More of the Deadliest Men Who Ever Lived Review

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Who are history's greatest individual warriors?
When I wrote "The Deadliest Men," I knew I couldn't include everyone that deserved mention. Some I left out because I didn't want to skew the book with too many of the same sorts of entries (i.e., Western gunfighters, combat infantrymen); some because I couldn't find enough source material on which to base a profile, and others because I hadn't heard of them at the time. "More of the Deadliest Men Who Ever Lived" features profiles of the following warriors:
--Hank Adams. A police officer, FBI agent, Marine reservist, and one of America's top competitive marksmen before WW II, he won the National All-Around Rifle and Pistol Champion at Camp Perry in 1935. With the outbreak of war, he was selected for the 1st Marine Raider Battalion. Early in the Solomons campaign, Adams's picture was splashed over the front pages of newspapers after he killed 15 Japanese troops in a few seconds with his Reising submachine gun. Adams is estimated to have killed over 200 of the enemy in the course of six island campaigns. Through the internet I was able to contact his daughter, who shared a number of memories, news clippings, and photos.
--Chevalier Bayard. The knight "sans peur and sans reproche" (without fear and without flaw), considered the greatest exemplar of the concept of chivalry, he fought a famous duel as well as in a number of military campaigns.
--Tsukahara Bokuden. One of the earliest great Japanese swordsmen of whom we have a detailed account. He fought more than 100 duels, 13 of them with steel blades, and fought in 37 battles, in which he is said to have killed 212 men. His specialty was singling out and killing enemy commanders.
--"Mad" Jack Churchill. The British commando who may be the last man to have killed an enemy with a longbow in a European war. He also carried a claymore, with which he captured some 40 Germans. To a general who asked him about the blade, he explained, "In my opinion, sir, any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed."
--Cassius Marcellus Clay. A Southern plantation owner, politician, and abolitionist who lived into his ninth decade, each one of which, as he said, "involved a good deal of fighting." Though he fought with his fists, a cane, and pistols, his signature weapon was the bowie knife, and he left vivid accounts of several deadly encounters.
--Jeff Cooper. The founder of the modern technique of the pistol and a personal friend of the author. Several years before his death I interviewed him about the three shootings in which he was involved.
--King David. I present an account of his single combat with Goliath along with a discussion of the sling as a weapon.
--Jonathan R. Davis. A Mexican War veteran who, while traveling through a remote area during the California Gold Rush, fought and killed 11 bandits in what Western historian John Boessenecker described as "Possibly the single most extraordinary feat of self-defense by an American civilian in the annals of frontier history." My account is drawn from contemporary newspaper accounts.
--Kenelm Digby. A 17th century gentleman and swordsman who killed several opponents in duels, his most remarkable feat was successfully defending himself against a nighttime assault by a sword-wielding gang in the streets of Madrid. Digby left a fascinating account of this incident.
--Herman H. Hanneken. The story of Hanneken's daring operation to kill Haitian rebel chief Charlemagne Péralte is well-known, but I include numerous details which have never before appeared in print, drawn from a lengthy oral history recorded by the USMC historian near the end of Hanneken's life.
--John Wesley Hardin. This most prolific of Western killers was responsible for the deaths of 40 or more men. With his phenomenal shooting and gun-handling skills, and flair for the dramatic gesture, he is the quintessential outlaw.
--Joe Harrison. Nicknamed the Fat Man for his enormous girth, Harrison was a San Francisco cab driver whose policy was to pick up any fare, any time, anywhere. A dangerous practice, but Harrison put his trust in his .41 magnum revolver. Having survived at least six armed encounters, he was a real-life version of the Bronson character in "Death Wish."
--Kitty Hesselberger & Dorothy Raynes-Simson. These Kenyan women successfully fought off a Mau Mau attack on their isolated ranch.
--Ito Ittosai Kagehisa & Ono Tadaaki. A master swordsman and his foremost disciple in feudal Japan.
--Lozen. A renowned woman warrior of the Apaches.
--Chuck Mawhinney. The top Marine sniper of the Vietnam War, with 103 kills and 216 probables. Mawhinney consented to be interviewed for this profile and provided me with personal photographs.
--"Paddy" Blair Mayne. The hulking SAS commander was described by one of his men as "The best professional killer I have ever seen." In the process of destroying planes on an Axis airfield, Mayne knifed 17 sentries in a single night.
--Lewis L. Millett. This lifelong warrior and MOH awardee led the last great bayonet charge, during the Korean War.
--Jeff Milton. The Texas Ranger, sheriff, saloonkeeper, prospector, railroad guard, border patrolman, and hunting guide whose long career encapsulated all the adventure the American West had to offer. Described as "a good man with a gun," he said he never shot an animal except for meat and never killed a man that didn't need killing.
