9. The attack on the McCoy home led the Governor of Kentucky to enter the feud
What became known as the New Year’s Day massacre led to the arrival on the scene of Frank Phillips and a party of more than three dozen special officers sent by the governor of Kentucky, Simon Buckner, to apprehend the Hatfields. Ignoring the fact that Kentucky warrants had no legal standing in West Virginia, Phillips and his men crossed into the latter state just after New Year’s, pursuing the perpetrators of the attack on McCoy’s home and family. Anse Hatfield and his family and other supporters took to the woods to try to elude the pursuit. In the first week of the year, several Hatfields were apprehended and sent back to Kentucky under escort, each time reducing the size of Phillips’ party.
On January 10, Phillips ran down Cap Hatfield and Jim Vance, both of whom had been recognized by Randolph McCoy during the attack on his home ten days earlier. Cap Hatfield surrendered to the hunters, but Uncle Jim Vance attempted to flee, exchanging shots with the men pursuing him. He was killed in the ensuing gunfight, though there are some who believe he was executed after the party, which included some McCoy family, ran him down. Others believe Phillips personally killed Vance. Vance was regarded as the most violent person involved in the feud on either side, personally responsible for several deaths, and likely the first to suggest the attack on Randolph McCoy and his family.