Brown was well received by the Free-State leaders, on his arrival at Lawrence. He was fresh from the "bloody field of Osawatomie." He gave his story to the press, and posed as the hero of a splendidly fought battle against odds of nearly ten to one; and, although defeated, had inflicted _heavy losses_ upon the enemy. After his arrival, the Sunday morning council reassembled, and decided on the movement against Leavenworth. Most of the men thereupon offered the command to John Brown, a responsibility he declined, out of deference to other leaders, and it was then entrusted to Colonel James A. Harvey.[212] Referring to the defense of Lawrence, Mr. Villard says, with reference to September 14th: But the day before Lieutenant Colonel Johnston's arrival, these amateur fortifications were filled with very earnest Free-Soil men, ready to defend Lawrence at any cost. In the absence of Lane, the command was as much in the hands of Major J. B. Abbott and Captain Joseph Cracklin of the "Stubbs" as of any one else. Some partisans of John Brown have attempted to prove that he was in command, but the evidence is conclusive that he declined Major Abbott's offer of the command of a company, and then, at his request, went from one of the "forts" to another, encouraging the men, urging them to fire low, and giving them such military information as was his, everywhere, according to Major Abbott, with excellent results.[213] Of the invaders, Mr. Villard says:[214] They had with them no less than twenty-seven hundred men, some of them completely uniformed and well equipped. Besides infantry and cavalry, there was a six-pounder battery; in all a remarkably strong force. Its advance guard had come in sight of the men on guard at Lawrence on the afternoon of the 14th, and after an hour's shooting at long range, the Missourians had retired upon Franklin. Naturally the people of Lawrence were in great alarm; few were able to sleep that night, remembering as they did, Atchison's last visit to their town. There was, therefore, general rejoicing when, on the next morning, Lieut. Col. Johnston's troops were found to be encamped on Mount Oread, the hill overlooking Lawrence, where they had arrived during the night. The people of Lawrence might well be in a state of alarm during the night of the 14th, believing that with the dawn of the 15th, Atchison's guns would open upon the town. But Brown was not there on the morning of the 15th to help meet the shock of the impending battle. True to the mercenary character of his conduct, he declined all offers of command on the 14th, and left the town to its fate, going to the home, in the country, of Augustus Wattles.[215]