At Two in the afternoon, Charlie Pitts, Bob Younger, and Frank James rode past the Ames Mill, across the Fourth Street Bridge, tied their horses in front of the bank, then sat on crates in front of the Lee and Hitchcock Dry Goods Store which is around the corner from the bank. These men were chosen to enter the bank and commit the robbery.

The next group, consisting of Cole Younger and Clell Miller, rode into the town square and took an immediate right onto Water Street and went around the Scriver block and waited in the middle of Division Street in front of the bank while the first group went into the bank. When they rode past the Ames Mill, they trotted past Adelbert Ames and Cole Younger said, "Hello Governor." Ames knew they were Southerners because no one up here ever called him Governor.

The last group to ride across the bridge included Jesse James, Jim Younger, and Bill Chadwell. They were to act as rear guards on Bridge Square and then move to Division Street, south of the bank to guard the gang's intended escape route.

The townspeople were already suspicious of the men, who were all wearing white linen dusters and matching white hats. Not only that, they all had saddled horses; most people in Minnesota had carriages instead of saddles. Many townspeople tried to keep an eye on the men without looking as though they were suspicious.

When Charlie Pitts, Bob Younger, and Frank James went into the bank, they didn't close the door completely. Cole Younger noticed this and told Clell Miller "You'd better close the door," and they both dismounted from their horses. As Miller was closing a door, a suspicious townsman named J.S. Allen went up to the bank and was immediately seized by Miller and was told not to "holler." Allen broke free and ran down the street saying, "Get your guns boys, they're robbing the bank!"
Inside the bank, the robbers went in and demanded to know who was the cashier; but the cashier was out of town on business that day. They asked each of the three men working in the bank, Joseph Heywood, Alonzo Bunker, and Frank Wilcox and each of the scared employees truthfully answered in the negative. The frustrated robbers pointed at Heywood and said that he was the cashier. They were close enough, as Heywood was the acting cashier.

They told Heywood to open the safe; but Heywood replied "There is a time lock on, and the safe can't be opened now." "That's a lie," retorted Pitts. It was a lie, but it was half correct. The safe couldn't be opened because it was already open, all the outlaws had to do was turn the handle. The outlaws began to hustle Heywood on the ground and the poor man cried out "Murder! Murder! Murder!" Trying to shut him up, Frank struck a terrible blow on the head with his revolver.

Heywood went limp on the floor. Pitts took a knife out of his pocket and threatened to cut his throat; but Heywood didn't or couldn't reply. Pitts put a slight wound on Heywood's neck with his knife. Pitts and Frank James dragged the unconscious banker into the vault and told him again to open the safe. The same demand was told to Wilcox and Bunker, but they gave no reply.

Growing angry and frustrated, Pitts held his revolver next to Heywood's head and fired. The bullet struck a tiny jewelry box and some papers inside the vault. Bob Younger turned his attention once again to the other two bankers. When Bunker first threw his hands up, he was still holding on to a pen. When he tried to put it down, Bob leaped over to him and stuck his revolver in his face and told him to keep his hands up.

Younger then told the bankers to get on their knees and pointed his gun at each of them. He started to go through some papers in the counter hoping he could find something that told the safe's combination. While his back was turned, Bunker remembered a Smith and Wesson .32 caliber pocket pistol that was on a shelf. As he inched his way closer to the pistol, Pitts noticed his movements and coolly walked over to the shelf and stuffed the pistol into his coat pocket.

Bunker then stumbled onto his feet realizing he must somehow escape. Younger demanded of him to tell him where the cashier's till was. He pointed to a small box in the counter and said that was the cashier's till, but it had less than one hundred dollars in it. Underneath it; however, there was another box that had three-thousand dollars in it.

Bob knew there was more money out there than that so he demanded that Bunker tell him where it is. Bob then realized that Bunker was standing and went over and pushed him to the floor. Younger took out his revolver and put it at Bunker's temple and said that if he didn't tell him where the real cashier's till was, he'd kill him. Bunker knew his time had come and became too frightened to answer and when Younger realized this, he released the banker and continued his search.

Bunker once again stood up and saw poor Heywood lying there with blood on his face and thought he was dead. As Younger was going through the contents of a drawer, Bunker started to move towards his escape. Since Wilcox was on the floor between him and the back door, he motioned with his hand for Wilcox to move over a bit so he may pass by.

Bunker took his chance and dashed by Wilcox; Pitts almost instantly fired a bullet at the escapee but missed by a hair. Bunker dashed out the rear door and turned right to get to A.R. Manning's Hardware Store. Pitts was in hot pursuit and when he cleared the door he again fired at Bunker. But this time he hit is target in the shoulder, just missing the joint. Bunker remained on his feet and because he was unsure of his condition, he didn't go to Manning's but he went South to the home of Dr. Coon.

