John Brown (abolitionist)

John Brown (May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859) was an American abolitionist who played a major part in the history of slavery in the United States leading up to the American Civil War. Brown took part in the violence during the Bleeding Kansas crisis, but his most famous action was his leadership of the raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (in modern-day West Virginia). The killings that followed, Brown's subsequent capture by Robert E. Lee, his trial, and execution by hanging are generally considered an important part of the origins of the Civil War.

Raid on Harpers Ferry

Brown arrived in Harpers Ferry on June 3, 1859. A few days later, under the name Isaac Smith, he rented a farmhouse nearby in Maryland. He awaited the arrival of his recruits. They never materialized in the numbers he expected. In late August he met with Douglass in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where he revealed the Harpers Ferry plan. Douglass expressed severe reservations, rebuking Brown's pleas to join the mission.

Related Topics:
June 3 - 1859 - Maryland - Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

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In late September, the 950 pikes arrived from Charles Blair. Kagi's draft plan called for a brigade of 4,500 men, but Brown had only 21 (16 white and 5 black). They ranged in age from 21 to 49. Twelve of them had been with Brown in Kansas raids.

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On October 16, 1859, Brown (leaving three men behind as a rear guard) led 18 men in an attack on the armory at Harpers Ferry. He had received 200 breechloading .52 caliber Sharps carbines and pikes from northern abolitionist societies in preparation for the raid. The armory was a large complex of buildings that contained 100,000 muskets and rifles, which Brown planned to seize and use to arm local slaves. They would then head south, and a general revolution would begin.

Related Topics:
October 16 - 1859 - Carbine - Musket - Rifle

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Initially, the raid went well. They met no resistance entering the town. They cut the telegraph wires and easily captured the armory, which was being defended by a single watchman. They next rounded up hostages from nearby farms, including Colonel Lewis Washington, great-grand-nephew of George Washington. They also spread the news to the local slaves that their liberation was at hand. Things started to go wrong when an eastbound Baltimore & Ohio train approached the town. The train's baggage master tried to warn the passengers. Brown's men yelled for him to halt and then opened fire. The baggage master, Hayward Shepherd, became the first casualty of John Brown's war against slavery. Ironically, Shepherd was a free black man. For some reason, after shooting Shepherd, Brown allowed the train to continue on its way. News of the raid reached Washington, D.C. by late morning.

Related Topics:
Telegraph - Lewis Washington - George Washington - Baltimore & Ohio - Hayward Shepherd - Washington, D.C.

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In the early morning, they captured and took prisoner John Daingerfield, an armory clerk who had come into work. Daingerfield was taken to the guardhouse, presented to Brown and then imprisoned with the other hostages.

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In the meantime, local farmers, shopkeepers, and militiamen pinned down the raiders in the armory by firing from the heights behind the town. Some of the local men were shot by Brown's men. All of the stores and the arsenal were in the hands of Brown's men, making it impossible for the townsmen to get arms or ammunition. At noon, a company of militiamen seized the bridge, blocking the only escape route. The remaining raiders took cover in the engine house, a small brick building near the armory. Brown then moved his prisoners and remaining men into the engine house. He had the doors and windows barred and portholes were cut through the brick walls. The surrounding forces barraged the engine house, and the men inside fired back with occasional fury. The exchanges lasted throughout the day.

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By morning (October 18) the building was surrounded by a company of U.S. Marines under the command of Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee. A young lieutenant, J.E.B. Stuart, approached under a white flag and told the raiders that their lives would be spared if they surrendered. Brown refused and the Marines stormed the building. Stuart served as a messenger between Lee and Brown. Throughout the negotiations, Brown refused to surrender. Brown's final chance came when Stuart approached and asked "Are you ready to surrender, and trust to the mercy of the government?" Brown replied, "No, I prefer to die here." Stuart then gave a signal. The Marines used sledge hammers and a make-shift battering-ram to break down the engine room door. Amid the chaos, Lieutenant Green cornered Brown and gave him a thrust with his sword that was powerful enough to raise Brown completely off the ground. Brown's life was spared because Green's sword struck Brown's belt. Brown fell forward and Green struck him several times over the head, wounding his scalp.

Related Topics:
October 18 - U.S. Marines - Robert E. Lee - J.E.B. Stuart - White flag

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One Marine was killed. Ten of Brown's men were killed (including his sons Watson and Oliver). Five of Brown's men escaped (including his son Owen), and six were captured along with Brown.

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Brown and the others captured were held in the office of the armory. On October 18, Virginia Governor Henry A. Wise, Virginia Senator James M. Mason, and Representative Clement Vallandingham of Ohio arrived in Harpers Ferry. Mason led the three-hour questioning session of Brown.

Related Topics:
October 18 - Henry A. Wise - James M. Mason - Clement Vallandingham

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Although the attack had taken place on Federal property, Wise ordered that Brown and his men would be tried in Virginia. The trial began October 27, after a doctor pronounced Brown fit for trial. Brown was charged with murdering four whites and a black, with conspiring with slaves to rebel, and with treason against Virginia. A series of lawyers were assigned to Brown, including George Hoyt. Hiram Griswold concluded the defense on October 31. He argued that Brown could not be guilty of treason against a State to which he owed no loyalty, that Brown had not killed anyone himself, and that the failure of the raid indicated that Brown had not conspired with slaves. Andrew Hunter presented the closing arguments for the prosecution.

Related Topics:
October 27 - Murder - Conspiring - Treason - George Hoyt - Hiram Griswold - October 31 - Andrew Hunter

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On November 2, after a week-long trial and 45 minutes of deliberation, the Charles Town jury found Brown guilty on all three counts. Brown was sentenced to be hanged in public on December 2. In response to the sentence, Ralph Waldo Emerson remarked that " will make the gallows as holy as the crucifix." Cadets from the Virginia Military Institute under the leadership of Generals Francis H. Smith and "Stonewall" Jackson were called into federal service as a security detail in the event Brown's supporters attempted a rescue.

Related Topics:
Charles Town - December 2 - Ralph Waldo Emerson - Crucifix - Virginia Military Institute - Francis H. Smith - "Stonewall" Jackson

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During his month in jail, he was allowed to receive and send letters. Brown refused to be rescued by Silas Soule, a friend from Kansas, who had somehow broken into the prison. Brown said that he was ready to die as a martyr, and Silas left him to be executed. On December 1, his wife joined him for his last meal. She was denied permission to stay for the night, prompting Brown to lose his composure for the only time through the ordeal.

Related Topics:
Silas Soule - Martyr - December 1

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On the morning of December 2, Brown read his Bible and wrote a final letter to his wife, which included his will. At 11:00 he was escorted through a crowd of 2,000 spectators and soldiers, including John Wilkes Booth who bought a militia uniform and stood guard for the execution. He was accompanied by the sheriff and his assistants, but no minister. Brown elected to receive no religious services in the jail or at the scaffold. He was hanged at 11:15 and pronounced dead at 11:50.

Related Topics:
December 2 - John Wilkes Booth

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On the day of his death he wrote "I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done."

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John Brown is buried on the John Brown Farm in North Elba, New York, south of Lake Placid.

Related Topics:
John Brown Farm - North Elba, New York - Lake Placid

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