Private Robert Lee Burdett

Robert Lee Burdett

Privates Robert Lee Burdett and Charles Beall were members of Company B and stationed at Fabens in El Paso County. A group of men were drinking and were warned by the rangers to cease the disturbance. When they started yelling again, Burdett and Beall went into an alley where they were gathered and started to arrest them. A gun battle erupted and Burdett was shot just below the throat and was killed. Beall returned fire but the men escaped into Mexico. Captain Fox requested that Mexican authorities return the men, but they refused. Infamous bandit Pancho Villa controlled this part of Mexico and he executed three of the men for crimes they also committed in Mexico.

Burdett was 32 years old and was survived by his mother. He was buried in Mount Cavalry Cemetery in Austin in an unmarked grave. His name has been reported as Burdette in various reports.