Pitts re-entered the bank and heard a call from outside saying "For God's sake, come out; they are shooting us all to pieces!" This was the plead of Cole Younger. The men inside of the bank, upon hearing the call, fled the bank. The last man, most likely Frank James, shot Heywood in the head as he jumped onto the counter.

While all of this happened inside the bank, a war broke out on the street. When J.S. Allen broke free from Miller's grasp and shouted "Get your guns boys, they're robbing the bank," H.M. Wheeler was across the street in front of his father's drugstore and he began to yell "Robbery! Robbery!" The town was now alert that the bank was being robbed.

Cole and Clell jumped back into their saddles and shouted at Wheeler to get back. Wheeler went into the drugstore to find a gun. Unable to find one, he went out the rear door and through an alley to get to the Dampier Hotel unnoticed. He ran through the lobby and grabbed the clerk's single shot rifle, a few rounds of ammunition, and took position at a second or third floor window facing the bank.

Cole fired his gun in the air to let Jesse James, Bill Chadwell, and Jim Younger know that they had been discovered. The trio rode at full speed and went into a circle around Mill Square shooting and telling everyone to "get in." Cole and Clell rode up and down Division Street shooting at everyone, but not hitting, and telling them all to get in as well. The goal of the men was to frighten everyone away; but it didn't work on everyone.

Many townspeople didn't believe that there was an actual robbery taking place but it was all part of a show that was to take place later that evening. One of these townsfolk was a Swedish immigrant named Nicolaus Gustavson, and unfortunately didn't speak any English. He stood in the street watching the events take place and was told by the outlaws several times to leave the scene; but he couldn't understand them. Cole rode up to him and shot him in the head, just skinning the top. He died four days later on the Eleventh.

A.R. Manning ran into J.S. Allen's Hardware Shop to get a gun. What he got was a single shot Remington Rifle and some cartridges. Allen went into his store and told the clerk what was happening. The clerk, Elias Stacy, quickly grabbed a shotgun and a few shotgun shells loaded with birdshot and joined Manning in the battle.

Allen's shop was located right around the corner from the bank, and on that corner there is a metal staircase. The two-armed citizens took place next to the staircase waiting for their chance to get at the outlaws. Stacy was able to get a shot at Miller with his shotgun and put birdshot into his face.

Wheeler, at his place at the window, took his first shot at Jim Younger. His aim was a little high. Jim looked for who was shooting at him and spotted Wheeler; but Wheeler turned his attention to another outlaw, Clell Miller. He took a shot and the bullet severed the subclavian artery and killed him.

Almost immediately as Miller fell from his horse, Cole dismounted and took Miller's guns. As he was taking Miller's guns, A.R. Manning shot him in the hip. After shooting Cole, Manning took aim at Bill Chadwell. He took a shot and hit Chadwell right in the heart, killing him instantly.

Wheeler had only one more cartridge but it fell, and since it was made out of paper it broke open and made it useless. On his way out of the room he met Mr. Dampier, the owner of the hotel, and had his hands full of freshly made cartridges. Wheeler went back to his position and fired at Bob Younger, who was under the metal staircase fighting with Manning and Stacy.

Wheeler's shot at Bob Younger hit him on his right elbow. Younger, acting almost like nothing had happened, coolly switched his revolver to his left hand and kept firing at Manning and Stacy. Neither Bob nor Manning could get a clear shot at the other because if they went out to get a shot, they would expose themselves to the other.

Bob then started running down the street and mounted behind Cole since his horse was shot dead. Manning didn't know that Wheeler had shot Bob so he thought he would go through an alley and come up behind Bob. However, Bob had already taken place on Cole's horse. Meantime, other citizens started in the fight; using what ever they had as weapons. People were throwing rocks, shoes, frying pans, anything they had.

The bandits, knowing they had been defeated, gave a meek rebel yell as they rode out of Northfield with two less members. The gang had left fifteen thousand dollars that was still secured inside the bank. The six wounded men rode out of town not knowing that what lay ahead of them was a long, painful ride.

The remaining six outlaws were wounded in one-way or the other. The other two, Bill Chadwell and Clell Miller, lay dead on the street in Northfield. Bob Younger, riding double with Cole, had a broken right arm. When Bob got a horse, he needed help staying in the saddle and he passed out more than once. Jim Younger had a bullet wound in the shoulder. Cole Younger was hit in the hip, had buckshot wounds in the shoulder and side, and may have at the most five other wounds. Jesse and Frank James both may have leg wounds, but that might have occurred sometime after Northfield; and one of the brothers might have a body wound. Charlie Pitts' wounds immediately after Northfield are unknown.