Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War Hardcover – Bargain Price (44 page)
Authors: Tony Horwitz
Tags: #John Brown, #Abolition, #Civil War Period (1850-1877)
BOOK: Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War Hardcover – Bargain Price
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“business operation”: Franklin Sanborn to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Oct. 13, 1859, BPL. Also see John Cook confession: “The attack was made sooner than it was intended, owing to some friends in Boston writing a letter finding fault with the management of Capt. B, and what to them seemed his unnecessary delay and expense.”
“this is perhaps”: Charles Tidd letter, quoted in
Bangor
(Maine)
Daily Whig & Courier,
Nov. 17, 1859.
Bangor
(Maine)
Daily Whig & Courier,
Nov. 17, 1859.
“I am now”: William Leeman to his mother, Oct. 2, 1859, KSHS.
“to worrie”: ibid.
“Home,” “peculiar condition,” and other quotes in this passage: Oliver Brown to Martha Brown, Oct. 9, 1859, Houghton Library.
“I sometimes think”: Watson Brown to Belle Brown, undated, in Sanborn,
The Life and Letters,
549.
The Life and Letters,
549.
“a few more lines” and other Stevens quotes: Aaron Stevens to “Jenny,” Oct. 7, 1859, KSHS.
Chapter 8: Into the Breach
For press accounts of the events of October through December 1859, I have in almost all cases cited original newspaper reports. But many of the reports were reprinted in abridged form in two publications compiled soon after the raid. See
The Life, Trial and Execution of Captain John Brown: Known as “Old Brown of Ossawatomie,” with a Full Account of the Attempted Insurrection at Harper’s Ferry
(New York: Robert M. De Witt, 1859), and Thomas Drew,
The John Brown Invasion: An Authentic History of the Harper’s Ferry Tragedy,
a series of pamphlets that are available online at BSC.
The Life, Trial and Execution of Captain John Brown: Known as “Old Brown of Ossawatomie,” with a Full Account of the Attempted Insurrection at Harper’s Ferry
(New York: Robert M. De Witt, 1859), and Thomas Drew,
The John Brown Invasion: An Authentic History of the Harper’s Ferry Tragedy,
a series of pamphlets that are available online at BSC.
“HEAD-QUARTERS”:
Calendar of Virginia State Papers
, 324.
Calendar of Virginia State Papers
, 324.
“In pursuance”: ibid.
“applicable”: Osborne Anderson, “A Voice from Harper’s Ferry,” 28.
“Throughout”: ibid.
“You all know”: ibid., 29.
“Men, get”: ibid., 31.
“Come, boys!”: ibid., 32.
“They all felt”: Franklin Sanborn,
Recollections of Seventy Years,
177–78. See also “Kennedy Farm Notes,” OGV, in which Annie reports that Osborne Anderson told her: “It seemed like a funeral march the night we left the house and went down to Harper’s Ferry. We all shook hands with, and bade the boys who stayed behind at the house, goodbye. The Coppoc brothers embraced, kissed one another and parted like they felt they would never meet again.”
Recollections of Seventy Years,
177–78. See also “Kennedy Farm Notes,” OGV, in which Annie reports that Osborne Anderson told her: “It seemed like a funeral march the night we left the house and went down to Harper’s Ferry. We all shook hands with, and bade the boys who stayed behind at the house, goodbye. The Coppoc brothers embraced, kissed one another and parted like they felt they would never meet again.”
“Which way?” and “Not far”: “Statement of Patrick Higgins,”
Baltimore American,
Oct. 21, 1859. See also Oswald Garrison Villard, “How Patrick Higgins Met John Brown,” OGV, and interview with Higgins by Thomas Featherstonhaugh, KSHS.
Baltimore American,
Oct. 21, 1859. See also Oswald Garrison Villard, “How Patrick Higgins Met John Brown,” OGV, and interview with Higgins by Thomas Featherstonhaugh, KSHS.
