at Yale Law SchoolThe extraordinary, outbreak at Harper's Ferry, in Virginia, on the night of the 16th of October, 1859, the forcible seizure of the national Arsenal, the capture, imprisonment and killing of the people, and the almost immediate suppression and extermination of the insurgents, are events of historical importance. The madness of the attempt, the boldness--amounting to heroism--of the handful of men who were concerned in the movement, and especially the romantic history and personal character of the chief actor, have awakened in the public mind an ardent desire to know more of the man and his intentions. To gratify this desire, as well as to record, in convenient form, the facts concerning the outbreak and its suppression, with the trial of the leader, John Brown, we have compiled the following pages, aiming only to state the truth in all respects, according to the best sources of information.
John Brown--variously known as "Old Brown," "Fighting Brown," and "Ossawatomie Brown"--made his first public appearance in Lykins County, Kansas, in the year 1855. So strange a career as his has not arrested the public attention since Joe Smith was shot in the Carthage jail. His rank among the world's notabilities will be among such fanatics as Peter the Hermit, who believed himself commissioned of Cod to redeem the Holy Sepulchre from the hands of the infidels--Joanna Southcote, who deemed herself big with the promised Shiloh--Ignatius Loyola, who thought that the Son of Man appeared to him, bearing his cross on his shoulders, and gave him a Latin commission of mighty import--or Don Quixote, who was
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persuaded that he had a mission to rescue all the persecuted damsels in Spain. It was Brown's idea that he was divinely appointed to bring American Slavery to a sudden and violent end.
John Brown would not strike one who saw him as being a very tall man. He stooped somewhat as he walked; was rather narrow-shouldered. Went looking on the ground almost all the time, with his head bent forward apparently in study or thought. Walked rather rapidly, and very energetically. His features were very sharp, nose prominent, eyes were black or very dark grey. His hair was quite light, and he wore it rather long about the time of the skirmish at Lawrence. He wore a coarse, homespun kind of clothing, and was usually very unpresuming in his appearance and dress. He seemed to be rather taciturn in his habits, and was a sort of meteoric character, appearing very unexpectedly now at one place, and then at another, so that it could never be known where he was to be found. His appearances and disappearances were always sudden, and in a decided manner. He seemed to be ever on the alert. When he spoke, it was generally in short and precise sentences, energetically expressed, and to the point. When walking, he would not look to the right or left (unless in danger), but seemed to be deeply engaged upon something in his own mind.
From another gentleman, who knew him well, we have the following personal portrait:
In stature, Mr. Brown was nearly six feet high. He was slim, wiry, dark in complexion, sharp in feature, but with remarkable firmness expressed in his face His eye was sharp, penetrating, and steady. Few men could look him steadily in the eye more than a breath. His hair was dark, and, two years since, was deeply sprinkled with grey. His brow was prominent, the centre of the forehead flat, the upper part of the forehead retreating, which gave, in conjunction with his slightly Roman nose, an interesting and reckless appearance. At the crown of his head, he was remarkably high, in the regions of the phrenological organs of firmness, conscientiousness, and self-esteem, indicating a stern will, unswerving integrity, and remarkable self-possession. The whole family of Browns, the brothers of the man of Harper's Ferry, are of similar build and general characteristics. Whoever can get the promise of a Brown of that breed, considers himself secure.
There are various statements as to the place of John Brown's nativity. It has Been asserted that he was born at Torrington, Litchfield County, Connecticut; but in one of his answers to parties in Virginia, he stated that he was born in the State of New York.
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Previous to 1837, he was considered one of the most enterprising business men in Northern Ohio, and built warehouses, and engaged in business on the Canal and Cuyahoga River at Franklin Mills, six miles west of Ravenna, in Portage County The crash of 1837 made him a bankrupt. The great warehouses were standing there empty in 1850, while his son stood with our informant on the bank of the river, and gave this sad fragment of the history of his father's fortune.
In 1848, we find him in a large woollen warehouse in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he was known as a quiet, modest man, of unswerving integrity. Indeed, hundreds of wool-growers in Northern Ohio consigned their stock to him to be sold at discretion. A combination of eastern manufacturers, who wished to have no such stern and unflinching man between themselves and the wool-growers, formed in league against him, and forced him to send his wool to Europe for a market, which resulted in a second disaster, and Brown was again reduced to poverty.
Immediately after this failure, he made his appearance as a farmer or cattle breeder in North Elba, one of the interior and most secluded towns of Essex County, and verging upon the vast wilderness of northern New York. The humble farm of Brown is situated on an elevated and broad plateau, embosomed in the giant arms of the Adirondacs. No district of the State is more impressive by the grandeur of its physical features, or its exquisite natural beauties. The town is separated from the outer world by a harrier of dark and lofty mountains Although embracing a territory equal to that of some counties, its population does not exceed four hundred souls.
North Elba was the scene of Gerrit Smith's abortive attempts at negro colonization. The scheme may have been suggested by sincere philanthropy, but its issue was an utter failure, entailing upon the author disappointment, and sorrow and suffering on the recipients of his bounty. Scarcely a vestige now remains of this colony, although at one time so numerous that it seemed probable the anomalous political aspect would be exhibited of a town in New York controlled by negro suffrages, and represented in the County Board by a colored supervisors. Only two or three of the colonists remain. They have either abandoned their farms, or the lands have been sold for taxes. Nothing remains of this vaunted city of refuge. Brown made his appearance in North Elba, near the advent of this negro emigration.
At the Agricultural Fair of Essex County, for 1850, a great sensation wan created by the unlooked-for appearance on the grounds of a beautiful herd of Devon cattle. They were the first that had been exhibited at the county festival, and every one was surprised and delighted by the incident. The inquiry was universal, whose are these cattle, and from whence do they come? The surprise and excitement was not diminished, when it was understood that a certain John Brown
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was the owner, and that he resided in the town of North Elba. The Report of the Society for that year contains the following reference to this event: "The appearance upon the grounds of a number of very choice and beautiful Devons, from the herd of Mr. John Brown, residing in one of our most remote and secluded towns, attracted great attention, and added much to the interest of the Fair. The interest and admiration they excited have attracted public attention to the subject, and has already resulted in the introduction of several choice animals into this region. We have no doubt but that this influence upon the character of the stock of our county will be permanent and decisive."
A gentleman who soon after opened a correspondence with Brown in relation to these cattle, states that his reply is written in a strong and vigorous hand,--and by its orthography, accurate punctuation, and careful arrangement of paragraphs, evinces far more than ordinary taste and scholarship. It is remarkable, not only for the force and precision of the language, for a business letter, and for the distinctness of its statement, but equally for its sound sense and honesty of representation. An extract will interest our readers, as illustrating the former habits and pursuits of a man who has impressed an ill-omened episode upon our national history.
"Your favor of the 30th of September came on seasonably; but it was during my absence in Ohio, so that I could not reply sooner. In the first place, none of my cattle are pure Devons; but are a mixture of that, and a particular favorite stock from Connecticut, a cross of which I much prefer to any pure English cattle, after many years' experience of different breeds of imported stock. . . . . . I was several months in England last season, and saw no one stock on any farm that would average better than my own, and would like to have you see them all together."
Such were the habits and tastes of the man, while engaged in the pursuits of husbandry. What a contrast is presented, by the intelligence and seal here displayed in a worthy and useful occupation, which was leading him along the pleasant paths of peace, contentment, and prosperity, to the career of violence to which be has since been impelled, less perhaps by his own insane fanaticism, than by stimulations applied by others to his ardent and fearless temperament The natural impulses of Brown, those who knew him will affirm, were honorable and just, and his education and abilities of a superior order; but his mind has been distorted and his passions inflamed by a mad delusion.
Brown was at North Elba during a large part of the last summer, engaged everywhere disseminating his opinions. The small remnant of his family which has escaped his fatal schemes, still remains on the farm at that place, clustering the hearth that has become so fearfully bereaved and desolated.
It was in this new territory that John Brown first appeared as a military man, although we have seen a statement that he was In the service at Plattsburgh or
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Ogdensburgh during the war of 1812. Brown appeared in Kansas in 1855, and settled in the Osage country. He was a decided Anti-Slavery man--a religious enthusiast, a rigid Presbyterian--correct and conscientious in all his relations and conduct, and modest and unassuming in his manners. At the same time he was a man of iron will, of untiring energy and of unbounded nerve. All who know him are impressed with the belief that he never knew fear, and that no man ever lived who excelled him in cool and daring intrepidity. In all his affrays in Kansas he embarked in the most dangerous and apparently desperate enterprises, and encountered the greatest odds with a cool self-possession and an unbounded confidence in his own success. He was made the object of the most active persecutions of the Missourians, and all the bitterness and stern determination of his nature were stirred up from their very depths in retaliation. One of his sons (Frederick) was met alone on the road by a large party of invading Missourians, and cruelly, brutally murdered without a cause. Another son (John) was, for no cause but his political opinions, loaded with chains and driven on foot before the horses of his captors from Ossawatomie to Tecumseh, under such circumstances of cruelty as to destroy his reason. His own house and the house of his son were both fired and destroyed. The women of the family were grossly insulted, and a Committee, appointed at a public meeting, notified Brown and other Free-State men on Potawatomie Creek, that if they did not leave the Territory in three days they would be hung. His friends and neighbors were murdered around him; he was forced into a war of self-defence, and finally a price was publicly set on his head. The effect of these things, in connection with all the other outrage, oppression and murder perpetrated around him, upon a man of Brown's temperament, may be conceived. He became a fighting man, and developed qualities that excited the admiration and surprise of his friends, and made him the terror of his enemies. Though remorseless and relentless as death itself, he did everything under a sense of duty and high religious excitement. The more fervent his prayers, the harder fell his blows, and the more signal and bloody his victories, the more heartily did he return thanks to the Lord after the fight was over.
A Committee of five called on him on one occasion, and informed him that he must leave the Territory in three days or die--that they would come to his house with a sufficient force at the end of that time, and if they found him still there, they would hang him. The old man thanked them for the notice, saying, very coolly, "You will not find me here then, gentlemen." Before the next sun rose, the five members of that Committee were in the other world. Whether Brown killed them or net, is unknown, but it is certain, had they lived, that they would have killed him, and no man knew that better than he. On one occasion the well-known Henry Clay Pate started out from Westport, Missouri, with a party of thirty-three men, full of boastings and promises to catch "Old Brown," and take him a prisoner to Missouri, his only fear being that he would not be able to find him. Brown was very easily found, however, for with sixteen men he went out to meet Pate, and after a short fight, and a few men killed and wounded, at Black-Jack, near the Santa Fe road Pate and his party surrendered to "Old Brown," with the exception
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of a Wyandot Indian of the name of Long, and the notorious Coleman, who had murdered Dow. These two men, being well mounted, made their escape.
Upon another occasion, a body of some 220 men were raised and equipped in Jackson County, Missouri, and started into Kansas under the command of General Whitfield, to attack and capture "Old Brown," as every one called him. Brown, who was always vigilant and wary, and was possessed of secret means of intelligence, had made full preparation to meet the Missourians, and was encamped with 160 men at a chosen point near the Santa Fé road, which he knew his enemies would pass. He had fifty men with Sharpe's rifle's which would kill at half a mile, and which could be loaded at the breech and fired with great rapidity, whom he had concealed in a ravine, lying on the ground, and commanding the prairie for a mile before them. The residue of the party he had concealed in the timber, ready, at the proper moment, for an attack on the flank of those who might reach the ravine alive. Colonel Sumner, with a squad of dragoons, came down from Fort Leavenworth and prevented the fight, disbanding both parties, after which the Colonel was heard to remark, that his interposition was a fortunate event for the Missourians, as the arrangements and preparations made by Brown would have insured their destruction.
It will be recollected that in 1856, when Geary came into the Territory, Atchison and Reid were there with an invading army, variously estimated at from 2,000 to 2,700 men, bent on the destruction of several towns and the extermination of the Free State men, and that Geary, with great difficulty, negotiated and persuaded them to retire, and that his success was a matter of rejoicing over all the North, as there was a Free State force assembled of not over 500 to resist them, who were but poorly prepared for the fray. Not so John Brown, who was greatly vexed at the result, and who insisted that his friends had lost a happy chance el putting an end to the war, and covering themselves and their cause with glory. The odds of five to one he counted as nothing. "What are five to one," said he, "when our men would be fighting for their wives, their children, their homes, and their liberties, against a party, one-half of whom were mercenary vagabonds who enlisted for a mere frolic, lured on by the whisky and the bacon, and a large portion of the others had gone under the compulsion of public opinion and proscription, and because they feared being denounced as abolitionists if they refused?" His taste in this matter was very near being gratified. A vanguard of 300 men rode up from Franklin and made a bravado demonstration on Lawrence, in order, as they supposed, to alarm the Free State men, and ascertain how far they could go. Brown eagerly hurried out with 100 men to give them fight on the open prairie, but the enemy retired, and declined the contest, to Brown's great disappointment and disgust.
