Roach Guards
The Roach Guards were an Irish street gang in the New York's Five Points during the early 19th Century. Originally formed to protect New York liquor merchants in Five Points, the gang soon began committing robbery and murder. The Roach Guards soon began fighting with rivals the Bowery Boys and former Roach Guard members known as the Dead Rabbits. The feud between the Roach Guards and the Dead Rabbits were especially violent as they fought over the Bowery area and, despite constant infighting, managed to hold their own in the "slugger battles" against the more organized and disciplined Dead Rabbits. The Roach Guards however began to decline during the 1850's, disappearing entirely by the end of the American Civil War in 1865.
Further reading
- Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York, New York, 1928