The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade/Chapter 36
CHAPTER XXXVI.
The Insurrection at Harper's Ferry.
On Monday, the 11th of October, 1859, the entire Union was thrown into a state of excitement by the following startling head lines which appeared in the telegraph columns of all the papers of that day:
"Insurrection at Harper's Ferry — United States Troops ordered out — Ossawatamie Brown the reported Captain — Tremendous Excitement!"
The following was the first dispatch:
"Frederick, Md., Oct. 1Y. — An insurrection is reported to have taken place at Harper's Ferry. An armed band of abolitionists have full possession of the United States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry. The express train running east was fired into twice, and one of the railroad hands, a negro, was killed while trying to get the train through the town. The mob arrested two men who came in with a load of wheat, and took the wagon, loaded it with rifles, and sent it into Maryland. They are led by about 250 whites, with a gang of negroes fighting."
So totally unprepared was the country for anything of the kind, that thousands regarded the story as a humbug, got up to startle the country and to amuse the operators. But the next day brought the confirmation of the first report. A band of seventeen whites and four negroes, under the command of John Brown, of Kansas notoriety, had seized the United States Armory buildings, imprisoned many prominent men of the vicinity, and held military possession of the town. The first steps were taken on Sunday night, the 16th of October, and complete possession was obtained of all the shops, together with the railroad bridge, &c., before morning.
John Brown made his first appearance in the vicinity of Harper's Ferry more than a year prior to this outbreak, accompanied by two sons, the whole party assuming the name of Smith. He inquired about land in the vicinity, and made investigations about the probability of finding ores, and for some time boarded at Sandy Point, a mile east of the Ferry. After an absence of some months, he reappeared in the vicinity, and rented or leased a farm on the Maryland side, 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 seen frequently in and about Harper's Ferry, but no suspicion seemed to have existed that Bill Smith was Captain Brown, or that he intended to embark in any movement so desperate and extraordinary; yet the developments of the plot leave no doubt that his visits to the Ferry and his lease of the farm were all parts of his preperation for the insurrection, which he supposed would be successful in exterminating slavery in Maryland, and Western Virginia. Brown's chief aid was John E. Cook, a comparatively young man, who had resided in and near the Ferry for some years. He was first employed in tending a lock on the canal; afterward he 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.
He was regarded as a man of some intelligence, known to be anti-slavery, but not so violent in the expression of his opinions as to excite any suspicions. These two men, with Brown's two sons, were the only white men connected with the insurrection that had been previously about the Ferry. All the rest were brought by Brown from a distance, and nearly all had been with him in Kansas.
The first active movement in the insurrection was made about half past ten on Sunday night. W. M. Williamson, the watchman on the Harper's Ferry bridge, whilst walking across to the Maryland shore, was seized by a number of men, who said tha the was their prisoner, and that he must come with them. He recognized Brown and Cook among the men, and knowing them, he treated the matter as a joke, but his captors enforced silence, and conducted him to the Armory, which he found already in their possession. He was retained 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, but supposing it an attempt at robbery, he broke away and in the darkness escaped.
The next appearance of the insurrectionists was at the house of Col. Lewis Washington, a large farmer and slave owner, living about four miles up the Shenandoah from the Ferry. A party headed by Cook proceeded there, roused Col. Washington, and told him that he was their prisoner. They seized all the slaves near the house, and took away a carriage and horses, and a large wagon with two horses. When Col. Washington saw Cook, he immediately recognized him as a 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 La Fayette to Washington; both being heirlooms in the family. Before leaving, Cook wanted Col. Washington to make a trial of skill at shooting, and exhibited considerable certainty as a marksman.
When he made his visit on Sunday night, Cook alluded to his previous visit, and the courtesy with which he had been treated, and expressed regret at the necessity which made it his duty to arrest Col. Washington. He, however, took advantage of the knowledge he had obtained by his former visit to carry off all the valuable collection of arms, which Col. Washington did not obtain till after the final defeat of the insurgents. From Col. Washington's residence, the party proceeded with him as a prisoner in his own carriage, and twelve of his negraes 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 years of age, were taken prisoners, and all the negroes of the plantation within reach compelled to join the company. They returned to the Armory at the Ferry before morning.
All their movements seem to have been made without exciting the slightest alarm in the town, nor did the detention of the morning train at the upper end of the town attract attention. It was not till the town was thoroughly waked up, and found the bridges guarded by armed men, and guards stationed at all the avenues, that the people found that they were prisoners. So soon as the facts became known, a panic immediately ensued, and the number of the insurrectionists at once, in the imagination of the frightened people, increased from fifty, which was probably their greatest force, including the slaves that had been forced to join them, to from four to six hundred.