His conduct at the sack of Ossawatomie is well known. John Reid, a prominent lawyer of Jackson County, and a member of the Missouri Legislature, marched upon that town with 300 men and two pieces of artillery. The inhabitants were taken by surprise, and Brown had barely time to get into the timber, which lines the Osage River, with thirty men, and a limited supply of ammunition, when the
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whole force of their assailants marched upon the prairie before them. With his usual indomitable courage and unhesitating confidence in himself, he gave no thought to the odds of ten to one, or to making his escape from the danger, nor did he wait for the enemy to commence the fight, but carefully disposing his men, he opened a rapid and constant fire, which was returned, of course, but the Missourians, not knowing his numbers, and fearing an ambuscade, would not venture into the woods, and their artillery did little harm to men lying on the ground and loading their rifles at the breech. The result was, that sixty or seventy of the Missourians were killed or wounded; two of Brown's men were killed, and the others he carried off in safety through the timber, up the river and across the ford.
Shortly after the Marais des Cygnes massacre, Brown conceived the idea of carrying the war into Africa, and teaching the fighters on the other side of the border that a continuance of the war would imperil the safety of all the slaves in Western Missouri. While reflecting on this plan, a negro came across the line in the night, imploring assistance for his family and fellows, who were about to be separated and sold to the cotton and rice planters at the South. The first persons be met were Brown and half a dozen of his neighbors, who were discussing the enterprise thus singularly thrown in their way. Summoning a dozen or more assistants, they moved immediately to the border, and dividing into two parties, they made a night of it, with the deliberate purpose of taking all the slaves they could find who had an inclination to be free, and making prisoners of all who should interfere with their design. The result of the excursion was the liberation of thirteen negroes, the capture of several white men, and the killing of one person who was making a vigorous resistance. The homicide was not committed by the division of the party to which Brown belonged, but the responsibility of it attaches to him in degree as the moving actor of the whole proceeding. Both parties then returned to the border with the proceeds of their foraging. The captured Missourians were then set at liberty, and told to go home and raise a rescuing force--Brown and company would give them ample time and await their return, when they would settle the questions at issue by open battle. A very loud noise was made in half a dozen counties in Missouri, but no volunteers were found for the proposed action. After waiting three weeks, Brown dismissed all but a handful of his company, and took his line of march through Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan to Canada. While pursuing his journey through the northern part of Kansas, he was menaced with an attack from a party of Missourians, of about three times his own number. After retreating from them a day or two, he came to a halt, took four of them prisoners, and put the rest to flight. The prisoners were lectured soundly on the evil of their ways, and then dismissed, minus their arms and horses. No other interruption was met with on the way to Canada.
Such are a few of the incidents in the life of this remarkable man, which serve to throw some light, not only on his character, but also on the mad attempt in which he was recently engaged. He has elements of character which, under circumstances favorable to their proper development and right direction, would have made him one of the great men of the world. Napoleon himself had no more blind and
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trusting confidence in his own destiny and resources; his iron will and unbending purpose were equal to that of any man living or dead; his religious enthusiasm and sense of duty (exaggerated and false though it was) was yet earnest and sincere and not excelled by that of Oliver Cromwell or any of his followers; while no danger could for a moment alarm or disturb him. Though, doubtless, his whole nature was subject to, and almost constantly, for the last three or four years, pervaded by the deepest excitement, his exterior was always calm and cool. His manner, though conveying the idea of a stern and self-sustaining man, was yet gentle and courteous, and marked by frequent and decided manifestations of kindness; and it is by his friends said of him, that, amid all his provocations, he never perpetrated an act of wanton or unnecessary cruelty. He was scrupulously honest, moral, and temperate, and never gave utterance to a boast. Upon one occasion, when one of the ex-governors of Kansas said to him that he was a marked man, and that the Missourians were determined, sooner or later, to take his scalp, the old man straightened himself up with a glance of enthusiasm and defiance in his grey eye. "Sir," said he, "the angel of the Lord will camp round about me." His is a fierce and relentless nature. The iron of personal wrong, in the form of persecution, oppression and murder, had been driven into his soul, and maddened him into the one idea of life-long, undying war on an institution which he believed to be accursed of God and man.
The career of Brown in Kansas was more exciting and romantic than the fabulous history of many a famous hero of romance. That young and growing Territory is rife with stories of his adventures, and the whole country has read with emotions of surprise of the deeds in which be has been a prominent actor. From gentlemen who were with him in his forays, and conversant with all his movements, we gather many interesting particulars, which we add here as they have been related.
Wherever he lived, he soon acquired the reputation of a man of the sternest integrity of character. In Kansas he was the great living test of principle in our politicians. The more corrupt the man, the more he denounced Old Brown. It was a true compliment to be praised or to be recognized by him as a friend; for, even in his social dealings, he would have no connection with any man of unprincipled or unworthy character. In his camp he permitted no profanity; no man of loose morals was suffered to stay there--unless, indeed, as prisoner of war. "I would rather have the small-pox, yellow fever and cholera all together in my camp, than a man without principle." This he said to the present writer, when speaking of some ruffianly recruits whom a well known leader had recently introduced. "It's
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a mistake, sir," he continued, "that our people make, when they think that bullies are the best fighters, or that they are the fit men to oppose these demagogues. Give me men of good principles--God-fearing men--men who respect themselves, and, with a dozen of them, I will oppose any hundred such men as these Buford ruffians." His whole character is portrayed in these words. He was a Puritan in the Cromwellian sense of the word. He trusted in God and kept his powder dry. Prayers were offered up, in his camp, every morning and evening; no food was eaten, unless grace was first asked on it.
First, as to John Brown's political opinions. It is asserted that he was a member of the Republican party; but he despised the Republican party. He was opposed to the extension of slavery; and in favor, also, of organized political action against it. But when the Republicans cried, Halt! John Brown said, Forward, march! He was an abolitionist of the ultra school. He had as little sympathy with Garrison as Seward. He believed in human brotherhood and in the God of Battles; he admired Nat Turner as well as George Washington. He could not see that it was heroic to fight against a tax on tea, and endure seven years of warfare for a political right, and a crime to fight in favor of restoring what he considered an outraged race to every birthright with which their Maker had endowed them. The recent outbreak was premature. The coming triumph of the Republican party was the most powerful reason for the precipitate movement. The old man distrusted the Republican leaders; he said that their success would be a backward movement to the anti-slavery enterprise. His reason was, that the masses of the people had confidence in these leaders; and would believe that by their action they would ultimately and peaceably abolish slavery. That the people would be deceived, that the Republicans would become as conservative of slavery as the Democrats themselves, he sincerely believed. Apathy to the welfare of the slave would follow; hence, he argued, it was necessary to strike a blow at once.
I had heard of old Brown from time to time, but had never met him nor any of his family, until, after the sacking of Lawrence and the destruction of the Hotel and printing-offices, I made my first visit to the country south of the Wakarusa. I went down on horseback; but, being obliged to stop over night at a house near Palmyra, I found, when the morning broke, that my horse had been stolen I walked over to Prairie City--a municipality consisting of two log huts and a well--and stayed there until the afternoon, when a company of United States troops approached, rode up in double-file to the door, and made me a prisoner of war!
I asked what my offence was.
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"You were seen near our camp last night; shortly after you left, we missed two of our best horses."
I angered the captain by laughing heartily at this joke, and explained the reason I had to sympathize with him. I went with him to his camp--where the horses were found! They had wandered away, and were tracked by a squatter, who at once returned with them.
To be thus arrested on suspicion of being a horse thief, was too good an opportunity to be thrown away. I wrote a description of the adventure, entitled "Confessions of a Horse Thief." Now, how to send it? The mails were not safe; the country was covered with guerrillas; Leavenworth was in the hands of the ruffians; and to return to Lawrence was impossible. I heard of an old preacher, who lived a few miles off, and who was preparing to go to Kansas City. in Missouri. I went to find him. His house was situated on the southern side of a creek, which is two or three miles from Prairie "City." I was told to go to the cabin of Capt. Carpenter, and there (where armed men were constantly on guard) they would lead me to "Old Moore, the minister."
When men went out to plough, at this period, they always took their rifles with them; and they always worked in companies of from five to ten; for when they attempted to perform their work separately, the bandits, who were constantly hovering about the region, were sure to make a sudden descent and carry off their horses or oxen. Every man went armed "to the teeth." Whenever two men approached each other, they came up, pistol in hand, and the first salutation invariably was: "Free State or Pro-Slave?" or its equivalent: "Whar' ye from?" It not unfrequently happened that the next sound was a report of a pistol. People who wished to travel without such collisions, avoided the necessity of meeting any one, by making a circuit or running away on the first indication of pursuit.
The creeks of Kansas are all fringed with wood. I lost my way, or got off the path, that crosses the creek above alluded to, when, suddenly, thirty paces before me, I saw a wild-looking man, of magnificent proportions, with half a dozer pistols of various sizes stuck in his belt, and a large Arkansas bowie-knife prominent among them. His head was uncovered; his hair was uncombed; his face had not been shaved for many months past. We were similarly dressed--with red topped boots, worn over the pantaloons; a coarse blue shirt--and a pistol belt This was the usual fashion of the times.
"Hullo!" he cried, "you're in our camp!"
He had nothing in his right hand--he carried a water-pail in his left; but, before he could speak, I had drawn and cocked my eight-inch Colt.
I only answered, in emphatic tones, "Halt! or I'll fire!"
He stopped and said that he knew me; that he had seen me in Lawrence, and that I was "true;" that he was Frederick Brown, the son of old John Brown; and that I was now within the limits of their camp. After a parley of a few minutes, I was satisfied that I was among my friends, put up my pistol, and shook hands with Frederick.
He talked wildly, as he walked before me, turning round every minute, as he
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spoke of the then recent affair of Pottawatomie. His family, he said, had been accused of it; he denied it indignantly, but with the wild air of a maniac. His excitement was so great that he repeatedly recrossed the creek, until, getting anxious to reach the camp, I refused to listen to him until he took me to his father. He then quietly filled his pail with water; and, after many strange turnings, led me into camp. As we approached it, we were twice challenged by sentries, who suddenly appeared before trees and as soddenly disappeared behind them.
I shall not soon forget the scene that here opened to my view. Near the edge of the creek a dozen horses were tied--all ready saddled for a ride for life, or a hunt after the invaders. A dozen rifles and sabres were stacked against the trees. In an open space amid the shady and lofty woods, there was a great fire with a pot on it; a woman was picking berries from the bushes; three or four men were lying on red blankets on the grass; and two fine-looking youths were standing, leaning on their arms, on guard. One was the youngest son of Brown, and the other was the "Charley" who was subsequently killed at Ossawatomie. Old Brown himself stood near the fire, with his shirt-sleeves rolled up, and a large piece of pork in his hand. He was engaged in cooking a whole pig. He was poorly clad; his toes protruded from his boots. The old man received me with great cordiality, and the little band soon gathered about me. But it was for a moment only; for the captain ordered them to renew their work. He respectfully but firmly forbade conversation on the subject of the Pottawatomie affair; and said that, if I desired any information from the company in relation to their conduct or intentions, he--as their captain--would answer for them whatever it was proper to communicate.
I remained in their camp about an hour, and went away with a far higher respect for the struggle, and the men engaged in it, than ever I had felt before. I thought that I had met men of earnest spirit before; but this visit first made me acquainted with it. I had seen, for the first time, the spirit of the Ironsides, armed and encamped.
A few days after this visit, Mr. Henry Clay Pate--a postmaster, politician, and correspondent of the "St. Louis Republican" in Missouri--made his appearance near Palmyra, at a creek called Black Jack, for the purpose, boastingly avowed, of bringing Old Brown a prisoner to Westport. He had thirty men. Brown, after a few dozen volleys, took them captive with ten men.
