Deputy Sheriff Charles Cecil

Deputy Sheriff Charlie Cecil and several other officers were attempting to arrest suspects accused of stealing mules. As they approached Turner's Quarter House Saloon in Middlesboro, they were ambushed by several individuals inside the saloon who had been tipped off that the officers were coming.

As Deputy Sheriff Cecil approached the saloon to ask the men to surrender, he was shot from his horse and died at the scene. During the gunfight that then erupted, Special Deputy John Doyle was also shot. He died several days later.