John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry
Yesterday was the 153rd anniversary of John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, which took place on October 16, 1859. On Sunday night, October 16, 1859, Brown led all but three of his force of 16 white men, 3 free blacks, 1 freed slave, and 1 fugitive slave into the town of Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Part of the group, led by John Cook Jr., was sent to capture Colonel Lewis Washington, great-grandnephew of George Washington, at his nearby Beall-Air estate, some of his slaves, and two relics of George Washington: a sword allegedly presented to Washington by Frederick the Great and two pistols given by the Marquis de Lafayette, which Brown considered talismans. The party carried out its mission and returned via the Allstadt House, where they took more hostages. Brown's main party captured several watchmen and townspeople in Harpers Ferry.
Brown's men cut the telegraph wire and seized a Baltimore & Ohio train passing through. An African-American baggage handler on the train named Hayward Shepherd, confronted the raiders and he was shot and killed by them. Ironically a free black man became the first casualty of the raid. Brown let the train continue unimpeded and the conductor alerted the authorities. Brown had hoped that his raid would attract a massive uprising among local slaves, but that did not occur. The townspeople soon began to fight back against the raiders, but Brown's men were able to captured the armory that evening.
On the following day, October 17, 1859 (153 years ago today), local militia, farmers and shopkeepers surrounded the armory. When a company of militia captured the bridge across the Potomac River, any route of escape was cut off. At 3:30 that afternoon, President James Buchanan ordered a detachment of U.S. Marines (the only troops in the immediate area) to march on Harpers Ferry under the command of Brevet Colonel Robert E. Lee of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry. Lee had been on leave when he was hastily recalled to lead the detachment and had to command it while wearing his civilian clothes.
On the morning of October 18, Lee sent Lieutenant J.E.B. Stuart under a flag of truce to negotiate a surrender of John Brown and his followers. Lee instructed Lieutenant Israel Greene that if Brown refused, he was to lead the marines in storming the engine house. Stuart told Brown that his men would be spared if they surrendered. Brown refused and Stuart signaled to Lt. Greene and his men. Two marines armed with sledgehammers tried in vain to break through the door. Greene found a wooden ladder, and 10 marines used it as a battering ram to knock the front doors in. Greene was the first through the door and with the assistance of Lewis Washington identified and singled out John Brown. Greene provided this account:
"Quicker than thought I brought my saber down with all my strength upon [Brown's] head. He was moving as the blow fell, and I suppose I did not strike him where I intended, for he received a deep saber cut in the back of the neck. He fell senseless on his side, then rolled over on his back. He had in his hand a short Sharpe's cavalry carbine. I think he had just fired as I reached Colonel Washington, for the Marine who followed me into the aperture made by the ladder received a bullet in the abdomen, from which he died in a few minutes. The shot might have been fired by some one else in the insurgent party, but I think it was from Brown. Instinctively as Brown fell I gave him a saber thrust in the left breast. The sword I carried was a light uniform weapon, and, either not having a point or striking something hard in Brown's accouterments, did not penetrate. The blade bent double."
In three minutes, all of the raiders still alive were taken prisoner and the action was over.
Lee also believed that the African Americans used in the raid were forced to by John Brown himself. "The blacks, whom he [John Brown] forced from their homes in this neighborhood, as far as I could learn, gave him no voluntary assistance." Lee attributed John Brown's "temporary success" by creating panic and confusion and by "magnifying" the number of participants involved in the raid. Brown was taken to the court house in nearby Charles Town for trial. He was found guilty of treason against the commonwealth of Virginia and was hanged on December 2nd. Brown was the first white man to use violence in an attempt to end slavery. This raid scared many in the South, leading the Southern state militias to begin training for defense against further raids and, consequently, to the militarization of the South in preparation for what would become civil war.
Brown's men cut the telegraph wire and seized a Baltimore & Ohio train passing through. An African-American baggage handler on the train named Hayward Shepherd, confronted the raiders and he was shot and killed by them. Ironically a free black man became the first casualty of the raid. Brown let the train continue unimpeded and the conductor alerted the authorities. Brown had hoped that his raid would attract a massive uprising among local slaves, but that did not occur. The townspeople soon began to fight back against the raiders, but Brown's men were able to captured the armory that evening.
On the following day, October 17, 1859 (153 years ago today), local militia, farmers and shopkeepers surrounded the armory. When a company of militia captured the bridge across the Potomac River, any route of escape was cut off. At 3:30 that afternoon, President James Buchanan ordered a detachment of U.S. Marines (the only troops in the immediate area) to march on Harpers Ferry under the command of Brevet Colonel Robert E. Lee of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry. Lee had been on leave when he was hastily recalled to lead the detachment and had to command it while wearing his civilian clothes.
On the morning of October 18, Lee sent Lieutenant J.E.B. Stuart under a flag of truce to negotiate a surrender of John Brown and his followers. Lee instructed Lieutenant Israel Greene that if Brown refused, he was to lead the marines in storming the engine house. Stuart told Brown that his men would be spared if they surrendered. Brown refused and Stuart signaled to Lt. Greene and his men. Two marines armed with sledgehammers tried in vain to break through the door. Greene found a wooden ladder, and 10 marines used it as a battering ram to knock the front doors in. Greene was the first through the door and with the assistance of Lewis Washington identified and singled out John Brown. Greene provided this account:
"Quicker than thought I brought my saber down with all my strength upon [Brown's] head. He was moving as the blow fell, and I suppose I did not strike him where I intended, for he received a deep saber cut in the back of the neck. He fell senseless on his side, then rolled over on his back. He had in his hand a short Sharpe's cavalry carbine. I think he had just fired as I reached Colonel Washington, for the Marine who followed me into the aperture made by the ladder received a bullet in the abdomen, from which he died in a few minutes. The shot might have been fired by some one else in the insurgent party, but I think it was from Brown. Instinctively as Brown fell I gave him a saber thrust in the left breast. The sword I carried was a light uniform weapon, and, either not having a point or striking something hard in Brown's accouterments, did not penetrate. The blade bent double."
In three minutes, all of the raiders still alive were taken prisoner and the action was over.
Lee also believed that the African Americans used in the raid were forced to by John Brown himself. "The blacks, whom he [John Brown] forced from their homes in this neighborhood, as far as I could learn, gave him no voluntary assistance." Lee attributed John Brown's "temporary success" by creating panic and confusion and by "magnifying" the number of participants involved in the raid. Brown was taken to the court house in nearby Charles Town for trial. He was found guilty of treason against the commonwealth of Virginia and was hanged on December 2nd. Brown was the first white man to use violence in an attempt to end slavery. This raid scared many in the South, leading the Southern state militias to begin training for defense against further raids and, consequently, to the militarization of the South in preparation for what would become civil war.