Brown afterward delivered up these prisoners to Col. Sumner, of the U. S. Army, cousin of the Senator from Massachusetts. A incident of this event is deserving of passing record, as an illustration of the fearless character of Old Brown. Learning
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that Col. Sumner, with his company, was in the neighborhood, the Captain de retrained to pay him a visit, and offered to give up the prisoners, to stand trial, if the Government wished it, for the crime of sacking a store, and repeated robberies on the highway.
The Colonel told him that the United States Marshal was in his camp with a writ for Brown's arrest, and that it would be his duty to detain him as a prisoner.
Brown answered that if the United States Marshal attempted to serve the writ, he would shoot him dead on the spot.
The Colonel replied that if the Marshal produced the writ, he would serve it at every hazard.
Brown left the camp unharmed!
I never chanced to meet old Brown for many months after the capture of Clay Pate at Black Jack.
I ought, however, to mention how the letters that I sent by "Old Moore, the minister," fared. I gave him three letters--the first a little note to a southern lady; the second, my "Confessions of a Horse Thief;" the third, a description of the condition of the country, in which was an account of the reeking of Palmyra, by H. Clay Pate and his men.
I told "Old Moore, the minister," if he were pursued, to destroy the large letters, which were designed for publication; but to preserve the other--the note--as there was nothing in it that could implicate him.
He had not gone many miles before he was seen, and pursued by Clay Pate's scouts. In his excitement he forgot my directions--preserved the "incendiary documents" and destroyed the harmless billet doux. He was captured and brought to the camp. Pate ordered the letters to be opened, as soon as he learned they were mine--for we were rival correspondents for rival journals--and appointed Coleman, whom I had denounced as a murderer, to read my productions to his men!
First, came my "Confessions of a Horse Thief." Captain Wood, the United States officer who arrested me, was spared the ridicule I had endeavored to throw on him, for Pate threw the letter into the fire.
Next, came my description of the sacking of Palmyra and the Saxon names for Pate and his company. Old Moore declared afterward that he felt uneasy for his safety when he saw the rage which my letters aroused. It was universally admitted that I ought to be hanged, and they swore they would do it, too--when the cat was belled. As Mr. Moore was a quiet, inoffensive old man, and as he knew nothing of the contents of my letters till they were read in the pro-slavery camp, they permitted him to proceed on his journey to Kansas City.
The next news of Pate was an account of his failure to capture Old Brown, although he had thirty men, and of Brown's success in capturing Pate, although the Old Captain had only ten men. Pate's description of the battle concluded in these pathetic terms: "In short, as I sometimes say to my friends, I went out to take Old Brown, but Old Brown took me."
Shortly after this affair, the eldest son of Old Brown--John junior--who still lives,
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was made a prisoner at Pottawatomie on a charge of treason. A heavy ball and chain were fastened to his feet, and in this condition he was marched some sixty miles to Lecompton. The flesh was mangled at his ankles, but the correspondents err in saying that a brain fever ensued and he died. Of him we have the following recent facts:
John Brown, junior, who was imprisoned in Kansas, and confined with ropes and chains, producing insanity, is reported to hare died by nearly all who have spoken on the subject. But he is still living, and has been in Near York within two years, and the writer has seen the rope-marks yet on his arms. With him we are perfectly well acquainted, and he, like his father, bore the reputation of possessing honesty that could not be bought, and a firmness and courage that could not be appalled. John Brown, junior, is a good representative of his father. The son who was slain in Kansas, and the two who were massacred at Harper's Ferry, with the John just mentioned, and we believe one or two other sons, constituted this remarkable family.
The next prominent adventure of John Brown was the battle of Ossawatomie, from which he got his popular sobriquet of "Ossawatomie Brown" We give his own account of this affair:
Early on the morning of the 30th of August, the enemy's scouts approached to within one mile and a half of the western boundary of the town of Ossawatomie. At this place my son Frederick K. (who was not attached to my force) had lodged with some four other young men from Lawrence, and a young man named Garrison, from Middle Creek.
The scouts, led by a pro-slavery preacher named White, shot my son dead in the road, whilst he--as I have since ascertained--supposed them to be friendly. At the same time they butchered Mr. Garrison, and badly mangled one of the young men from Lawrence, who came with my son, leaving him for dead.
This was not far from sunrise. I had stopped during the night about two and one-half miles from them, and nearly one mile from Ossawatomie. I had no organized force, but only some twelve or fifteen new recruits, who were ordered to leave their preparations for breakfast, and follow me into the town as soon as this news was brought to me.
As I had no means of learning correctly the force of the enemy, I placed twelve of the recruits in a log-house, hoping we might be able to defend the town. I then gathered some fifteen more men together, whom we armed with guns, and we started in the direction of the enemy. After going a few rods, we could see them approaching the town in line of battle, about one-half a mile off upon a hill west of the village. I then gave up all idea of doing more than to annoy, from the timber near the town, into which we all retreated, and which was filled with a thick growth of underbrush, but had no time to recall the twelve men in the log-house and so lost their assistance in the fight.
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At the point above named I met with Capt. Cline, a very active young man, who had with him some twelve or fifteen mounted men, and persuaded him to go with us into the timber, on the southern shore of the Osage or Marais-des-Cygnes, a little to the northwest from the village. Here the men, numbering not more than thirty in all, were directed to scatter and secrete themselves as well as they could, and await the approach of the enemy. This was done in full view of them (who must have seen the whole movement), and had to be done in the utmost haste. I believe Captain Cline and some of his men were not even dismounted in the fight, but cannot assert positively. When the left wing of the enemy had approached to within common rifle shot, we commenced firing; and very soon threw the northern branch of the enemy's line into disorder. This continued some fifteen or twenty minutes, which gave us an uncommon opportunity to annoy them. Captain Cline and his men soon got out of ammunition and retired across the river.
After the enemy rallied, we kept up our fire until, by the leaving of one and another, we had but six or seven left. We then retired across the river.
We had one man killed, a Mr. Powers, from Capt. Cline's company, in the fight. One of my men, a Mr. Partridge, was shot in crossing the river. Two or three of the party who took part in the fight are yet missing, and may be lost or taken prisoners. Two were wounded, viz.: Dr. Updegraff and a Mr. Collis.
I cannot speak in too high terms of them, and of many others I have not nov time to mention.
One of my best men, together with myself, was struck with a partially spent ball from the enemy, in the commencement of the fight, but were only bruised. The loss I refer to, is one of my missing men. The loss of the enemy, as we learn by the different statements of our own, as well as their people, was some thirty-one or two killed, and from forty to fifty wounded. After burning the town to ashes, and killing a Mr. Williams they had taken, whom neither party claimed, they took a hasty leave, carrying their dead and wounded with them. They did not attempt to cross the river, nor to search for us, and have not since returned to look over their work.
I give this in great haste, in the midst of constant interruptions. My second son was with me in the fight, and escaped unharmed. This I mention for the benefit of his friends.
Old Preacher White, I hear, boasts of having killed my son; of course, he is lion.
John Brown.
Thus were two hundred men, fully equipped and armed, with muskets, swords, pistols, and artillery, arrested, thrown into confusion, and lost thirty-two men, and had fifty wounded by a party of sixteen, all of them imperfectly armed.
The invaders burned down the little town of Ossawatomie, the mill of the Emigrant Aid Company, and carried off a son of Mr. O. C. Brown, whom they kept for several months a prisoner in Missouri. They supposed him to be a relative of the old man, who had so effectively annoyed them.
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But there is one incident of his recent career in Kansas, which was laughable in its character, and which has never been narrated in the Eastern journals. He took a party of slaves from the vicinity of Atchison. The owners were indignant at him when they heard of it, and organized a formidable party to pursue him. The sheriff went with them, armed with the parchment terrors of the law. They soon overtook the fugitives. Brown, with Kagi and others, instantly drew up in line of battle to receive them; and, although less than one-fourth in numerical force, it was evident that they intended to conquer or to die in defence of the negroes. The sheriff, seeing the old man's preparations, wheeled round his horse and galloped off. Dozens of his followers imitated his example. There was one company, however, that refused to fly. Brown captured them. He caused them to dismount, and put the negroes on their horses. They swore. Old Brown ordered them to be silent, as he would permit no blasphemy in his presence. They swore again. "Kneel!" said the old man, as he drew his pistol, with stern earnestness, which left no room to doubt his intention. They knelt down, and he ordered them to pray I He detained them for five days, and compelled them to pray night and morning. They returned to Atchison; one of them indiscreetly told the story; the ridicule that overwhelmed the others compelled them, I was recently informed, to leave the town.
This was the last time that I heard of Old John Brown in Kansas.
Of Brown's subsequent career in Kansas, I know personally very little. He aided Montgomery; he delivered many captives; he acted, everywhere and always, according to his own convictions; whether these convictions are right or wrong depends upon the stand-point from which they are viewed.
Old Brown was no politician. He despised the class with all the energy of his earnest and determined nature. His first appearance in the Territory of Kansas was at Ossawatomie, at a public meeting, at which politicians were carefully pruning a set of resolutions to suit every shade of Free State men. The motion that called him out was to pass a resolution in favor of excluding all negroes from Kansas. Old Brown rose, and scattered consternation among the politicians by asserting the manhood of the negro race, and expressing his earnest anti-slavery convictions with a force and vehemence little likely to please the hybrids then known as Free State Democrats. It was his first and last appearance in a public meeting. Like most men of action, he underrated discussion. He secretly despised even the ablest anti-slavery orators. He could "see no use in this talking," he said. "Talk
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is a national institution; but it does no good for the slave." He thought it an excuse very well adapted for weak men with tender consciences. Most men, who were afraid to fight, and too honest to be silent, deceived themselves that they discharged their duties to the slave by denouncing in fiery words the oppressor. His ideas of duty were far different; the slaves, in his eyes, were prisoners of war; their tyrants, he held, had taken up the sword, and must perish by it."
The next time he appeared among men assembled in numbers was when Lawrence was surrounded by Sheriff Jones's posse comitatus, during the governorship of Shannon, in the month of December, 1855. His eldest son, John, had command of a large company of men, and he himself had charge of a dozen. He was dissatisfied with the conduct of Robinson and Lane, and predicted that their celebrated treaty, with its diplomatic phraseology, would only postpone the discussion at arms, which was inevitably and rapidly approaching. Lane sent for him to a Council of War. "Tell the General," Brown said, "that when he wants me to fight, to say so; but that is the only order I will obey." In disobedience to general orders, he even went out of camp with his dozen men to meet his invaders--to "draw a little blood," as he phrased it--but by the special messenger of Lane he was induced to forego this intention and return. He always regretted doing so, and maintained that if the conflict had been brought on at that time a great deal of bloodshed would have been spared.
Some of the papers are exceedingly anxious to know how Old Brown got his money, and from whom, and why. It has long been a matter of newspaper record. The following appeal, which he issued, was extensively printed at the time in the prominent journals of the country:
"To the Friends of Freedom: The undersigned, whose individual means were exceedingly limited when he first engaged in the struggle for liberty in Kansas, being now still more destitute, and no less anxious than in times past to continue his efforts to sustain that cause, is induced to make this earnest appeal to the Friends of Freedom throughout the United States, in the firm belief that his call will not go unheeded.
"I ask all honest lovers of Liberty and Human Rights, both male and female, to hold up my hands by contributions of pecuniary aid either as counties, cities, towns. villages, societies, churches, or individuals.
"I will endeavor to make a judicious and faithful application of all such means as I may be supplied with. Contributions may be sent in drafts to W. H. D. Calender, Cashier State Bank, Hartford, Connecticut. It is my intention to visit as many places as I can, during my stay in the States, provided I am informed of the disposition of the inhabitants to aid me in my efforts, as well as to receive my visit Information may be communicated to me (care of Massasoit House) at Springfield, Massachusetts. Will the editors of newspapers, friendly to the cause, kindly second
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the measure, and also give this some half a dozen insertions? Will either gentlemen or ladies, or both, who love the cause, volunteer to take up the business. It is with no little sacrifice of personal feeling that I appear in this manner before the public.
"John Brown."
This appeal, in which the italics are in the original, was widely responded to.