In the meantime, a number of workmen, knowing nothing of what had occurred, entered the Armory and were successively taken prisoners, till they had at one time not less than sixty men confined in the Armory. Among the number there entrapped were Mr. Armisted, Benjamin Mills, master of the Armory, and J. L. P. Dangerfield, paymaster's clerk. These three gentlemen were imprisoned in the engine house, which afterward became the chief fortress of the insurgents, and were not released till after the final assault.
This was the condition of affairs at daylight on Monday morning, about which time Cook, with two white men and about thirty slaves, and taking with them Col. Washington's large wagon, went over the bridge and struck up the mountain on the road toward Pennsylvania.
Information of the insurrection, magnifying more than ten-fold the number of the insurgents, flew on the talegraph and railroad trains to Charleston, Martinsburgh, Shepardstown, Frederick, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, &c., and the utmost excitement prevailed. During the day armed bodies poured in, and the surrounding country was soon transformed into a state of war. A company of railroad embloyees at Martinsburgh, and commanded by Captain Alburtis, were among the first to arrive. They made a bold dash at a building where the workmen were mostly confined, and released them. Capt. Alburtis also, at three o'clock Monday afternoon, captured the bridge. In the fight three of his men were wounded. Their names were Dorsey, Bowman and Holbert, all freight conductors. One man named Richardson was killed.
Monday night the military from Baltimore and Washington arrived. They found the insurgent confined to the Armory buildings. Several conferences were had with Captain Brown. Not finding the slaves rising in revolt as he expected, and seeing himself and his little handfull of men surrounded by rapaidly increasing forces, he proposed to abandon the enterprise and the country, if they would accede to his terms. These were, that he would march across the bridge to the Maryland shore with his men and his prisoners an hostages, and when fairly over he would release them, and give his enemies a chance to capture him if they could. But uo terms could be made with the insurgents, and in their situation. On Tuesday morning Lieutenant Lee, with a company of United States marines, had arrived. He used his best efforts to persuade Brown and his men to surrender, promising that they should be protected from the fury of their assailants. His men were desirous of making terms, but Brown refused, considering himself in a position to dictate terms. There appeared to be no course left but to storm the Armory, and this was determined upon early on Tuesday morning.
A large military force had by this time collected. During the previous day a constant scene of skirmishing had been kept up between the belligerants, but no regular attempt had been made to storm the citadel of the insurgents. The danger of injury to Col. Washington and the other prisoners, prevented the attack upon them with cannon. But the time had arrived when decisive measures must be taken. The scene was exciting in the extreme. The most breathless suspense existed for the half hour which preceded the attack. Death was anticipated, and the reckless daring of the handfull of bold and foolish fanatics, who thus set at defiance the authority of both the State and General Government, created an intense indignation, and a desire for their summary chastisement. The apprehensions for the safety of the gentlemen detained in the custody of the insurgents were also painful.
About eight o'clock, Major Russel ordered Lieutenant Green, with a file of United States marines, to force the large double doors of the engine house, where Brown and his few remaining men had taken shelter. They rushed toward them, and attempted with their bayonets to force them open, but the strength of their fastenings defied the effort. At this time a volley from within increased the excitement of the spectators. The marines then tried to force the door with heavy sledge hammers, but they also proved ineffectual. A double file of marines were then ordered to attack the door with a heavy ladder. A few powerful efforts shattered the door of this outhouse of the government, which was filled with fire engines, and as they yielded to the force of this battering ram, and flew in pieces, an extra shout went up from the multitude. The moment the upper part of the door went down, Lieutenant Green and his marines fired a volley into the insurgents with deadly aim. Major Russel then sprang upon the ladder and preceded them. The conflict was terminated in a few minutes. One of the marines, private Quinn, was borne off, fatally wounded, and another private, Rupert, received a slight wound in the face.
The imprisoned citizens then rushed out; two white insurgents were brought out as prisoners. One, named Watson Brown, son of the leader, who was in a very helpless condition from wounds received on Monday, and another named Edwin Coppic, of Iowa, who was injured. A free negro from Harrisburgh named Shields Green, was also arrested. Four or five other negroes were also taken out of the engine house, who were known to be slaves belonging to the neighborhood, and supposed to have been forcibly detained. Several of the insurgents had been killed in the assault by the marines, and the most painful and exciting act of the tragedy was the bringing out of the dead bodies. Five of them lay upon the grass, one of them named J. C. Anderson, in the last agonies of dissolution; another, the leader, the old man Brown, with a heavy gush upon his forehead, and three other wounds upon his body, supposed to be mortal, but still calm and collected, and couversing intelligently without an indication or emotion of pain, and answering all the questions of the crowd about him.
