CASTELLAMMARESE WAR

The 'Castellammarese War' (1927 - 1931) was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American mafia between two factions. The war ended with Salvatore Maranzano, head of the Castellammmarese faction, becoming ''capo di tutti capi'' (the Boss of the Bosses) for the entire mafia. After he was killed, "the Commission" of five mafia families of equal stature was established.

Contents

The Antagonists

The First Shot

Trading Blows

The Tide Turns

The New Mafia Structure

Death of Maranzano

See also

External links

The Antagonists

The name ''Castelammarese War'' refers to the immigrants from Castellammare del Golfo in Western Sicily who were called "Castellammarese". In Sicily, these people were controlled by the powerful Sicilian mafioso Don Vito Cascio Ferro. In the U.S., the Castellammarese leader was Salvatore Maranzano, a New York gangster. The Castellammarese mobsters in the U.S. included Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno, Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino, Joseph Profaci, and Joe Aiello. This was the first faction in the war.
The second faction came from other parts of Sicily and the Calabria and Campania regions of Southern Italy. Many members of this faction originated from Naples. Their leader was another New York mob leader, Joe "The Boss" Masseria. Masseria's faction included Alphonse Capone, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia, Vito Genovese, Alfred Mineo (born Alfredo Manfredi), Willie Moretti, Joe Adonis, and Frank Costello.
Outwardly, the Castellammarese War was between the forces of Masseria and Maranzano. In reality, it was a generational conflict was between the old guard Sicilian leadership, fondly known as the "Mustache Petes" for their long mustaches, and the "Young Turks", a younger and more diverse Italian group. Tensions between the two factions were readily evident as far back as 1928, with one side frequently hijacking the other's alcohol trucks (alcohol was then illegal in the United States due to Prohibition). However, both factions were fluid; many gangsters switched sides or killed their own allies during this war.

The First Shot

It is hard to tell when the warfare actually started. In February 1930, Masseria supposedly order the death of Gaspar Milazzo, a Castellemmarese native who was the president of Detroit's chapter of Unione Siciliane. Masseria was reportedly humiliated by Milazzo's refusal to support Messaria in an Unione Siciliane dispute in Chicago.
However, according to most sources, the opening salvo in the war was fired within the Masseria faction. On February 26, 1930, Luciano, a Masseria ally, ordered the murder of another ally Gaetano Reina (whose daughter Mildred would marry Joe Valachi two years later). Luciano's motivation was to protect his secret allies Tommy Gagliano, Tommy Lucchese, and Dominic Petrilli (known as "The Gap"). However, this treachery against the Reina family would come back to haunt Masseria and Luciano.

Trading Blows

On August 15, 1930, Castellammerese loyalists executed a key Masseria enforcer, Pietro Morello, at Morello's East Harlem office (a visitor, Giuseppe Pariano, was also killed). Two weeks later, Masseria suffered another blow. After Reina's murder, Masseria had appointed Joseph Pinzolo to take over the ice-distribution racket. However, on September 9, 1930, the Reina family shot and killed Pinzolo at a Times Square office rented by Lucchese. After these two murders, the Reina crew formally joined forces with the Castellammerese.
Masseria soon struck back. On October 23, 1930, Castellammerese ally Aiello, president of the Chicago Unione Siciliane, was murdered in Chicago. Presumably, the hit was ordered by Castellammerese ally Capone as part of a localized rivalry. However, Luciano later admitted that Masseria ordered the hit, which was performed by Masseria ally Mineo.

The Tide Turns

Following the murder of Aiello, the tide of war rapidly turned in favor of the Castellammerese. On November 5, 1930 Mineo and a key member of Masseria's gang, Steve Ferrigno, were murdered. At this point, members of Masseria's gang began defecting to Maranzano, rendering the original battle lines of the conflict (Castellammarese versus non-Castellammarese) meaningless. On February 3, 1931, another important Masseria lieutenant, Joseph Catania, was gunned down, dying two days later.
Given the worsened situation, Masseria allies Luciano and Genovese started communicating with Castellammerese leader Maranzano. The two men agreed to betray Masseria if Maranzano would end the war. On April 15, 1931, Masseria was killed while eating dinner at Nuova Villa Tammaro, a Coney Island restaurant in Brooklyn. The hitters were Anastasia, Adonis, Genovese, and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel; Ciro "The Artichoke King" Terranova drove the getaway car.

The New Mafia Structure

With the death of Masseria, the war was over. The winners were Maranzano and the traditional Castellammarese faction.
However Maranzano did make some significant changes in the structure of the mafia that remain essentially unchanged today. The basic ''family'' unit was to be headed by a ''boss'', who was assisted by an ''underboss'' (the third-ranking position of ''consigliere,'' was added somewhat later). Below the underboss, the family was divided into crews, each headed by a ''caporegime'', or capo, and staffed by ''soldiers.'' The soldiers would often be assisted by associates not yet members (or as they became known later, "wise guys"). Associates might also include non-Italians who worked with the family.
Except for New York City, the major urban areas in the Northeast and Midwest were organized into one family per city; New York was organized into five separate families (whose respective bosses, appointed by Maranzano, were Luciano, Profaci, Gagliano, Bonanno, and Vincent Mangano). Maranzano set himself above, and apart from, the five families of New York City, appointing himself capo di tutti capi or "boss of all bosses"

Death of Maranzano

Unfortunately for Maranzano, his reign as capo di tutti capi was short lived. On September 10, 1931 Maranzano was shot and stabbed to death in his Manhattan office by a team of out-of-town Jewish triggermen recruited by Meyer Lansky and led by trusted Luciano associate Samuel "Red" Levine.
Despite losing the Castellammarese War, it was the former Masseria faction that ultimately triumphed. This younger, more ruthless generation of mobsters, headed by Luciano, pushed aside the Mustache Petes. With their ascension to power, organized crime was poised to expand into a truly national and multi-ethnic combination.

See also

★ History of the mafia

External links

★ American Mafioso: The Castellammarese War

★ War of Castellammare on www.murderinc.com