The next man to John Brown, in the Harper's Ferry affair, was John E. Cook, who escaped at the time, but was arrested a few days afterward in Pennsylvania, and sent back to Virginia. Our informant thus relates:
He knew me by reputation, and I entered into conversation with him. He was dressed in the rough fashion of the period, but his arms, accoutrements, and linen--and after one talked with him, his style of conversation--indicated that he was a young man of a wealthy family. A fair, slim youth of two and twenty, his boasting and incessant talking did not strike me favorably. He had a slight impediment in his speech, and the rapidity with which he talked did not improve it. He told me that he had come from Chicago, where, at the time, he had relatives living; had gone to Leavenworth, and joined (for the sake of betraying them) the Kickapoo Rangers--the most desperate gang of ruffians and murderers ever spewed out over Kansas. He told their plans and--then returned
What he predicted was fulfilled; his veracity was undoubted. But where was he? We had given him up as lost to us, when he suddenly re-appeared. Lawrence had been sacked since his previous visit.
His appearance created a renewed agitation. He went before the Stubbs, the celebrated militia company of Lawrence, told further plans of the Rangers, and, above all, a story of his escape, which removed the doubts about him. The story of Cook's escape, as he told it, was subsequently found to be true.
He had been suspected by the Border Ruffian company, and when he asked permission to Visit Kansas City (with the secret intention of going to Lawrence) a man was sent after him to watch him. Cook stopped at Kansas City, and went up to Lawrence. The spy, finding that he had gone, returned to Kickapoo and reported the treason. When Cook went back to Kickapoo, a company meeting was held. A man planted himself before the door of the room, and the spy proceeded to tell his story. But Cook had already dimly feared and formidably prepared himself for this result. It was a terrible situation to be in--a hopeless prisoner, to all human appearances, among thirty enemies. Cook sprang up, with his revolver cocked, and a bowie-knife in his left hand. In an instant, he was at the door, with the muzzle of his pistol within a yard of the doorkeeper's mouth.
John E. Cook, unlike his captain, is not a religious man; and I am very much afraid that he uttered profane words as he ordered the doorkeeper to move aside
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Whether he did or not, however, the doorkeeper moved. It does not require many words to induce even a brave man to get out of the range of a pistol held in the hands of a desperate prisoner. In a few seconds he had disappeared among the brush; and--the darkness favoring him--he soon made his way to Lawrence.
Cook had an exciting and rough time in Kansas. He found a friend in Charles Lenhart, the organizer of the Free State guerrillas, and with that party he had his first fight. On this occasion, among three or four boys who accompanied Cook, was a young gentleman named Stewart, the only son of a wealthy family in the State of New York. Charley Lenhart was chosen captain. They had not proceeded more than four miles, when they suddenly came upon three Missourians on horseback, who, as soon as they saw the Lawrence boys, drew up their rifles and fired a volley at them. Stewart fell a corpse--shot through the forehead. The rifles of the survivors were instantly raised; but, in consequence of the bad pellets which Sharpe's manufacturing company at that time made, they would not go off until several of them had snapped. By that time the Missourians, favored by the nature of the ground, were almost out of range. Only one of them was wounded. He was lying along his horse at the time, and the ball glanced along his back, taking a ribbon out of his coat from the waist to the neck. The wound, therefore, was trifling only.
Charley looked after them sternly; and then turning to his boys, he told them to kneel over the corpse.
"Hold up your hands!" he said, "and take this oath!"
I will not repeat that oath; suffice it to say that it was a terrible one, and kept. Stewart was revenged.
This was Cook's first exploit with the Free State boys.
Soon after my laughable adventure as a horse-thief, I started for Charley s ramp, fully armed, but this time on foot. I had enough of horses for the season.
Charley was encamped at Blue Mound--a wooded eminence south of Wakarusa, and twelve miles from Lawrence. Near the summit of the Mound, in the thickest part of the wood, I found the young guerrilla boys lying at their ease. Their horses were tethered at different places in the vicinity of the camp. The only covering they had was an old canvas (which they had taken from the enemy), and which, tied to trees, afforded a protection against the rain. Each man had a blanket, rifle, pistol, and bowie-knife. The side-arms were stuck in their belts. Their browned faces and wild and ragged appearance, I thought, were unanswerable proofs of an "irresistible conflict."
Cook was there. He had been tried and found true. Since the days of Homer there have ever been exceptions to the rule that barking dogs never bite. Cook was a desperate fighting dog; but he barked like a King Charles poodle. He was always boasting. Even in that little camp, there were rivalries. The State House spirit had already animated one man--who was subsequently shot dead by a Federal
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office-holder--and he was aspiring to supersede Charley Lenhart in command. Failing to do so, he bolted.
I remained three days in camp. On the second day I had my first taste of guerrilla life. The sentinel, who stood on the bare summit of the Mound, gave three long whistles. Every one sprang to his feet. The tent was torn down, rolled up, and strapped on the nearest horse. Every man seized his blanket, and ran and tied it to his saddle.
"Now, boys!" shouted Charley, "scatter and hide; and don't you come back again till the troops return to camp."
I ran to the top of the Mound to reconnoitre. A little stream flowed round the base of the hill, which, after turning it, meandered to the southward. The hill, excepting at the summit, was densely wooded; as also were the banks of the stream.
On the opposite side of the stream, about three runes to the south, I saw two companies of United States dragoons, slowly coming up, and hunting us in every direction. The clearness of the atmosphere enabled us to see that they were conducted by civilians.
"We are betrayed!" said Charley; "but d--n them, they haven't caught us yet. Let's scatter."
Every one chose his own course. I thought the safest route (as it would not do to take to the prairies), would be to cross the stream to the north; for I reckoned that, having seen us on the top of the Mound, the troops would cross and examine it on our side. The Mound is steep, and it was some time before I descended. I crossed the stream and got through the wood, and was entering the thick brush beyond it, when, not more than three hundred paces before me, turning the angle of the wood, appeared the leading file of the mounted troops. The rapidity with which I leaped from my horse might have taught a lesson in celerity to lightning I had the advantage of the troops, for they could not pursue me on horseback; and, as I was running for a greater stake than they, I did not fear to be overtaken I escaped; got to the top of the Mound; watched every movement they made; and, in an hour or two, recrossed the stream and found the horse patiently waiting for me. The troops, not knowing oar strength, were afraid to cross the stream.
Next day I returned to Lawrence and delivered up the horse to the owner; who, In a similar spirit of neighborliness, delivered me a bill nearly as long as itself, and it was the tallest and longest horse in the town. A short time afterward--such was the fate of many politicians in Kansas--he was obliged to fly for the trifling peccadillo of murdering a slow-paying debtor. Yet his bill was not half so long as mine had been; and he had not waited half so long to get it paid.
He kept a journal of his adventures, which may be published. He became a captain, himself, and in various ways distinguished himself for his recklessness and
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bravery. When peace was restored and the speculation mania began, he entered into partnership with a person named Bacon, and made a good deal of money by his quick and shrewd speculations. His real estate office was a real curiosity shop. Enter when you pleased, you would usually find him burnishing his arms--of which he had always a fine variety; for the chief furniture of his office consisted of weapons, which were conspicuously displayed on the walls and in the corners. For himself, he was a walking arsenal, even in the days of mutual good-feeling.
Cook--to give his character in a few words--is a brave fellow, good-hearted, intelligent, reckless, egotistical and querulous.
I learned, after losing trace of him for many months, that he had gone to Harper's Ferry. He must have been there for upwards of two years past.
The last news I had of him was from my wife. She was travelling through Indiana on her way to Kansas to rejoin me there. A young man, with pistols in his belt and a bowie-knife conspicuously displayed, was declaiming about the Kansas wars to every one around him. Finally, having exhausted his late listeners, he came into the vicinity of my wife, who asked him about various friends in the Territory. He did not know her; she asked about me. He was rather complimentary in his estimate of my character, but he made an emphatic and important proviso: I was, in his opinion, the rashest and most reckless man he knew. The next time that Satan reproves sin, and is chided for so doing, he may quote, by way of precedent, the distinguished example of John E. Cook, of Harper's Ferry. reproving me for rashness.
Kagi settled at Topeka; became the Kansas correspondent of the "National Era," and associate editor of the Topeka "Tribune;" and soon made himself a fair reputation as a writer of ability, a brave man, and an incorruptible politician of the Free State Party.
He first became known throughout the country by the assault of Judge Elmore on him. The store of a Free State man had been robbed at Tecumseh, a village four miles distant from Topeka. The owner applied to the Topeka boys for justice They sent down word that an examination must be made, or they would pay a visit to the town and put it to the flames. A Committee of Investigation was appointed as soon as this gentle warning was received. It consisted, first, of a Free State man; secondly, the person suspected of the robbery; and thirdly, ex-judge Elmore, as chairman, and representative of the "Conservatives."
The evidence, full and explicit, was given in; the Free State man deciding in favor of restitution, and the convicted opposing it. The decision, therefore, devolved on Elmore.
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In the true conservative spirit, he declared his inability to decide.
Kagi, commenting on the decision, remarked that President Pierce need not have sought a pretext to dismiss Elmore, on account of his extra-judicial investments, as it was self-evident that a person who could not decide when clear evidence was before him, whether a convicted robber should restore stolen goods or retain them was hardly qualified for a seat on the Supreme Beach of a Territory.
Elmore approached Kagi; asked his name, and then suddenly felled him. He repeated the blow several times; when, seeing Kagi groping for his pistol, he drew his revolver and fired at him, but did no serious damage. Kagi, blinded and stunned, fired a shot at random, which, taking effect in a vital organ, terminated, it is said, all further hope of continuing the house of Elmore.
I do not know of any individual exploit of Kagi; he always acted in company with the Topeka boys or Brown.
He had been nearly two years with the old man, when he fell at Harper's Ferry.
He had become a scientific military officer, and brilliant hopes were formed of his future by the friends who knew him best. He was a young man of clear and logical intellect; but, unlike old Brown, was a skeptic in moral and religious matters; and engaged in the military anti-slavery enterprise rather from a haughty sense of duty to a friendless race, than of obedience to any special command from Deity. Brown believed that God spoke to him in visions of the night; Kagi neither believed in visions nor that God was the author of the drama of human history. He would have made his mark in any society. He died fighting. He fought on the soil of his native State--in obedience to his idea of the lessons of her greatest statesman.
The young man, Edwin Coppie, is a native of Salem, Ohio, where he resided unto some seven years ago, when he went to Iowa. He was left an orphan at an early age, and was provided with a home in the family of a benevolent Quaker, a friend of the Coppie family, who were also Quakers. He remained at this place two or three years, exhibiting during that time such evidence of a depraved and vicious nature that his benefactor did not feel it his duty to befriend him further, and turned him loose. After a few years more spent in various places, he at last went to Iowa, where he remained until the commencement of troubles in Kansas, when he emigrated to that Territory, returning again to Iowa after peace was restored. One who knew him in Iowa after he had attained to manhood, says that he enjoyed the reputation of a reckless, dare-devil fellow, possessing much more physical courage and fortitude than principle. After the cessation of troubles in Kansas he was engaged with Brown in running off Slaves from Missouri. Some few months since he passed through Salem on his way East, as he said, and spent several days here with his former acquaintances. It is probable that he was then on his way to join Brown.
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I find the name of "Realf" in Brown's list of his men, but not in any of the telegraphic accounts of the killed insurgents. If he fell, his name was not correctly given.
I thought and still believe that Realf is in England. He is a young man of poetic genius. Lady Byron adopted him at an early age--his parents were English peasants--and he studied for some time in London as a sculptor. He published a volume of poems in England. Some of his Kansas lyrics were worthy of our most celebrated poets. He was an assistant for some time at the House of Industry with Mr. Pease, of the Five Points; whence, during the border troubles, he emigrated to Kansas. He became a resident correspondent of the Eastern press, but he did not distinguish himself in that responsible capacity. His letters were like Addison's fat citizen's pudding, of which he made the ever-memorable record: "N. B.--Too many plums and not enough suet."
He was rather a spoilt and whining child, but he had a noble heart and a fine intellect. His head was beautifully molded and his countenance handsome.
I think that I recognize another intimate friend in the list of the killed insurrectionists. It is known that he was at Harper's Ferry on the day preceding the explosion.
Several persons of the name of Brown have distinguished themselves in Kansas. They have frequently been confounded. One of the first settlers killed was a Brown; one prominent traitor was a Brown; and the most celebrated family of fighting men were Browns.
