Henderson's brother, Calvin, was tried for the murder of King. After providing an alibi to demonstrate he was working outside of Robeson when King was killed, the jury acquitted him and he was freed. Major Charles H. Morgan, commander of the Post of Raleigh, held jurisdiction over Thomas and the troops in Robeson County. He oversaw a brief investigation into the murder of Taylor before concluding that the army's priority should be to protect friends and family of the Lowry Gang from revenge inflicted by posses. He instructed Thomas to place himself in Scuffletown every time Sheriff McMillan formed a posse to pursue the gang and remain there until the posse had disbanded. He also sent 10 soldiers to Harper's Ferry, near where the gang members reportedly lived. This angered the local authorities, who considered the federal troops an impediment to their progress, and McMillan scaled down his pursuit of the band. Thomas' troops did little other than routine activities over the following months. Some soldiers searched Henry Berry Lowry's cabin and discovered a trap door in the floor which opened into a tunnel that led about away into a swamp. They subsequently dug it up. Two of the men named in Russel's indictment, Faulk Floyde and Malcolm McNeill, unbothered by the proclamation of outlawry against them, quickly returned to Robeson County and joined with nine others in a "compact" to kill the Lowry Gang. Aware that the authorities' tactics of using large parties for short-term searches were deficient, they decided to stake out a home of one of the outlaw's families to catch them on a visit. On April 15, five members of the compact met at a store and decided to ambush Applewhite, believing he would return to his family home the following morning, a Sunday. They proceeded to the homestead and hid themselves in thicket. Applewhite approached his cabin in the afternoon of April 16 but, seeing the armed men, turned away to run. They shot him in the back and neck, but he returned fire and crawled into a nearby swamp for cover. Satisfied that Applewhite was mortally wounded and fearing the presence of other outlaws, the group departed and notified McMillan of the incident. He returned the following morning with a posse and the coroner, but Applewhite could not be located, and his children told the sheriff that he had survived. The posse then arrested