Another son of the leader was taken out stark and cold, he having been killed the day previous: Stewart Tyler, also killed instantly by a ball through his head and one through his body, and Albert Hazlett, killed instantly. The wounds were shocking to behold, and all were weltering in blood. After a short time the wounded were removed to the Hospital.
During the struggle some of the insurgents made desperate attempts to escape. One of them rushed to the river bank and plunged in, using his best efforts to reach the Maryland shore; he was fired at from all sides and was soon riddled with balls, and left dead in the stream. Another named Thompson, a son-in-law of Brown, had been wounded and taken prisoner; he was for the time being confined in the hotel near the bridge. Mr. Bickham, the mayor of the city, while engaged in devising means to suppress the outbreak, was shot dead. Being well known and much respected, the event created the most intense feeling. The people were determined to put to death at once all the insurgents that were in their power. As an illustration of the terrible scene on that occasion, we copy a statement of the circumstances attending the death of Thompson, as testified to by young Hunter, the son of Andrew Hunter, the prominent lawyer of that section of the State.
Question—Did you witness the death of this man Thompson?
Answer.—I witnessed the death of one whose name I have been informed was Thompson.
Question.—Well, sir, what were the circumstances attending it?
Answer.—There was a prisoner confined in the parlor of the hotel, and after Mr. Bickham's death, he was shot down by a number of us there, belonging to this sharp-shooting band.
Mr. Andrew Hunter.—Will you allow him to state before proceedieg further how he was connected with Mr. Bickham?
Mr. Green.—Certainly, sir.
Witness.—"He was my grand-uncle, and my special friend—a man I loved above all others. After he was killed, Mr. Chambers and myself moved forward to the hotel for the purpose of taking the prisoner out and hanging him; we were joined by a number of other persons who cheered us on in that work we went up into his room where he was bound, with the undoubted and undisguised purpose of taking his life. At the door we were stopped by persons guarding the door, who remonstrated with us, and the excitement was so great that persons who remonstrated with us one moment, would cheer us. on the next. We bursted into the room where he was, and found several around him, but they offered only a feeble resistance; we brought our guns down to his head repeatedly, myself and another person, for the purpose of shooting him in the room.
"There was a young lady there, the sister of Mr. Fouke, the hotel keeper, who sat in the man's lap and covered his face with her arms, and shielded him whenever we brought our guns to bear. She said to us, 'For God's sake wait, and let the law take its course.' My associate shouted to kill him; 'Let us take his blood!' were his words. All around were shouting, 'Mr. Bickham's life was worth ten thousand of these vile abolitionists.' I was cool about it, and deliberate; my gun was pushed up by some one who seized the barrel, and I then moved to the back part of the room, still with purpose unchanged, but with a view to direct attention from me, in order to get an opportunity, at some moment when the crowd would be less dense, to shoot him. After a moment's thought, it occurred to me that that was not the proper place to kill him. We then proposed to take him out and hang him. Some persons of our band then opened the way to him, and first pushing Miss Fouke aside, we slung him out of doors. I gave him a push and many others did the same. We then shoved him along the platform and down to the tressle work of the bridge, he begging for his life all the time, very piteously at first.
"By the way, before we took him out of the room, I asked the question what he came here for; he said their only purpose was to free the slaves—that he came there to free the slaves, or die. Then he begged, "Don't take my life—a prisoner,' but I put the gun to him, and he said, 'You may kill me, but it will be revenged; there are 80,000 persons sworn to carry on this work.' That was his last expression. We bore him out on the bridge with the purpose then of hanging him; we had no rope, and none could be found; it was a moment of wild excitement. Two of us raised our guns—which one was first I do not know—and pulled the triggers. Before he reached the ground, I suppose some five or six shots had been fired into his body. He fell to the railroad track, his back down to the earth, and his face up. We then went back for the purpose of getting another one (Stephens), but he was sick, or wounded, and persons around him, and I persuaded them myself to let him alone. I said, 'Don't let us operate on him, but go round and get some more.' We did this act with a purpose, thinking it right and justifiable under the circumstances, and fired and excited by the cowardly, savage manner in which Mr. Bickham's life had been taken.".