R. P. Brown, a free-soil pioneer, an emigrant from Kentucky, was killed by the Kickapoo Rangers. His wife is now in an insane hospital. Her husband's body was brutally hacked by the ruffians, and tobacco juice was ejected in his face as he lay writhing on the ground. They carried the body of the still gasping man to the house of his wife. As she wept piteously over it, one of the ruffians insulted her.
G. W. Brown had his press--the "Herald of Freedom"--destroyed by a mob from Missouri, who were acting in the capacity of posse comitatus. He himself was arrested and imprisoned in the camp before Lecompton, on the charge of high treason.
There is another Brown, a peaceable gentleman, who lives at Osawattie, and whose property has been repeatedly destroyed by the invaders of Kansas. He was a member of the Topeka Constitutional Convention. He took no part in the wars, but brought out some colonies of settlers from New York.
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On the night here mentioned, John Brown, with twenty one men, took possession of the United States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Va., and held it against the forces of Maryland and Virginia, until Tuesday morning, when it was stormed by United States marines. His object was not quite clear; it is said that he made his first appearance in Harper's Ferry more than a year ago, accompanied by his two sons--all three of them assuming the name of Smith. He inquired about land in the vicinity, and made investigations as to the probability of finding ores there, and for some time boarded at Sandy Point, a mile east of the Ferry. After an absence of some months the elder Brown reappeared in the vicinity and rented or leased a farm on the Maryland side, about four miles from the Ferry. They bought a large number of picks and spades, and this confirmed the belief that they intended to mine for ores. They were frequently seen in and about Harper's Ferry, but no suspicion seems to hare existed that "Bill Smith" was Capt. Brown, or that he intended embarking in any movement so desperate or extraordinary.
Brown's chief aid was John E. Cook; a comparatively young man, who has resided in and near the Ferry some years. He was first employed in tending locks on the canal, and afterward taught school on the Maryland side of the river; and after a brief residence in Kansas, where, it is supposed, he became acquainted with Brown, returned to the Ferry and married there. These two men, with Brown's two sons, were the only white men connected with the insurrection that had been seen about the Ferry. All the rest were brought by Brown from a distance, and nearly all had been with him in Kansas. The whole party numbered seventeen white men and five negroes. Among them were Edwin Coppie, white, and Shields Green, colored, from Iowa, who were unhurt; Aaron Stephens, from Connecticut, Stuart Taylor and J. C. Anderson, a fine looking man with a flowing white beard Anderson was for some time supposed to be the leader of the insurrection. He made his appearance at the Ferry the first of the week, with a very heavy trunk Watson Brown son of old Brown, leaves a wife in Essex County, New York
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Elbert Haslett, who was killed, had in his pocket an empty pocket-book and a lock et woman's hair. Lewis Leary, a negro, said before he died that he enlisted with Capt. Brown for the insurrection at a fair held in Lorraine County, Ohio, and received the money to pay his expenses. They all came down to Chambersburg, Pa., and from there they travelled across the country to Brown's farm.
The first active movement in the insurrection was made at about nail past ten o'clock on Sunday night. William Williamson, the watchman at Harper's Ferry bridge, while walking across toward the Maryland side, was seined by a number of men who said he was their prisoner, and must come with them. He recognized Brown and Cook among the men, and knowing them treated the matter as a joke; but enforcing silence, they conducted him to the Armory, which he found already in their possession. He was detained till after daylight, and then discharged. The watchman who was to relieve Williamson at midnight found the bridge lights all out, and was immediately seized. Supposing it an attempt at robbery, he broke away, and his pursuers stumbling over him, he escaped.
The next appearance of the insurrectionists was at the house of Colonel Lewis Washington, a large farmer and slave-owner, living about four miles from the Ferry. A party, headed by Cook, proceeded there, and rousing Colonel Washington, told him he was their prisoner. They also seized all the slaves near the house, took a carriage horse, and a large wagon with two horses. When Colonel Washington saw Cook he immediately recognized him as the man who had called upon him some months previous, to whom he had exhibited some valuable arms in his possession, including an antique sword presented by Frederick the Great to George Washington, and a pair of pistols presented by Lafayette to Washington, both being heirlooms in the family. Before leaving, Cook wanted Colonel Washington to engage in a trial of skill at shooting, and exhibited considerable skill as a marksman. When he made the visit on Sunday night he alluded to his previous visit, and the courtesy with which he had been treated, and regretted the necessity which made it his duty to arrest Colonel Washington. He, however, took advantage of the knowledge he had obtained by his former visit to carry off the valuable arms. which the Colonel did not reobtain till after the final defeat of the insurrection.
From Colonel Washington's he proceeded with him as a prisoner in the carriage, and twelve of his negroes in the wagon, to the house of Mr. Allstadt, another large farmer, on the same road. Mr. Allstadt and his son, a lad of sixteen, were taken prisoners, and all their negroes within reach forced to join the movement. He then returned to the Armory at the Ferry.
At the upper end of the town the mail train arrived at the usual hour, when a colored man, who acted as assistant to the baggage-master, was shot, receiving a
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mortal wound, and the conductor, Mr. Phelps, was threatened with violence if he attempted to proceed with the train. Feeling uncertain as to the condition of affairs, the conductor waited until after dayilght before he ventured to proceed, thus delaying the train six hours.
Luther Simpson, baggage-master of the mail-train, gives the following particulars: I walked up the bridge; was stopped, but was afterward permitted to go up and see the captain of the insurrectionists; I was taken to the Armory, and saw the captain, whose name is Bill Smith; I was kept prisoner for more than an hour, and saw from five to six hundred negroes, having arms: there were two or three hundred white men with them; all the houses were closed. I went into a tavern kept by Mr. Chambers; thirty of the inhabitants were collected there with arms. They said most of the inhabitants had left, but they declined, preferring to protect themselves. It was reported that five or six persons had been shot.
Mr. Simpson was escorted back over the bridge by six negroes.
It was not till the town thoroughly waked up, and found the bridge guarded by armed men, and guards stationed at all the avenues, that the people saw that they were prisoners. A panic appears to have immediately ensued, and the number of insurrectionists was at once largely magnified. In the mean time a number of workmen, not knowing anything of what had occurred, entered the Armory, and were successively taken prisoners, until at one time they had not less than sixty men confined in the Armory. These were imprisoned in the engine-house, which afterward became the chief fortress of the insurgents, and were not released until after the final assault. The workmen were imprisoned in a large building further down the yard.
A colored man, named Hayward, a railroad porter, was shot early in the morning, it is said for refusing to join in the movement.
The next man shot was Joseph Boerley, a citizen of Perry. He was standing in his own door. The insurrectionists by this time, finding a disposition to resist them, had nearly all withdrawn within the Armory grounds, leaving only a guard on the bridge.
About this time, also, Samuel P. Young, was shot. He was coming into town on horseback, carrying a gun, when he was fired at from the Armory, receiving a wound of which he died during the day. He was a graduate of West Point.
At about noon, the Charlestown troops, under command of Colonel Robert W Baylor, crossed the Susquehanna River some distance up, and marched down the Maryland side to the mouth of the bridge. Firing a volley, they made a gallant dash across the bridge, clearing it of the insurrectionists, who retreated rapidly
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down toward the Armory. In this movement of the insurrectionists a man named William Thompson was taken prisoner.
An eye-witness describes the first fighting as follows:
"The first attack was made by a detachment of the Charlestown Guards, which crossed the Potomac River above Harper's Ferry, and reached a building where the insurgents were posted by the canal, on the Maryland side. Smart firing occurred, and the rioters were driven from the bridge. One man was killed here, and another was arrested. A man ran out, and tried to escape by swimming the river; a dozen shots were fired after him; he partially fell, but rose again, threw his gun away, and drew his pistols, but both snapped; he drew his bowie-knife and cut his heavy accoutrements off, and plunged into the river; one of the soldiers was about ten feet behind; the mall turned round, threw up his hands, and said, "Don't shoot!" The soldier fired, and the man fell into the water, with his face blown away. His coat-skirts were cut from his person, and in the pockets was found a captain's commission, to Capt. E. H. Leeman, from the Provisional Government. The commission was dated Oct. 15, 1859, and signed by A. W. Brown, Commander-in-Chief of the army of the Provisional Government of the United States. A party of five of the insurrectionists, armed with Minié rifles and posted in the rifle Armory, were expelled by the Charlestown Guards. They all ran for the river, and one, who was unable to swim, was drowned. The other four swam out to the rocks in the middle of the Shenandoah, and fired upon the citizens and troops upon both banks. This drew upon them the muskets of between 200 and 300 men, and not less than 400 shots were fired at them from Harper's Ferry, about 200 yards distant. One was finally shot dead; the second, a negro, attempted to jump over the dam, but fell shot, and was not seen afterward; the third was badly wounded, and the remaining one was taken unharmed. The white insurgent, wounded and captured, died in a few moments after, in the arms of our informant; he was shot through the breast and stomach. He declared that there were only nineteen whites engaged in the insurrection. For nearly an hour a running and random firing was kept up by the troops against the rioters. Several were shot down, and many managed to limp away wounded, During the firing the women and children ran shrieking in every direction, but when they learned that the soldiers were their protectors they took courage, and did good service in the way of preparing refreshments and attending the wounded. Our informant, who was on the hill where the firing was going on, says all the terrible scenes of a battle passed in reality before his eyes. Soldiers could be seen pursuing, singly and in couples, and the crack of a musket or rifle was generally followed by one or more of the insurgents biting the dust. The dead lay in the streets where they fell. The wounded were cared for.
The Shepherdstown troops next arrived, marching down the Shenandoah side, and joining the Charlestown forces at the bridge. A desultory exchange of shots followed, one of which struck Mr. Fontaine Beckham, mayor of the town, and agent of the railroad company, entering his breast and passing entirely through his body. The ball was a large elongated slug, and made a dreadful wound. Mr. Beckham died a most immediately. He was without fire-arms, and was exposed for
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only a moment while approaching a water-station. His assailant, one of Brown's sons, was shot almost immediately, but managed to get back to the engine-house, where his body was found next day.
The death of Mr. Beckham greatly excited the populace, who immediately raised a cry to bring out the prisoner, Thompson. He was brought out on the bridge, and there shot down. He fell into the water, and some appearance of life still remaining, he was riddled with balls.
While this was going on, the Martinsburg levies arrived at the upper end of the town, and entering the Armory grounds by the rear, made an attack from that side. This force was largely composed of railroad employees, gathered from the tonnage trains at Martinsburg, and their attack was generally spoken of as showing the greatest amount of fighting pluck exhibited during the day. Dashing on, firing and cheering, and led by Captain Alburtis, they carried the building in which the Armory men were imprisoned, and released the whole of them. They were, however but poorly armed, some with pistols and others with shot-guns; and when they came within range of the engine-house, where the élite of the insurrectionists were gathered, and were exposed to the rapid and dexterous use of Sharpe's rifles, they were forced to fall back, suffering pretty severely. Conductor Evans Dorsey, of Baltimore, was killed instantly, and Conductor George Richardson received a wound from which he died during the day. Several others were wounded, among them a son of Dr. Hammond of Martinsburg.
A guerrilla warfare was maintained during the rest of the day, resulting in the killing of two of the insurrectionists and the wounding of a third. One crawled out through a culvert leading into the Potomac, and attempted to cross to the Maryland side. He was shot while crossing the river, and fell dead on the rocks. A light mulatto was shot just outside the Armory gate. The ball went through the throat, tearing away the principal arteries, and killing him instantly. His name is not known, but he is one of the free negroes who came with Brown. His body was left in the street until noon yesterday, exposed to every indignity that could be heaped upon it by the excited populace.
At this time a tall, powerful man, named Aaron Stephens, came out from the armory, conducting some prisoners, it was said. He was twice shot--once in the side, once in the breast. He was then captured and taken to a tavern, and after the insurrection was quelled was turned over to the United States authorities in a precarious condition. Daring the afternoon a sharp little affair took place on the Shenandoah side of the town. The insurrectionists had also seized Hall's rifle works, and a party of their assailants found their way in through a mill-race and dislodged them.
In this encounter, it was said, three insurrectionists were killed, but only one dead body was found, that of a negro, on that side of the town. Night by this
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time set in, and operations ceased. Guards were placed around the Armory, and every precaution taken to prevent escapes.
