Losing Hosea and Lenny was a massive hit to the Van Der Linde gang. They only lost 1 man in the blackwater massacre, and they managed to rescue Sean (boosting morale).

Might I mention, I'm not convinced that the Blackwater Massacre and the Blackwater Ferry Robbery are actually the same event. Ever since I played RDR1 over a decade ago I thought it was well understood that the references to the massacre were just a small tidbit of ambiguous lore just tacked on and meant to add the Landon Rickets' backstory. I believe that fans have blurred the two events together due to hearing the phrase "Blackwater Massacre" and associating it with the ferry robbery and that the community has been unknowingly perpetuating this misinterpretation all this time. There is no evidence ever presented in either game that both events are one and the same.

@CyberTheSeaWing i agree that the st Denis bank robbery was worse with losing Hosea and also Lenny but didn’t they lose three in blackwater? The two Calendar brothers, Davy and Mac, and then Jenny too?

@Our Star Trek Future I thought Davy died of hypothermia or something along the lines of that.

@MadMikeRyan Inclined to disagree although I think calling it a "massacre" when like 2 people died is overstated

@DaDragonSavage The boston massacre was only five people.

To be fair, I’d imagine dozens of policemen and Pinkertons died— more than enough for a massacre.

@Leprechaunlauch wouldn't that mean pretty much any robbery mission could count as a massacre

The Saint Denis robbery because of Hosea and Lenny, losing one of the founders/leaders of the gang and Lenny who was growing in importance for the gang. Regarding the Blackwater ferry job/massacre, the ferry job definitely is the massacre. Because the Strange Man mentions Dutch killing Heidi McCourt in RDR1, and Dutch killing a girl during the ferry job is mentioned by Arthur, Javier and John in RDR2. And yes it counts as a massacre since apart from the gang members killed many policemen, Pinkertons and some bystanders were killed. Locals and press called it the Blackwater massacre.

@BuffDucks That event is incorrectly labeled as well