Soon after the capture of Brown and his companions, a company proceeded to the farm he had rented, and examined the premises. The school-house where Cooke had taught school, was also examined, and a large quantity of arms and military stores were found. About fifteen hundred pikes, with handles five feet long, were also found under the floor of the school-house, and in the vicinity. These were designed to arm the slaves, who were not familiar with the use of fire-arms. A large number of letters from various portions of the Union were found in Brown's house. It was apparent that the plan for a rising of the slaves had been devised some time before, and that the steps had been taken to make it effective. The arms, pikes, &c., under the names of agricultural implements, had been brought in boxes by railroad to Chambersburgh, Pennsylvania, and from that point had been taken by wagons to the farm. All correspondence had been carried on in the assumed name of Smith. The letters were taken by Governor Wise to Richmond, and many of them were published in the papers soon afterward.
Among the documents found, was what purported to be a regular plan of organization for a provisional government. Subsequent developments showed that this plan was matured at Chatham, in Canada, some time before the outbreak. John Brown was selected as commander-in-chief. A secretary of war and other officers were also chosen. The document was a long one, going somewhat into detail, and providing for the various emergencies that were supposed might arise. The purpose seemed to be to take such steps as the case required to liberate the slaves. To accomplish this, these deluded men supposed it was only necessary to offer the slaves their freedom, and they would at once flock around their standard, and be ready to fight to the last in defense of their natural rights. The plan long contemplated and well devised, and thoroughly consummated, so far as the capture of Harper's Ferry, &c., was concerned, was fatally defective in its theory that the negroes were ready for insurrection. The actual facts demonstrated that not one of them deserted their masters, and joined the forces of those who came to liberate them. Several of the slaves of Colonel Washington were forced into the service of Brown's men, but all the testimony showed that every act of theirs against their masters was done by compulsion. And therein was the fatal error of Brown and his men. They discovered it when too late. The negroes were too shrewd, even if they desired freedom, to imagine that such a mere handful of men as the invaders had, could for any length of time resist the combined forces of the State and the General Government. It is also probable that they did not desire freedom. Situated near the borders of Pennsylvania, all of their numbers who actually longed to escape had accomplished their desire, leaving-only the willing to serve their masters. There did not appear to be any design on the part of Brown and his company to destroy life, unless it became necessary to protect themselves, or to carry out their plans. The property of the slaveholders was to be used only for the purpose of accomplishing the great end of the movement, Everything was to be made subservient to this great end. Commissions had been issued to various persons of his company, and all appeared to be arranged on a system. The paucity of number seventeen white men and four negroes, being all the force that Brown had in the field, in view of the vast results which he contemplated, will ever leave the impression upon the public mind that the leader and the head of the insurrection must have been deranged.
In the terrible struggle accompanying the storming of the engine house, the most of Brown's followers were killed. The prisoners, after a short time, were passed over to the State authorities, and were removed to the jail at Charleston, the county seat of Jefferson county, in which Harper's Ferry is situated. They were accompanied by a large body of State troops. As rumors and fears of a rescue were prevalent, Governor Wise took active and efficient steps to collect a large force at Charleston. The jail was guarded in the most cautious and thorough manner, and all the avenues of approach were carefully watched. Sentinels were posted in every direction, and for weeks the town was a camp, and the people were placed under martial law.
On the 26th October, the grand jury found bills of indictment against Brown and the rest of the prisoners, charging them with treason, murder and inciting slaves to insurrection. A strong effort was made to get the trials postponed, on account of the physical condition of Brown. His wounds, though numerous and severe, did not prove dangerous, and there was a fair prospect of his recovery, but he was then weak from loss of blood, and from his wounds unable to stand. The public mind was so much excited that it was evident that a fair, impartial trial could not be obtained. Counsel for the prisoners from the North was also desirable, and these several reasons were urged to the Court. But the state of feeling throughout the entire South was such that no delay could be tolerated, and the parties were forced to trial. John Brown was first arraigned. He was brought into Court on his cot; the indictment was read to him, and he entered the plea of "Not guilty." Messrs. Green and Botts, attorneys of that county, were assigned to the defense, and entered upon its duties. The trial proceeded with as much fairness as could be expected under the circumstances, and in due time a verdict of "guilty," on all the counts of the indictment, was rendered. Motions in arrest of judgment were made by the attorneys for the defense, and were elaborately argued, but were all overruled by the Court, and on the 2d day of November Brown was brought in to receive his sentence.