At 11 o'clock the Monday night train, with Baltimore military and marines, arrived at Sandy Hook, where they waited for the arrival of Colonel Lee, deputized by the War Department to take the command. The night passed without any serious alarms, but not without excitement. The marines were marched over immediately after their arrival, when Colonel Lee stationed them within the Armory grounds, so as to completely surround the engine-house. Occasionally shots were fired by country volunteers, but what for was not ascertained. There was only one return fire from the insurgents.
Early next morning a door was opened in the building occupied by the insurgents, and one of the men came out with a flag of trace, and delivered what was supposed to be terms of capitulation. The continued preparations for assault showed they were ant accepted. Shortly after 7 o'clock, Lieutenant E. B. Stuart, of the 1st Cavalry, who was acting as aid for Colonel Lee, advanced to parley with the besieged, Samuel Strider, Esq., old and respectable citizen, bearing a flag of truce. They were received at the door by Capt. Cook. Lieutenant Stuart demanded an unconditional surrender, only promising them protection from immediate violence and a trial by law. Captain Brown refused all terms but those previously demanded, which were substantially, "That they should be permitted to march out with their men and arms, taking their prisoners with them; that they should proceed unpursued to the second toll-gate, when they would free their prisoners; the soldiers would then be permitted to pursue them, and they would fight if they could not escape." Of course, this was refused, and Lieutenant Stuart pressed upon Brown his desperate position, and urged a surrender. The expostulation, though beyond ear-shot, was evidently very earnest. At this moment the interest of the scene was moat intense. The volunteers were ranged all around the building, cutting off escape in every direction. The marines, divided in two squads, were ready for a dash at the door.
Finally, Lieutenant Stuart, having failed to arrange terms with the determined Captain Brown, walked slowly from the door.
Immediately the signal for attack was given, and the marines, headed by Colonel Harris and Lieutenant Green, advanced in two lines on each side of the door. Two powerful fellows sprung between the lines, and with heavy sledge-hammers attempted to batter down the door. The door swung and swayed, but appeared to be secured with a rope, the spring of which deadened the effect of the blows Failing thus, they took hold of a ladder, some forty feet long, and advancing at a run, brought it with tremendous effect against the door. At the second blow it
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gave way, one leaf falling inward in a slanting position. The marines immediately advanced to the breach, Major Russell and Lieutenant Green leading. A marine in front fell.
The firing from the interior was rapid and sharp. They fired with deliberate aim, and for a moment the resistance was serious, and desperate enough to excite the spectators to something like a pitch of frenzy. The next moment the marines poured in, the firing ceased, and the work was done; in the assault private Ruffert of the marines received a ball in the stomach, and was believed to be fatally wounded. Another received a slight flesh wound.
When the insurgents were brought out, some dead and others wounded, they were greeted with execrations, and only the precautions that had been taken, saved them from immediate execution. The crowd, nearly every man of which carried a gun, swayed with tumultuous excitement, and cries of "Shoot them! shoot them!" rang from every side. The appearance of the liberated prisoners, all of whom, through the steadiness of the marines, escaped injury, changed the current of feeling, and prolonged cheers took the place of howls and execrations.
The lawn in front of the engine-house, after the assault presented a dreadful sight. Lying on it were two bodies of men killed on the previous day, and found inside the house; three wounded men, one of them just at the last gasp of life, and two others groaning in pain. One of the dead was Brown's son, Oliver. The wounded father and his son Watson, were lying on the grass, the old than presenting a gory spectacle. He had a severe bayonet wound in his side, and his face and hair were clotted with blood.
A short time after Captain Brown was brought out he revived and talked earnestly to those about him, defending his course and avowing that he had done only what was right. He replied to questions substantially as follows: "Are you Captain Brown, of Kansas?" "I am sometimes called so." "Are you Ossawatomie Brown?" "I tried to do my duty there," "What was your present object?" "To free the slates from bondage." "Were any other persons but those with you now, connected with the movement?" "No." "Did you expect aid from the North?" "No; there was no one connoted with the movement but those who came with me." "Did you expect to kill people in order to carry your point?" "I did not wish to do so, but you force us to it." Various questions of this kind were put to Captain Brown, which he answered clearly and freely, with seeming anxiety to vindicate himself.
He urged that he had the town at his mercy; that he could have burned it and murdered the inhabitants, but did not; he had treated the prisoners with courtesy, and complained that he was hunted down like a beast. He spoke of the killing of his son, which he alleged was done while bearing a flag of truce, and
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seemed very anxious for the safety of his wounded son. His conversation bore the impression of the conviction that whatever he had done to free slaves was right, and that in the warfare in which he was engaged he was entitled to be treated with all the respect of a prisoner of war.
He seemed fully convinced that he was badly treated, and had a right to complain. Although at first considered dying, an examination of his wounds proved that they were not necessarily fatal. He expressed a desire to live and to be tried by his country. In his pockets nearly $300 were found in gold. Several important papers, found in his possession, were taken charge of by Col. Lee, on behalf of the Government. To another, Brown said it was no part of his purpose to seize the public arms. He had arms and ammunition enough reshipped from Kansas. He only intended to make the first demonstration at this point, when he expected to receive a rapid increase of the allies from Abolitionists everywhere settled through Maryland and Virginia, sufficient to take possession of both States, with all of the negroes they could capture. He did not expect to encounter the Federal troops. He had only a general idea as to his course; it was to be a general southwest course through Virginia, varying as circumstances dictated or required. Mr. Washington reports that Brown was remarkably cool during the assault. He fell under two bayonet wounds--one in the groin, and one in the breast, and four sabre cuts on the head. During the fight he was supposed to be dead, or doubtless he would have been shot. He was not touched by a ball. The prisoners also state that Brown was courteous to them, and did not ill-use them, and made no abolition speech to them. Coppie, one of the prisoners, said he did not want to join the expedition, but added: "Ah, you gentlemen don't know Capt. Brown; when he calls for us we never think of refusing to come."
During Tuesday morning, one of Washington's negroes came in and reported that Captain Cook was on the mountain, only three miles off; about the same time some shots were said to have been fired from the Maryland hills, and a rapid fusilade was returned from Harper's Ferry. The Independent Grays, of Baltimore, immediately started on a scouting expedition, and in two hours returned with two wagons loaded with arms and ammunition, found at Captain Brown's house.
The arms consisted of boxes filled with Sharpe's rifles, pistols, etc., all bearing the stamp of the Massachusetts Manufacturing Company, Chicopee, Mass. There were also found a quantity of United States ammunition, a large number of spears, sharp iron bowie knives fixed upon poles, a terrible looking weapon, intended for the use of the negroes, with spades, pickaxes, shovels, and everything else that might be needed: thus proving that the expedition was well provided for, that a large party of men were expected to be armed, and that abundant means had been provided to pay all expenses.
How all these supplies were got up to this farm without attracting observation is very strange. They are supposed to have been brought through Pennsylvania.
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The Grays pursued Cook so fast that they secured part of his arms, but with his more perfect knowledge of localities he was enabled to evade them.
The citizens imprisoned by the insurrectionists all testify to their lenient treatment. They were neither tied nor insulted, and beyond the outrage of restricting their liberty were not ill-used. Captain Brown was always courteous to them, and at all times assured them that they would not be injured. He explained his purposes to them, and while he had them (the workmen) in confinement, made no abolition speech to them. Colonel Washington speaks of him as a man of extraordinary nerve. He never blanched during the assault, though he admitted in the night that escape was impossible, and that he would have to die. When the door was broken down, one of his men exclaimed, "I surrender," The captain immediately cried out, "There's one surrenders--give him quarter;" and at the same moment fired his own rifle at the door.
During the previous night he spoke freely with Colonel Washington, and referred to his sons. He said he had lost one in Kansas and two here. He had not pressed them to join him in the expedition, but did not regret their loss--they had died in a glorious cause.
On the 18th, a detachment of marines and some volunteers made a visit to Brown i house. They found a large quantity of blankets, boots, shoes, clothes, tents, and fifteen hundred pikes, with large blades. They also discovered a carpetbag, containing documents throwing much light on the affair, printed constitutions and by-laws of an organization, showing or indicating ramifications in various States of the Union. They also found letters from various individuals at the North--one from Fred Douglass, containing ten dollars from a lady for the cause; also a letter from Gerrit Smith, about money matters, and a check or draft by him for $100, indorsed by the cashier of a New York bank, name not recollected. All these were taker by Governor Wise. The Governor issued a proclamation offering $1,000 reward for Cook.
The names of all the parties engaged on Sunday night, except three white men whom he admits he sent away on an errand, are as follows, with their proper titles under the Provisional Government:
The insurrectionists did not attempt to rob the paymaster's department at the Armory. A large amount of money was there, but it was not disturbed.
Perfect order having been restored, the military, with the exception of the United States marines, who remained in charge of the prisoners, left on Tuesday in various trains for home.
The prisoners were taken to Charlestown jail for safe keeping.
For two or three days the country in the vicinity of the outbreak was in constant excitement, and the wildest rumors were rife of the terrible doings of Cook and other more imaginary insurgents; but the stories all proved false, and before the dawn of the Sabbath, all was quiet.
The whole number of killed and wounded was counted up as follows:--Killed, six citizens and fifteen insurgents; wounded, three insurgents; prisoners, five
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Col. John A. Washington, a distant relative of George Washington, and who was token prisoner by Capt. Brown, makes the following interesting statement:
Between one and two o'clock on Sunday night, I was in my bed at my house, five or six miles from Harper's Ferry; I was awakened by hearing my name called in the hall; I supposed it was some friends arrived, who, being acquainted with the house, had come in through the kitchen without making any noise; I got up and opened the door into the hall, and before me stood four men, three armed with Sharpe's rifles, levelled and cocked, and the fourth--this man Stephens--with a revolver in his right hand, and in his left a sighted flambeau, made of pine whittlings. As I opened the door, one of the men said: "Is your name Washington?" Said I, "That is my name." Perhaps also Cook, who was of the crowd, also identified me, as he told me afterward he was taken there for that purpose. I was then told that I was a prisoner, and one of them said, "Don't be frightened." I replied, "Do you see anything that looks like fright about me?" "No," he said, "I only want to say, that if you surrender and come with us freely, you are safe." I told them I understood that sufficiently, and there was no necessity for further explanation; but I was struck with the number of men sent against me, and asked what need there was of so many, as there was no danger of an unarmed man in his night-shirt resisting an armed fores. I was told to put on ray clothes, and of course complied. "Perhaps," said I, "while I am dressing, you well be so good as to tell me what all this means?" I inquired what the weather was outside, and one of them advised me to put on an overcoat, as it was rather chilly. Another said they wanted my arms, and I opened the gun-closet for them to help themselves. They then explained their mission, which they represented to be purely philanthropic, to wit, the emancipation of all the slaves in the country. After I was dressed, Stephens said to me, "Have you got any money?" I replied, "I wish I bad a great deal." "Be careful, sir," said he. I told him if I had money I knew how to take care of it, and he could not get it. Said he, "Have you a watch?" My reply was, "I have, but you cannot have it. You have set yourselves up as great moralists and liberators of slaves; now it appears that yon are robbers as well." "Be careful, sir," said he again. I told them I was dressed and ready to go. They bade me to wait s short time and my carriage would be at the door. They had ordered my carriage for me, and pryed open the stable-door to get it out. They had harnessed the horses on the wrong side of each other, and I tried to induce them to correct the mistake, which they did after driving a short distance, but still, being harnessed wrong, and rather spirited animals, they would not work well.
My servant, whom they had forced along, was driving. I suspected they were only robbers, and was expecting all along that they would turn off at some point, but they drove directly to the armory. Brown came out and invited me in, saying there was a comfortable fire, and I shortly afterward met with Mr. Allstadt, whom they had arrested on the way and brought along in my buggy wagon. While coming along, the horses being restive, I got out and walked up a hill with one of the men, who took occasion to ask my views on the subject of Slavery in the abstract. I declined an argument on the subject, but he still pressed it upon me, and I was obliged to refuse the second time.
Brown told us to make ourselves comfortable, and added, "By and by I shall require each of you, gentlemen, to write to some of your friends to send a stout negro man in your place." This was by way of ransom. He told us he must see the letter before it was sent, and he thought after this was effected they could make an arrangement by which we could return home. I determined in my own wind pot to make the requisition
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but he never made application for it, having other matters, before the day expired attracting his attention.