“Lock your doors”: “Statement of W. W. Throckmorton,”
New York Herald,
Oct. 24, 1859.
New York Herald,
Oct. 24, 1859.
“I was nearly”: Daniel Whelan testimony, Mason Report, A021.
“I knew Cook well”: ibid, A022.
“The head”: ibid.
“I want to free”: ibid.
“by the servants”: Washington is quoted from his testimony, Mason Report, A029–39, and in the
Baltimore American,
Oct. 25, 1859. Lewis Washington’s account books are at the Jefferson County (West Virginia) Museum, Charles
Baltimore American,
Oct. 25, 1859. Lewis Washington’s account books are at the Jefferson County (West Virginia) Museum, Charles
“Murder!”: D. E. Henderson to David Strother, Oct. 19, 1859, RWL. See also testimony of John Allstadt, Mason Report, A040–41.
“merely a robbing party”: Washington is quoted from the Mason Report, A034.
“newly fitted up”:
Virginia Free Press,
Oct. 13, 1859. On May 5, the paper had reported that the hotel was losing business because “the Bar had apparently become the main attraction.”
Virginia Free Press,
Oct. 13, 1859. On May 5, the paper had reported that the hotel was losing business because “the Bar had apparently become the main attraction.”
“gypsy wagon” and “some rowdies”: “Statement of W. W. Throckmorton.”
“Stand and deliver!”:
Baltimore American,
Oct. 28, 1859.
Baltimore American,
Oct. 28, 1859.
“I am shot”: ibid. Little is known about Shepherd. According to the 1860 census, he left a widow and five children in Winchester, Virginia. See Mary Johnson, “An ‘Ever Present Bone of Contention’: The Heyward Shepherd Memorial,”
West Virginia History,
1997, 1—26.
West Virginia History,
1997, 1—26.
“There he goes now!”:
Baltimore American,
Oct. 28, 1859.
Baltimore American,
Oct. 28, 1859.
“Passengers”:
New York Herald,
Oct. 24, 1859.
New York Herald,
Oct. 24, 1859.
“It was filled”: Simeon Franklin Seely, letter to his wife, Oct. 17, 1859, West Virginia and Regional History Collection, West Virginia University Libraries. See also the letter of Oct. 20, 1859, from a Maryland woman, telling of what train passengers saw, in “An Account of the John Brown Raid,”
Maryland Historical Magazine,
June 1944, 162–63, Maryland Historical Society.
Maryland Historical Magazine,
June 1944, 162–63, Maryland Historical Society.
“Never mind”: testimony of John Starry, Mason Report, A024.
“was to free”:
Baltimore American,
Oct. 29, 1859.
Baltimore American,
Oct. 29, 1859.
“You will furnish”: “Statement of W. W. Throckmorton.” Additional information about the food is from the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (interview with Thomas Allstadt in West Virginia Folklore File). See also Lewis Washington’s testimony, Mason Report: he feared eating the food because it “may be drugged.”
“have to be rather rough”: “Statement of W. W. Throckmorton.”
“You no doubt wonder”:
Baltimore American,
Oct. 28, 1859.
Baltimore American,
Oct. 28, 1859.
“Express train”: A. J. Phelps to W. P. Smith, Oct. 17, 1859,
Correspondence Relating to the Insurrection at Harper’s Ferry
(Annapolis: B. H. Richardson, 1860), at Western Maryland Historical Library,
www.whilbr.org
.
Correspondence Relating to the Insurrection at Harper’s Ferry
(Annapolis: B. H. Richardson, 1860), at Western Maryland Historical Library,
www.whilbr.org
.
“The leader of those men”: ibid.
“The Captain” and “he expected”: ibid.
“strapping negroes”:
Baltimore American,
Oct. 18, 1859.
Baltimore American,
Oct. 18, 1859.
“escape with their booty”:
Harper’s Weekly,
Nov. 5, 1859.
