The Louisiana National Bank robbery occurred in 1899 when the Van der Linde Gang attempted to rob the Louisiana National Bank in New Orleans, only to be ambushed by the Pinkertons and the New Orleans Police Department. The ensuing shootout left two gang members and dozens of Pinkertons and police dead, forcing the rest of the gang to flee to Cuba.
The idea for the bank robbery came from Dutch van der Linde's second-in-command Hosea Matthews, who had - while disguised as a Canadian businessman - learned of the bank's riches during a conversation with local banker Gilbert Knightly at Mayor Henri Lemieux's garden party. Following the Van der Lindes' takedown of Mafia boss Angelo Bronte, Dutch planned one last robbery before the gang could relocate: a big-city bank. The plan was for Hosea and Abigail Roberts to create a distraction while Dutch, Arthur Morgan, Lenny Summers, Javier Escuella, Bill Williamson, Charles Smith, and Micah Bell robbed the bank itself. The gang succeeded in holding up the teller and cracking one of the safes, but their robbery was interrupted when a group of Pinkertons arrived on the street, holding Matthews at gunpoint. The gang members inside the back could only watch as Agent Andrew Milton executed Hosea with a gunshot to the back, and they then opened fire on the Pinkertons on the street as Milton escaped with Abigail as his prisoner. The gang engaged in a brief shootout before blowing a hole in the bank's wall and attempting to escape over several rooftops. While leading the way, Summers turned around to signal his gang members to follow him, only to be shot dead by Pinkertons Christopher A. Baize and Paul N. Berryhill at close range when he turned around. Morgan avenged his death by killing the two Pinkertons, and the gang continued to fight their way across the rooftops until they reached a warehouse window and took shelter inside. They mourned their dead as they waited for the heat to die down, and, at nighttime, they snuck towards the docks to reach a ship which could take them to northern Cuba until the manhunt ended. Charles volunteered to stay behind to distract the Pinkertons guarding the docks, while Dutch, Arthur, Micah, Bill, and Javier escaped aboard a French-manned American ship bound for northern Cuba. They were ultimately shipwrecked on the Cuban island of Guarma, where they would take part in the Guarman Revolution in exchange for transport back to Louisiana, the last place they believed the law would look for them.
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