My sword, which had been presented by Frederick the Great to General Washington, was taken from my house, with other arms. This man Cook had been at my house some rims before and seen the arms, and at that time I beat him at shooting, and he told me I was the best shot he had ever met. On the way to Harper's Ferry he asked me if I had shot any since, and made an apology for being with this party after being so well treated by me. I told him it was of no consequence about the apology, but I would ask one favor of him, which was to use his influence to have returned to me the old sword and an old pistol, which, in the present improved state of arms, were only valuable in consideration of their history. He promised to attend to it, and shortly after reaching the armory I found the sword in Old Brown's hands. Said Brown, "I will take especial care of it, and I shall endeavor to return it to you after you are released." He carried the sword in his hands all day on Monday, until after the arrival of the military.
Upon the first announcement of the arrival of the militia, Brown came into the room and picked out ten of us, whom he supposed to be the most prominent men. He told us we might be assured of good treatment, because, in case he got the worst of it in the fight, the possession of us would be of service in procuring good terms; we could exercise great influence with our fellow-citizens; and as for me, he knew if I was out I should do my duty, and, in my position as aid to the Governor I should be a most dangerous foe. Then we were taken into the engine-house and closely confined. Two of our number went backward and forward repeatedly to confer with citizens during the negotiations, and finally remained out altogether, leaving the eight who were inside when the building was assaulted and captured by the marines. During Monday various terms of capitulation were proposed and refused, and at night we requested our friends to cease firing during the night, as, if the place should be stormed in the dark, friends and foes would have to hare alike. In the morning Capt. Simms, of Frederick, announced the arrival of the United States Marines. During the night he had brought in Dr. Taylor, of Frederick, to look at the wounds of old Brown's son. The surgeon looked at the man, and promised to attend him again in the morning if practicable, but about the time he was expected hostilities had commenced.
Col. Lee, who commanded the United States forces, sent up Lieut. Stuart to announce to Brown that the only terms he would offer for surrender were, that he and his men should be taken to a place of safety and kept unmolested until the will of the President could be ascertained. Brown's reply was to the effect that he could expect no leniency, and he would sell his life as dearly as possible. A few minutes later the place was assaulted and taken. In justice to Brown, I will say that he advised the prisoners to keep well under shelter during the firing, and at no time did he threaten to massacre us or place us in front in case of assault. It was evident he did not expect the attack so soon. There was no cry of "surrender" by his party except from one young man, and then Brown said, "Only one surrenders." This fellow, after he saw the marines, said he would prefer to take his chance of a trial at Washington. He had taken his position, and fired one or two shots, when he cried "surrender." There were four of Brown's party able to fight when the marines attacked, besides a negro, making five in all. This negro was very bold at first, but when the assault was made, he took off his accoutrements, and tried to mingle with the prisoners, and pass himself off as one of them. I handed him over to the marines at once, saying he was a prisoner at all events.
Col. Robert W. Baylor, the officer in command of the Virginia troops engaged in the capture of Brown and his men, made the following official report to Governor Wise:
Harper's Ferry, Oct. 18, 1859.
Henry A. Wise, Governor of Virginia:
Sir--Your order, per telegraph, dated Richmond, Va., the 17th instant, calling my attention to section 1st, chapter 29th, of the Code, and to the fact that the Arsenal and government property at Harper's Ferry were in possession of a band of rioters, was not received till about 11 o'clock A.M. to-day, in consequence of the telegraphic posts round about here having been cut down by an audacious band of insurgents and robbers.
On the morning of the 17th inst., I received information at Charlestown that a band of abolitionists from the North had taken possession of the Arsenal and workshops of the
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government located here; that they had killed several of our citizens, taken others and held them as prisoners, and that they had in possession a large number of slave, who, on the night of the 16th inst., were forcibly taken from their masters.
I immediately ordered out the "Jefferson Guard" and the citizens of Charlestown, which order was quickly responded to, and by ten o'clock A.M. they were armed and en route for this place. We left Charlestown with about one hundred men, and on reaching Halltown (midway between Charlestown and Harper's Ferry), we learned that the insurgents were in large numbers, and we at once dispatched orders to Col. L. F., Moore, of Frederick County, and to the "Hamtramck Guards" and "Shepherdstown Troop" to reinforce immediately We reached Harper's Ferry about halt-past eleven o'clock, A.M., and took our position on Camp Hill. We immediately dispatched the "Jefferson Guards," commanded by Capt. J. W. Rowan and Lieutenants H. B. Davenport, E. H. Campbell and W. B. Gallaher, to cross the Potomac River about a mile west of the Ferry, and march down on the Maryland side and take possession of the Potomac bridge; and a company of the citizens of Charlestown and vicinity, commanded by Capt. L. Botts and Lieut. F. Lackland, to cross the Winchester and Potomac railroad by way of Jefferson's Rock, to take possession of the Gait House, in the rear of the Arsenal, and commanding the entrance to the Armory yard. Capt. John Avis and R. B. Washington, Esq., with a handful of men, were ordered to take possession of the houses commanding the yard of the Arsenal. All these orders were promptly and successfully executed.
The bridge across the Shenandoah River and that of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, at the west end of the trestle work, and the street leading from the rifle factory, were guarded by small detachments of men.
Between three and four o'clock P.M., the Hamtramck Guards, Shepherstown Troop, and a company from Martinsburg, commanded by Capt. E. Alburtis, arrived on the ground. The company from Winchester, commanded by Capt. R. B. Washington, did not arrive till late in the evening.
All the insurgents, save those who were killed and wounded through the day, retired with their prisoners into the guard-house and engine-room, just inside of the gate of the armory yard, which was firmly locked. About three o'clock P.M., the enemy, with the most prominent of their prisoners, concentrated in the engine-room, leaving a large number of their prisoners fastened up in the guard-house. At this point, and after the arrival of the reinforcements from Shepherdstown and Martinsburg, Col. R. W. Baylor assumed the command, and will furnish you with the details of what followed.
The avowed and confessed object of the insurgents was to free the slaves of the South. They had at their head-quarters, near Harper's Ferry, 200 Sharpe's rifles, 200 revolvers, 1,000 pikes, a large number of picks and shovels, and a great quantity of ammunition and other things used in war. All these were taken and are in possession of the federal government.
Jno. Thos. Gibson,
Com'dt 55th Regiment.
Charlestown, Oct. 22, 1859.
Hon. Henry A. Wise, Governor of Virginia:
Sir--Having received intelligence from Harper's Ferry on the morning of the 17th instant that the abolitionists had invaded our State, taken possession of the town, government property and arms, I immediately proceeded to the scene of action. In passing through Charlestown, I met Colonel Gibson, with the Jefferson Guards, under arms. We proceeded to Halltown in the cars, where the citizens of that place informed me I could proceed no further with the train, as not only the Winchester but also the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad track had been taken up. At this place I learned they had taken seventy-five or one hundred of our citizens prisoners, and had carried off many of our slaves. Thereupon I issued the following order to Col. L. T. Moore, of the Thirty-first regiment of Virginia militia:
"October 17, 1859.
"Col. L. T. Moore: Sir--You am ordered to muster all the volunteer forces under your command, fully armed and equipped, and report to me forthwith at Harper's Ferry.
"Robert W. Baylor,
"Col. Third regiment Cavalry."
I placed the above order in charge of Capt. Bailey, the conductor on the Winchester road and directed him to return with his train to Winchester, and deliver the order to
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Col. Moore. I proceeded on, with the few troops we had under arms, on foot to Harper's Ferry, where we arrived about 12 o'clock. I found the citizens in very great excitement. By this time the insurgents occupied all the lower part of the town, had their sentinels posted on all the different streets, and had shot one of our citizens and a negro man who had charge of the depot on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. I here formed two companies of the citizens, and placed them under the command of Captain Lawson Botts and Captain John Avis. Their forces were variously estimated from 300 to 500 strong, armed with Sharpe's rifles and revolvers
I detached the Jefferson Guards, under the command of Capt. Rowan, and ordered them to cross the Potomac River in boats, about two miles above Harper. Ferry, and march down on the Maryland side, and take possession of the bridge, and permit no one to pass. This order was strictly executed. The command under Capt. Botts was ordered to pass down the hill below Jefferson's Rock and take possession of the Shenandcah bridge, to leave a strong guard at that point, and to march down to the Galt House, in rear of the Arsenal building, in which we supposed their men were lodged. Captain Avis' command was ordered to take possession of the houses directly in front of the Arsenal. Both of the above commands were promptly executed. By this movement we prevented any escape. Shortly after this, a report reached me that Geo. W. Turner and Fontaine Beckham, two of our most esteemed citizens, had been shot. About four o'clock we were reinforced by the arrival of the Hamtramck Guards, under the command of Captain Butler; the Shepherdstown Troop, under the command of Captain Reinhart, and some thirty citizens of Martinsburg, under the command of Captain Alburtis. I ordered Captain Alburtis to march down Potomac street through the Armory yard to the Arsenal. The Hamtramek Guards and the Shepherdstown Troop (dismounted and armed with muskets), under my command, proceed down High street to the centre of the town, in front of the Arsenal. During this march, the insurgents, having secreted themselves in the engine-house in the Armory yard, opened a brisk fire on Captain Alburtis' company. The fire was quickly returned by Captain Alburtis' company, who behaved very bravely. The different companies near at hand rallied to Captain Alburtis' rescue.
The firing at this time was heavy, and the insurgents could not have retained their position many minutes, when they presented at the door a white flag. The firing thereupon ceased, and I ordered the troops to draw up in line in front of the Arsenal. During this engagement and the previous skirmishes, we had ten men wounded, two I fear mortally. The insurgents had eleven killed, one mortally wounded, and two taken prisoners, leaving only five in the engine-house, and one of them seriously wounded.
In this engagement, we rescued about thirty of our citizens, whom they held as prisoners in the guard-house; they still held in the engine-house, ten citizens and five slaves.
Immediately after the troops were withdrawn, Capt. Brown sent to me, through Isaac Russell, one of their prisoners, a verbal communication, stating if I would permit him to cross the bridge with his prisoners to some point beyond he would set them at liberty. I sent him the following reply in writing:
"Headquarters, Harper's Ferry.
"Capt. John Brown:
"Sir--Upon consultation with Mr. Isaac Russell, one of your prisoners, who has come to me on terms of capitulation, I say to you, if you will set at liberty our citizens, we will leave the government to deal with you concerning their property as it may think most advisable.
"Robert W. Baylor,
"Col. Commandant."
In reply, I received the following answer in writing:
"Capt. John Brown, answers:
"In consideration of all my men, whether living or dead, or wounded, being soon safely in, and delivered up to me at this point, with all their arms and ammunition, we will then take our prisoners and cross the Potomac bridge, a little beyond which we will set them at liberty; after which we can negotiate about the government property as may be best. Also, we require the delivery of our horse and harness at the hotel.
"John Brown."
To the above, I returned the following answer
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"Headquarters.
"Capt. John Brown:
"Sir--The terms you proposed I cannot accept. Under no consideration will I consent to a removal of our citizens across the river. The only negotiations upon which I will consent to treat are those which have been previously proposed to you.
"Robert W. Baylor,
"Col. Commandant."
These terms he declined. Night by this time had set in, and the weather being very inclement, I thought it best, for the safety of our citizens whom they held as prisoners, to cease operations for the night. Should I have ordered an attack at that hour, and in total darkness, our troops would have been as likely to have murdered our own citizens as the insurgents, all being in the same apartment. Having concluded to postpone another attack until morning, guards were posted around the Armory, and every precaution taken to prevent escape. Our troops by this time required some refreshment, having been on active duty and exposed to a heavy fall of rain all day. A little after night we were reinforced by Colonel L. T. Moore, of the Thirty-first regiment, having raider his command the Continental Guards, commanded by Captain Washington, and the Rifles, commanded by Captain Clarke; also, three companies from Frederick, Maryland, under the command of Colonel Shiver. About twelve o'clock, Colonel Lee arrived, haying under his command eighty-five marines from Washington. The government troops took possession of the government property and formed inside of the Armory yard, in close proximity to the engine-house. In this position Colonel Lee thought it best to remain until morning. The night passed without serious alarm, but not without intense excitement. It was agreed between Colonel Lee and myself-that the volunteer threes should form around on the outside of the government property, and clear the streets of all citizens and spectators, to prevent them firing random shots, to the great danger of our soldiers, and to remain in that position whilst he would attack the engine-house with his marines. As soon as day dawned, the troops were drawn up in accordance with the above arrangement. After which Colonel Lee demanded of the insurgents to surrender upon the terms I had before proposed to them, which they still declined. The marines were then ordered to force the doors. The attempt was made with heavy sledges, but proved ineffectual. They were then ordered to attack the doors with a heavy ladder which was lying a short distance off. After two powerful efforts, the door was shattered sufficiently to obtain an entrance. Immediately a heavy volley was fired in by the marines, and an entrance effected, which soon terminated the conflict. In this engagement, the marines had one killed and one slightly wounded. The insurgents had two killed and three taken prisoners. After the firing ceased, the imprisoned citizens walked out unhurt.