Harper’s Weekly,
Nov. 5, 1859.
Passengers flinging notes:
New York Herald,
Oct. 19, 1859.
New York Herald,
Oct. 19, 1859.
Newspaper headlines from Oct. 18, 1859:
New York Herald, Baltimore American, New York Times.
New York Herald, Baltimore American, New York Times.
“something startling”: Douglass,
Autobiographies,
759.
Autobiographies,
759.
“to get the citizens”: testimony of John Starry, Mason Report, A025. For more on Boerly and shooting, see George Mauzy letter to “My dear Children,” Dec. 3, 1859, HFNHP; Mauzy writes of Boerly and his neighbor: “When they made the first attack at Taylor’s corner upon the guard at the Arsenal gate, & from whence the latter recd a dead shot by a negro with a Sharps rifle.” See also Joseph Barry,
The Strange Story of Harper’s Ferry,
51–52.
The Strange Story of Harper’s Ferry,
51–52.
Byrne exchange: testimony of Terence Byrne, Mason Report, A013–A020.
“should not be interrupted”: For this and other exchanges with Cook, see the testimony of Lind Currie, Mason Report, A054–A059.
“I had an umbrella”: For Byrne’s exchanges with Leeman and Thompson, see the testimony of Terence Byrne, Mason Report, A016–17.
“Thompson came up”: John Cook confession.
“I heard a good deal”: ibid.
“bad management”:
Baltimore American,
Oct. 28, 1859.
Baltimore American,
Oct. 28, 1859.
“It was not”: ibid.
“From Brown”: “Copeland’s Confession,”
New York Herald,
Nov. 5, 1859.
New York Herald,
Nov. 5, 1859.
“sticks wrapped”: “Notes of Personal Interviews with Graham made by Dr. Thomas Featherstonhaugh for Richard J. Hinton,” KSHS. See also testimony of Archibald Kitzmiller, Mason Report, A049–50. He says there were a hundred “faggots” in the wagon.
“sharpshooter”: David Potter,
The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861
(New York: Harper & Row, 1976), illustration 42.
The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861
(New York: Harper & Row, 1976), illustration 42.
“Father and the others”: Jennie Chambers, “What a School Girl Saw of John Brown’s Raid” (Harriman, Tenn.: Pioneer Historical Society, 1902), 5. See also Alexander Boteler, “Recollections of the John Brown Raid by a Virginian Who Witnessed the Fight,”
Century Magazine,
July 1883, 405.
Century Magazine,
July 1883, 405.
“rode out in haste”: journals of James Lawrence Hooff, entry for Oct. 17, 1859, Virginia Historical Society.
“any negro”:
Virginia
(Charlestown)
Free Press,
Aug. 11, 1859.
Virginia
(Charlestown)
Free Press,
Aug. 11, 1859.
“for remaining in the Commonwealth”: ibid., Aug. 20, 1857.
“armed bands”: “Some personal recollections of ‘John Brown’s Raid’ by an Eyewitness,” HFNHP. This unsigned manuscript is by one of the men sent across the river to attack the bridge. See also D. E. Henderson to David Strother, Oct. 19, 1858, RWL.
“Every man”: “Some personal recollections.”
“if I thought”: Harriett Newby to Dangerfield Newby, Aug. 16, 1859,
Calendar of Virginia State Papers,
311
.
A lane close to where Newby fell was known at the time as Hog Alley. Mary Mauzy wrote her daughter on October 17, 1859, “Those wreches that were killed lay in the street until the hogs began to tear them up” (HFNHP). According to the
Richmond Daily Dispatch,
Oct. 20, 1859: “The ball went through his throat, tearing away all the great arteries, and killing him instantly … . His body was left in the street up to noon yesterday; exposed to every indignity that could be heaped upon it by the excited populace.” See also Barry,
The Strange Story of Harper’s Ferry,
81–82.
Calendar of Virginia State Papers,
311
.
