drewery and his men arrive in the morning in time to crush the outlaws' renewed attack, and murell is killed. bradford refuses to disclose the gold's location and is brought up on charges in a court-martial. he defends his action in that, "as a soldier", he knew the gold might have been used to win the war for the south and prevented that, but "as a man" he knows it belongs to the south and he would prefer that it be used to rebuild the south's shattered economy and wounded pride after the war. the court finds him guilty of high treason and sentences him to death on april 9, 1865.