John Brown's RaidUnited States. National Park Service
History
John Brown's Raid
United States. National Park Service
Brown, John, 1800-1859; Harpers Ferry (W. Va.) -- History -- John Brown's Raid, 1859
Several structures associated with the raid still exist outside Harpers
Ferry. The courthouse at Charles Town, W. Va., is little changed since
John Brown was tried and sentenced there more than a century ago. The
Kennedy farm, Brown’s headquarters during the months he was planning the
raid, lies in the Maryland countryside about 5 miles from Harpers Ferry.
Col. Lewis Washington’s home, “Beallair,” which several raiders broke
into on the night of October 16 and took its owner hostage, stands near
Halltown, about 4 miles west of Harpers Ferry. And nearby, at the foot
of Alstadt Hill, west of Bolivar, is the home of John H. Alstadt,
another hostage taken by Brown’s men on October 16.
APPENDIX
The Capture of John Brown[1]
by Israel Green
At noon of Monday, October 18, 1859, Chief Clerk Walsh, of the Navy
Department, drove rapidly into the Washington Navy-yard, and, meeting
me, asked me how many marines we had stationed at the barracks available
for immediate duty. I happened to be the senior officer present and in
command that day. I instantly replied to Mr. Walsh that we had ninety
men available, and then asked him what was the trouble. He told me that
Ossawatomie Brown, of Kansas, with a number of men, had taken the
arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, and was then besieged there by the Virginia
State troops. Mr. Walsh returned speedily to the Navy Department
building, and, in the course of an hour, orders came to me from
Secretary Tousey to proceed at once to Harper’s Ferry and report to the
senior officer; and, if there should be no such officer at the Ferry, to
take charge and protect the government property. With a detachment of
ninety marines, I started for Harper’s Ferry that afternoon on the 3:30
train, taking with me two howitzers. It was a beautiful, clear autumn
day, and the men, exhilarated by the excitement of the occasion, which
came after a long, dull season of confinement in the barracks, enjoyed
the trip exceedingly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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