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
I can see Colonel Lee now, as he stood on a slight elevation about forty
feet from the engine-house, during the assault. He was in civilian
dress, and looked then very little as he did during the war. He wore no
beard, except a dark mustache, and his hair was slightly gray. He had no
arms upon his person, and treated the affair as one of no very great
consequence, which would be speedily settled by the marines. A part of
the scene, giving color and life to the picture, was the bright blue
uniform of the marines. They wore blue trousers then, as they do now,
and a dark-blue frock-coat. Their belts were white, and they wore French
fatigue caps. I do not remember the names of the twelve men in the
storming party, nor can I tell what became of them in later life. We had
no use for the howitzers, and, in fact, they were not taken from the
car.
Immediately after the fight, Brown was carried out of the engine-house,
and recovered consciousness while lying on the ground in front. A detail
of men carried him up to the paymaster’s office, where he was attended
to and his wants supplied. On the following day, Wednesday, with an
escort, I removed him to Charleston [Charles Town], and turned him over
to the civil authorities. No handcuffs were placed upon him, and he
supported himself with a self-reliance and independence which were
characteristic of the man. He had recovered a great deal from the
effects of the blow from my saber, the injury of which was principally
the shock, as he only received a flesh wound. I had little conversation
with him, and spent very little time with him.
I have often been asked to describe Brown’s appearance at the instant he
lifted his head to see who was talking with Colonel Washington. It would
be impossible for me to do so. The whole scene passed so rapidly that it
hardly made a distinct impression upon my mind. I can only recall the
fleeting picture of an old man kneeling with a carbine in his hand, with
a long gray beard falling away from his face, looking quickly and keenly
toward the danger that he was aware had come upon him. He was not a
large man, being perhaps five feet ten inches when he straightened up in
full. His dress, even, I do not remember distinctly. I should say that
he had his trousers tucked in his boots, and that he wore clothes of
gray—probably no more than trousers and shirt. I think he had no hat
upon his head.
None of the prisoners were hurt. They were badly frightened and somewhat
starved. I received no wounds except a slight scratch on one hand as I
was getting through the hole in the door. Colonel Lee and the people on
the outside thought I was wounded. Brown had, at the time, only five or
six fighting men, and I think he himself was the only one who showed
fight after I entered the engine-house. There were no provisions in the
building, and it would have been only a question of time when Brown
would have had to surrender. Colonel Washington was the only person
inside the house that I knew.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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