Ascertaining that the whole party within the town were either killed or taken prisoners, I disbanded all the troops, with the exception of the Jefferson Guard, whom I retained on duty to prevent any further disturbances should they arise.
About twelve o'clock on Tuesday, information having been received that a large number of arms were secreted in a house in the mountain, the Independent Grays, of Baltimore, were dispatched to search for them. They returned about six o'clock, having found two hundred Sharpe's rifles, two hundred revolvers, twenty-three thousand permission caps, one hundred thousand percussion pistol caps, ten kegs of gunpowder, thirteen thousand ball cartridges for Sharpe's rifles, one major-general's sword, fifteen hundred pikes, and a largo assortment of blankets and clothing of every description. On Wednesday the prisoners were placed in the custody of the sheriff of our county, and safely lodged in jail. Disturbances still occurring on the Maryland side of the riser, I marched the Jefferson Guard over and made a thorough examination of their rendezvous; found it deserted and everything quiet. We returned about six o'clock to the Ferry; shortly after there was another general alarm, which caused great excitement.
The alarm was occasioned by a gentleman, residing in Pleasant Valley, riding into town great haste, stating that he saw firing and heard the screams of the people, and that a large number of insurgents had collected and were murdering all before them. Forth with Col. Lee, with thirty marines, proceeded to the spot, and the Jefferson Guards took possession of the bridge. In about throe hours CoL Lee returned, the alarm having proved to have been false.
Nothing further having occurred during the night to disturb the quiet of the town on the following morning I disbanded the company and returned home.
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I feel it my duty, before closing this report, to state that the arms in the possession of the volunteer companies in this section of the State are almost worthless. I do not think we have 100 muskets in tits county of Jefferson, a border county, and one of the most exposed of all others. With such arms as we have, it is butchery to require our troops to face an enemy much better equipped. Colonel Moore, of the Thirty-first regiment, informs me in his report, that, out of one hundred and thirty-five men on duty, he had not thirty pieces that would fire with any effect. If the State expects her volunteers to protect her, she most arm them better.
Knowing the great interest that will be felt throughout the State, and to vindicate tits honor and valor of the troops under my command, I have been more than necessarily minute in this report. I am pleased to inform you, that they obeyed every order with alacrity, and with a full determination to do their duty.
The prisoners are doing well, and I do not fear any attempt will be made to rescue them, or that any farther disturbances will occur.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully,
Robert W. Baylor.
Col. Commanding the Va. Troops at Harper's Ferry.
One of that ubiquitous class of persevering inquirers known as Reporters visited Harper's Ferry on the 18th and 19th of October, and was present at an interview between Senator Mason, Congressman Vallandigham, and the prisoner, Brown. The Reporter writes as follows:
Harper's Ferry, Oct. 19, 1859.
"Old Brown," or "Ossawatomie Brown," as he is often called, the hero of a dozen fights or so with the "border ruffians" of Missouri, in the days of "bleeding Kansas," is the head and front of this offending--the commander of the filibuster army. His wounds, which at first were supposed to be mortal, turn out to be mere flesh-wounds and scratches, not dangerous in their character. He has been removed, together with Stephens, the other wounded prisoner, from the engine-room to the office of the Armory, and they now lie on the floor, upon miserable shake-downs, covered with some old bedding.
Brown is fifty-five years of age, rather small-sized, with keen and restless grey eyes, and a grizzly beard and hair. He is a wiry, active man, and, should the slightest chance for an escape be afforded, there is no doubt that he will yet give his captors much trouble. His hair is matted and tangled, and his face, hands, and clothes, all smouched and smeared with blood. Colonel Lee stated that he would exclude all visitors from the room if the wounded men were annoyed or pained by them, but Brown said he was by no means annoyed; on the contrary, he was glad to be able to make himself and his motives clearly understood. He converses freely, fluently and cheerfully, without the slightest manifestation of fear or uneasiness, evidently weighing well his words, and possessing a good command of language. His manner is courteous and affable, and he appears to make a favorable impression upon his auditory, which, during most of the day yesterday, averaged about ten or a dozen men.
When I arrived in the Armory, shortly after two o'clock in the afternoon, Brown was few miles off, Mr. Vallandigham, member of Congress of Ohio, and several other distinguished gentlemen. The following is a verbatim report of the conversation:
Mr. Mason--Can you tell us, at least, who furnished money for your expedition
Mr. Brown--I furnished most of it myself. I cannot implicate others. It is by my own folly that I have been taken. I could easily have saved myself from it had I exercised my own better judgments rather than yielded to my feelings.
Mr. Mason--You mean if you had escaped immediately?
Mr. Brown--No; I had the means to make myself secure without any escape, but I allowed myself to be surrounded by a force by being too tardy.
Mr. Mason--Tardy in getting away?
Mr. Brown--I should have gone away, but I had thirty odd prisoners, whose wives and daughters were in tears for their safety, and I felt for them. Besides, I wanted to
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allay the fears of those who believed we came here to burn and kill. For this reason I allowed the train to cross the bridge, and gave them full liberty to pass on. I did it only to spare the feelings of those passengers and their families, and to allay the apprehensions that you had got here in your vicinity a band of men who had no regard for life and property, nor any feeling of humanity.
Mr. Mason--But you killed some people passing along the streets quietly.
Mr. Brown--Well, sir, if there was anything of that kind done, it was without n knowledge. Your own citizens, who were my prisoners, will tell you that every possible means were taken to prevent it. I did not allow my men to fire, nor even to return a fire, when there was danger of killing those we regarded as innocent persons, if I could help it. They will tell you that we allowed ourselves to be fired at repeatedly and did not return it.
A Bystander--That is not so. You killed an unarmed man at the corner of the mouse over there (at the water tank) and another besides.
Mr. Brown--See here, my friend, it is useless to dispute or contradict the report of your own neighbors who were my prisoners.
Mr. Mason--If you would tell us who sent you here--who provided the means--that would be information of some value.
Mr. Brown.--I will answer freely and faithfully about what concerns myself--I will answer anything I can with honor, but not about others.
Mr. Vallandigham (member of Congress from Ohio, who had just entered)--Mr. Brown, who sent you here?
Mr. Brown--No man sent me here; it was my own prompting and that of my Maker, or that of the devil, whichever you please to ascribe it to. I acknowledge no man in human form.
Mr. Vallandigham--Did you get up the expedition yourself?
Mr. Brown--I did.
Mr. Vallandigham--Did you get up this document that is called a constitution?
Mr. Brown--I did. They are a constitution and ordinances of my own contriving and getting up.
Mr. Vallandigham--How long have you been engaged in this business?
Mr. Brown--From the breaking of the difficulties in Kansas. Four of my sons had gone there to settle, and they induced me to go. I did not go there to settle, but because of the difficulties.
Mr. Mason.--How many are engaged with you in this movement? I ask those questions for our own safety.
Mr. Brown--Any questions that I can honorably answer I will, not otherwise. So far as I am myself concerned I have told everything truthfully. I value my word. sir.
Mr. Mason--What was your object in coming?
Mr. Brown--We came to free the slaves, and only that.
A Young Man (in the uniform of a volunteer company)--How many men in all had you?
Mr. Brown--I came to Virginia with eighteen men only, besides myself.
Volunteer--What in the world did you suppose you could do here in Virginia with that amount of men?
Mr. Brown--Young man, I don't wish to discuss that question here.
Volunteer--You could not do anything.
Mr. Brown--Well, perhaps your ideas and mine on military subjects would differ materially.
Mr. Mason--How do you justify your acts?
Mr. Brown--I think, my friend, you are guilty of a great wrong against God and humanity--I say it without wishing to be offensive--and it would be perfectly right in every one to interfere with you so far as to free those you wilfully and wickedly hold in bondage. I do not say this insultingly.
Mr. Mason--I understand that.
Mr. Brown--I think I did right, and that others will do right who interfere with at any time and all times. I hold that the golden rule, "Do unto others as you would that others should do unto you," applies to all who would help others to gain their liberty.
Lieut. Stuart--But you don't believe in the Bible.
Mr. Brown--Certainly I do.
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Mr. Vallandigham--Where did your men come from? Did some of them come from Ohio?
Mr. Brown--Some of them.
Mr. Vallandigham--From the Western Reserve? None came from Southern Ohio?
Mr. Brown--Yes, I believe one came from below Steubenville, down not far from Wheeling.
Mr Vallandigham--Have you been in Ohio this summer?
Mr. Brown--Yes, sir.
Mr. Vallandigham--How lately?
Mr. Brown--I passed through to Pittsburg on my way in June.
Mr. Vallandigham--Were you at any county or State fair there!
Mr. Brown--I was not--not since June.
Mr. Mason--Did you consider this a military organization, in this paper (the Constitution)? I have not yet read it.
Mr. Brown--I did in some sense. I wish you would give that paper close attention.
Mr. Mason--You considered yourself the Commander-in-Chief of these "provisional" military forces.
Mr. Brown--I was chosen agreeably to the ordinance of a certain document, commander-in-chief of that force.
Mr. Mason--What wages did you offer?
Mr. Brown--None.
Lieut. Stuart--"The wages of sin is death."
Mr. Brown--I would not have made such a remark to you, if you had been a prisoner and wounded in my hands.
A Bystander--Did you not promise a negro in Gettysburg, twenty dollars a month?
Mr. Brown--I did not.
Bystander--He says you did.
Mr. Vallandigham--Were you ever in Dayton, Ohio?
Mr. Brown--Yes, I must have been.
Mr. Vallandigham--This summer?
Mr. Brown--No; a year or two since.
Mr. Mason--Does this talking annoy you?
Mr. Brown--Not the least.
Mr. Vallandigham--Have you lived long in Ohio?
Mr. Brown--I went there in 1850; I lived in Summit County, which was then Trumbull County; my native place is in York State; my father lived there till his death, in 1805.
Mr. Vallandigham--Do you recollect a man in Ohio named Brown, a noted counterfeiter?
Mr. Brown--I do; I knew him from a boy; his father was Henry Brown; they were of Irish or Scotch descent, and he had a brother also engaged in that business; when boys they could not read nor write; they were of a very low family.
Mr. Vallandigham--Have you been in Portage County lately?
Mr. Brown--I was there in June last.
Mr. Vallandigham--When in Cleveland, did you attend the Fugitive Slave Law Convention there?
Mr. Brown--No. I was there about the time of the sitting of the court to try the Oberlin rescuers. I spoke there publicly on that subject. I spoke on the Fugitive Slave law and my own rescue. Of course, so far as I had any influence at all, I was disposed to justify the Oberlin people for rescuing the slave, because I have myself forcibly taken slaves from bondage. I was concerned in taking eleven slaves from Missouri to Canada last winter. I think I spoke in Cleveland before the Convention. I do not know that had any conversation with any of the Oberlin rescuers. I was sick part of the time I was in Ohio, with the ague. I was part of the time in Ashtabula County.
Mr. Vallandigham--Did you see anything of Joshua R. Giddings there?
Mr. Brown--I did meet him.
Mr. Vallandigham--Did you converse with him
Mr. Brown--did. I would not tell you, of course, anything that would implicate Mr. Giddings; but I certainly met with him and had conversations with him.
Mr. Vallandigham--About that rescue case?
Mr. Brown--Yes, I did; I heard him express hie opinions upon it very freely am frankly
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Mr. Vallandigham--Justifying it?
Mr. Brown--Yes, sir; I do not compromise him certainly in saying that.
A Bystander--Did you go out to Kansas under the auspices of the Emigrant Aid Society?
Mr. Brown--No, sir; I went out under the auspices of John Brown and nobody else.
Mr. Vallandigham--Will you answer this: Did you talk with Giddings about your expedition here?
Mr. Brown--No, I won't answer that; because a denial of it I would not make, and to make any affirmation of it I should be a great dunce.</