The scene was one of extraordinary interest. The Clerk asked Brown if he had anything to say why sentence should not be pronounced. Brown stood up, and in a clear and distinct tone, said:
"I have, may it please the Court, a few words to say. In the first place, I deny everything but what I have all along admitted, the design on my part to free the slaves. I intended certainly to have made as clean a thing of that matter as I did last winter, when I went into Missouri, and took the slaves without the snapping of a gun, and moved them through the country, finally leaving them in Canada. I designed to have done the same thing again, on a larger scale. That was all I intended. I never did intend to committ murder or treason, or to destroy property, or to excite or incite the slaves to insurrection, and make an insurrection.
"I have another objection, and that is, that it is unjust that I should suffer such a penalty. Had I interfered in the manner which I admit—and which I admit has bean fairly proved—for I admire the truthfulness and candor of the greater portion of the witnesses who have testified in this case—had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of their friends, either father or mother, brother or sister, wife or children, or any of that class, and suffered or sacrificed what I have in this interference, it would have been all right. Every man in this Court would have deemed it an act not worthy of punishment. This Court acknowledges, I suppose, the laws of God.
"I see a book kissed here which I suppose to be the Bible, or at least the New Testament, that teaches me that all things whatsoever I would that man should do to me, I should do even so to them. It teaches me, further, to remember them that are in bonds as bound with them. I endeavored to act after that instruction. I say I am yet too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered as I have done, as I have always freely admitted I have done, in behalf of his despised poor, was no wrong, but right. Now it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children, and the blood of millions in this slave country, whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments.
"I am entirely satisfied with the treatment I have received on my trial. Considering all the circumstances, it has been more generous than I expected, but I feel no consciousness of guilt. I have stated from the first what were my intentions, and what were not. I never had any design against the life of any person, nor any disposition to commit treason, or to excite slaves to rebel, or make any general insurrection. I never encouraged any man to do so, but always discouraged any idea of that kind. Let me say also, in regard to the statements made by some of those connected with me. I hear it has been stated by some of them that I have induced them to join me, but the contrary is true. I do not say this to injure them, but as regretting their weakness. Not one joined me but on his own accord, and the greater part at their own expense. A number of them I never saw, and never had a word of conversation with till the day they came to me, and that was for the purpose I have stated now. I have done."
When he had finished the court pronounced the sentence of the law, that Brown should be hung in public on Friday, the 2d of December. He received the sentence with composure, and throughout all the exciting scenes, up to the moment of execution, he manifested the most extraordinary fortitude. His religious conviction that he had done nothing-hut his duty, never wavered for a moment. There is not a more remarkable instance of personal heroism and fearlessness in the annals of history than he displayed in this entire affair.
John E. Cook, who left on Monday with a Dumber of slaves for the Maryland shore, effected his escape to Pennsylvania, and after much Buffering and exposure, he was taken, and on the requisition of Governor Wise, was returned to Virginia. He was subsequently tried and convicted of murder and inciting the slaves to insurrection. Edwin Coppic, another of the company, was tried and convicted. Shields Green and John Copeland, the two negroes taken with Brown, were also tried and convicted. The execution of these four persons was fixed for the 16th of December, and was duly consummated at that time. Cook was a brother-in-law of Governor Willard, of Indiana, and very strong efforts were made by his friends to procure his pardon, but without avail.
John Brown was hung on the 2d of December, according to the sentence. An immense military force had been collected at Charleston under the pretense that a rescue was contemplated from the North, but nothing of the kind was ever attempted. On the day before his execution his wife paid him a visit in his cell. It was a most interesting event, as she appeared to have been as much of a heroine as he was a hero. Nothing was said by Brown on the gallows. Many letters were published in the papers at the time, all of them manifesting the same religous beleif that he had been doing good service, and was ready and willing to die for the cause. His body, after the execution, was delivered to his wife, and was taken to North Elba, Essex county, New York, for burial. The funeral ceremonies were witnessed by a large concourse of his neighbors, and people from that section of the country. Wendall Phillips pronounced an oration or eulogy of the deceased.
John Brown, whose name will ever be associated with the Harper's Ferry insurrection, was born in Connecticut on the 9th of May, 1800. He had a large family of children, who seemed to inherit many of his peculiar traits of character. His religious faith was ever most firm, and he always appeared to act as if under the immediate direction and care of his Creator. No puritan in Cromwell's army was ever more impressed with the idea of the divine presence and protection. He was regarded by many of his best friends as deranged on the subject of slavery. During the Kansas troubles, he went there and took a prominent part in the border wars that so long afflicted that Territory. He had children living there. One of his sons was put to death by the Missourian border ruffians, under circumstances of peculiar atrocity. He presistently and indignantly denied the imputation of insanity, and his wife declared that she could not say she believed him insane, if that would save his life. His name will occupy a prominent position in history in connection with the Harper's Ferry affair.