--Moros. From the period of the American occupation of the Philippines come firsthand accounts of the sudden, savage attacks of these fanatical knife-wielding warriors.
--Rich Owen. The official executioner at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary killed 66 men in his official capacity, and nine more in various impromptu affrays. Particularly gripping is his account of how he killed two desperate inmates that tried to hold him hostage during a breakout attempt.
--Frank Pape. This Chicago police detective was dubbed "The toughest cop in America" by the newspapers in the 1950s. He was in 16 shoot-outs in which nine criminals were killed and 14 wounded. I found a wealth of detail on Pape in a rare, self-published biography written by a Chicago newsman who knew him.
--George S. Patton. My focus is largely on Patton's gunfight with Villistas in 1914.
--John Purcell. The septuagenarian Purcell became a British hero in the early 19th century when he defended his country home against a gang of robbers, armed only with a knife. He killed three of the men and severely wounded two others, in what "Bowie Knife" author Raymond Thorp considered the best performance with a knife on record.
--Frank J. Reynolds. Having killed at least a dozen violent felons in the 1920s and 1930s, Chicago's Frank Reynolds was said to be the only lawman Dillinger feared. After learning of Reynolds in John Tolland's book on Dillinger, I searched the archives of Chicago newspapers for stories about this little-known gunfighter, possibly the top "police ace" in modern American history. I can't help wondering if Reynolds inspired Chester Gould's "Dick Tracy" character; the timing would be right.
--Richard the Lion-Hearted. Accounts of Richard's battlefield exploits with sword and crossbow, taken from the chronicles of the Crusades.
--Manfred von Richthofen and René Fonck. An account of Richthofen's career, based on his autobiography, and a comparison with the second-ranked ace, the largely unknown Rene Fonck.
--Saburo Sakai. One of the top Japanese aces of WW II, and among the few who survived to tell his story.
--R.J. Thomas. Armed only with a .45 automatic and an ample supply of ammunition, this Navy SEAL held off an assault of North Vietnamese troops for 40 minutes. Thomas, who was awarded the Navy Cross for this performance, went on to become a double-distinguished marksman and founder of the SEAL's sniper program. Thomas consented to be interviewed in order to correct an inaccurate version of the Navy Cross incident that has been circulated on the internet.
--Tunnel Rats. The warriors who followed the Viet Cong into their pitch-black, booby-trapped warrens, armed only with a .45 and a flashlight. I describe several instances in which tunnel rats had deadly underground encounters with the enemy, with the most vivid account based on an interview with John Charles Johnson, USMC.
--Adelbert F. Waldron III. Though he remains the top-ranked American sniper as far as the number of confirmed kills, 109, until now there has been almost no biographical information available on this highly decorated warrior. Through interviews with people who knew him, including one of his ex-wives, several officers who served with him, and people who worked with him at Mitch WerBell's operation, I have profiled this mysterious, troubled hero.
--Sam Woodfill. The WW I Medal of Honor awardee whose astonishing feat of battlefield marksmanship rivals that of Sgt. York.
--Vassili Zaitsev. The Russian sniper who is credited with 242 kills in the Battle of Stalingrad, he did as much work with his PPSh-41 submachine gun and hand grenades as with his Mosin Nagant rifle. His story is drawn from his recently translated biography, which contradicts some of the myths presented in fictionalized accounts.


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This book is a collection of profiles of superlative warriors of such strength, skill, courage and ferocity that they could - and often did - turn the tide of battle. It follows Kirchner's earlier collection, The Deadliest Men, published in 2001, but the individuals included in this second edition are in no way second to those in the original volume. Each of the warriors herein dominated a violent environment and triumphed against overwhelming odds. They fought for blood, not sport, with the weapons of individual combat: fist, knife, sword, bow, pistol, rifle and machine gun. They range from Western lawmen to big-city cops, from crusaders to fighter pilots, from a boy shepherd in Judea to two women ranchers in Kenya. Most of them fought for something beyond survival - a cause, a code, a creed or a country - while others fought solely in defense of their lives, a worthy enough purpose in itself. Some of them are well known; others are not so well known, though they deserve to be.It seems that the least we owe the hero is that we remember him. Without remembrance, without honor, we cannot expect to have such men when we need them. Without an awareness of what has been done, we do not realize what can be done, nor are we inspired to do that which should be done.

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