Pierre, Delaney, and Amelita that some men had just searched the house. McNally decided to head to the ranch, and Delaney and Cordona joined him.
Capturing Ketcham[]
McNally at Ketcham's ranch
They stealthily took out the guards after pretending to be salespeople while using Delaney's recovered wagon, and they were then allowed into Old Man Phillips' ranch after the paranoid old man had them raise their hands in the air and slowly enter. Once inside, McNally revealed his identity and explained that he and his two friends sought to capture Ketcham and use him as a bargaining chip to secure Tuscarora's release. They then convinced the old man to join them in heading to Ketcham's farm to capture him. There, they stealthily took out the guards and confronted Ketcham, whom McNally recognized as a former subordinate of his, Sergeant Ike Gorman. McNally beat Gorman until he agreed to sign back the stolen land, and he then planned to do a prisoner exchange with Hendricks at the jail: Hendricks would release Phillips in exchange for Ketcham. Meanwhile, Cordona would ride to Longhorn Springs to summon the US Army cavalry.
The exchange[]
McNally at the prisoner exchange
McNally and Old Man Phillips rode to the jail with Ketcham as a hostage, and they summoned Hendricks and his men out of the jail. McNally had them drop their guns at the jail and retreat to the hotel as he entered the jail, saying that he would stay there for a day or two until the cavalry arrived. He then released Tuscarora and camped at the jail with the two Phillips; Ketcham was thrown behind bars. Later that night, Shasta and Dr. Jones joined them in the jail. Shortly after, a lawman warned McNally that Cordona had been captured, and that Hendricks wanted to have a prisoner exchange at the barn at the other end of town an hour after sunrise. At the barn, McNally found Jones, McComb, and a few other ranchers waiting to help him, as they figured that, if Hendricks won, their signed-over deeds would be worthless. They then waited for Hendricks and his men to show up so that they could exchange Ketcham for Cordona, but Tuscarora told McNally that he had a plan, and he ran into the river as McNally oversaw the meeting.
Final shootout[]
McNally after the final shootout
McNally had Hendricks show that Cordona was in good health before bringing out Ketcham. As the two prisoners walked to the other side, Cordona was signalled by Tuscarora to jump into the creek while McNally continued to hold Ketcham at gunpoint. He explained to Hendricks that he was now broke, as Ketcham had signed back the stolen lands, angering Hendricks and provoking him into shooting Ketcham dead. The two sides then engaged in a shootout during which Hendricks was shot in the leg and immobilized. After failing to dynamite the cantina where McNally and his men were shooting from, and being outflanked by the townspeople, the bandits fled, abandoning Hendricks. Hendricks, who had been using his rifle as a cane, was blinded by dust when he attempted to fire the rifle at McNally, and Amelita - who swore vengeance on Hendricks for cutting her face - finished him off with several rifle shots. McNally then told the townspeople that they had taken their town back, and he helped to comfort a rueful Amelita and walked her home.