A lane close to where Newby fell was known at the time as Hog Alley. Mary Mauzy wrote her daughter on October 17, 1859, “Those wreches that were killed lay in the street until the hogs began to tear them up” (HFNHP). According to the
Richmond Daily Dispatch,
Oct. 20, 1859: “The ball went through his throat, tearing away all the great arteries, and killing him instantly … . His body was left in the street up to noon yesterday; exposed to every indignity that could be heaped upon it by the excited populace.” See also Barry,
The Strange Story of Harper’s Ferry,
81–82.
“well guarded”: Franklin Sanborn, “Personal Reminiscences of John Brown,” Remarks at the Reunion of the Anti-Slavery Men and Women (Boston, April 7, 1897), Houghton Library.
“strange doctrine”: ibid.
“Some
valuable hints
” and “deep and narrow”: John Brown Memorandum Books, BPL.
valuable hints
” and “deep and narrow”: John Brown Memorandum Books, BPL.
“in each direction”: “Conversation with Tidd,” Feb. 10, 1860, BPL.
“I want you”: testimony of Terence Byrne, Mason Report, A018.
“You are”: testimony of Lewis Washington, Mason Report, A035.
“It’s getting too hot”:
Baltimore American,
Oct. 29, 1859.
Baltimore American,
Oct. 29, 1859.
“His answers”: Christine Fouke, “Interesting Letter from Miss Fouke, of Harpers-Ferry,”
Virginia Free Press,
Dec. 8, 1859.
Virginia Free Press,
Dec. 8, 1859.
“I am as good”: Court Martial Case Files, May 21, 1855, War Department Office of the Judge Advocate General, National Archives.
“You would be the first”: testimony of Lewis Washington, Mason Report, A036. For more on Stevens, see interview with E. B. Chambers, who said “Stevens was the gamest man in the lot” and “walked on without flinching till he was shot down. It takes nerve to do that” (OGV).
“was in possession”: testimony of John Starry, Mason Report, A025.
“I can possibly”:
New York Times,
Oct. 26, 1859.
New York Times,
Oct. 26, 1859.
“I have been”: ibid.
“show temper”: testimony of Brua at Brown’s trial,
New York Tribune,
Oct. 29, 1859. On Watson after the shooting, see testimony of John Dangerfield,
New York Tribune,
Oct. 31, 1859.
New York Tribune,
Oct. 29, 1859. On Watson after the shooting, see testimony of John Dangerfield,
New York Tribune,
Oct. 31, 1859.
“did not consider”:
New York Herald,
Oct. 24, 1859.
New York Herald,
Oct. 24, 1859.
“I seen big”: Patrick Higgins to E. P. Stevens, Nov. 5, 1899, OGV. See also interview with John Thomas Allstadt, OGV. He said Chambers and another man stood “in an upper window of the Galt House, watching Stevens until he should come well within range. As the moment arrived, they broke the glass in order to fire true. Stevens fell.” He pulled himself up on one knee and fired a second volley. “He lay for perhaps half an hour, there in the road. Then he was carried to the Wager House.”
“A large, exceedingly”:
Baltimore American,
Oct. 19, 1859.
Baltimore American,
Oct. 19, 1859.
“brawny shoulders”:
New York Tribune,
Oct. 20, 1859.
New York Tribune,
Oct. 20, 1859.
“the Negroes”:
Baltimore American,
Oct. 19, 1859.
Baltimore American,
Oct. 19, 1859.
“One life for many”: “An Account of the John Brown Raid,”
Maryland Historical Magazine,
June 1944, 163.
Maryland Historical Magazine,
June 1944, 163.
“Devil may care”: George Gill to Richard Hinton, undated, KSHS.
“we will not want”: Leeman to family, Aug. 14, 1859, KSHS. On the depth of the Potomac: “Very few places in the river at that period of the year contained over two feet of water” (L. T. Moore to Thomas Hughes, Nov. 2, 1880, BSC).
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