If I Had Ten Thousand Lives

Albert Hazlett, one of John Brown’s raiders was executed March 16^th 1860, even though he wasn’t with Brown during the Harper’s Ferry raid.

Albert Hazlett was born September 21^st 1837 in Pennsylvania.  He worked on his brother’s farm in Pennsylvania, before moving to Kansas.  He was described as a good sized and fine looking man.

Hazlett wasn’t with John Brown on the morning of October 18^th 1859 when Robert E Lee and a company of United States Marines brought an end to Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry.  Hazlett and another man; Osborne Anderson left Harpers Ferry the night before undetected.  The two men headed north into Pennsylvania.  Hazlett, who assumed the name William Harrison, was arrested October 22^nd 1859 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.  He was brought before a judge in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, but was unable to convince the judge that they had the wrong person.  The judge ruled that while “there is no evidence that we have any man in our custody named Albert Hazlett, we are satisfied that a monstrous crime has been committed [and] that the prisoner…participated in it.”  Hazlett was sent back to Charlestown, Virginia for trail.

He was found guilty.  Hazlett was executed March 16^th 1860.  The night before his execution Hazlett wrote to a Mrs. Rebecca Spring, that it gives “me great comfort to know that my body would be taken from this land of chains.... I am willing to die in the cause of liberty, if I had ten thousand lives I would willingly lay them all down for the same cause."

Held At The River

Theodore Safford Peck was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on February 2^nd 1864 at Newport Barracks, North Carolina.

Theodore Safford Peck was born March 22^nd 1843 in Burlington, Vermont the son of Theodore Augustus and Delia Horton (Safford) Peck.  He attended local schools and was prepared to enter the University of Vermont when the Civil War began.

Peck enlisted as a Private in Company F of the 1^st Vermont Cavalry.  He was involved in the engagements at Middletown and Winchester, Virginia in early 1862.  In June Peck received an appointment to Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant in the 9^th Vermont Infantry.  He was with this regiment when it was captured at Harper’s Ferry in September 1862.  He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in January 1863, and was at Suffolk, Yorktown, and Young’s Crossroads.

On February 2^nd 1864 Peck was involved in an engagement at Newport Barracks, North Carolina.  Union troops there numbering about 700 men, were attacked by a force commanded by Confederate General James Green Martin.  The Union troops were outflanked, and there line was pressed back.  Peck leading Company H of the 9^th Vermont made eleven stands before reaching the Newport River, where they held well the rest of the Union troops crossed the river.  The Confederates were so close that there was hardly time for the Union troops to burn the bridges, they had just crossed on.  It was for this action that he received the Medal of Honor.

Peck was wounded at Fort Harrison, Virginia in September 1864, and was promoted to Captain.   He continued to serve moving up to Brigade Quartermaster of the 2^nd Brigade of the 2^nd Division in the XVIV Corps.  He was with the Union army when it entered Richmond, Virginia following the fall of that city.

After the war Peck owned and operated an insurance company in Burlington, Vermont.  He was an active member of the GAR, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and Reunion Society of the Vermont Officers.  He received an honorary degree in 1896 from Norwich, Vermont.  He joined the Vermont National Guard and would reach the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  Peck died March 15^th 1918 in Burlington, Vermont and is buried in the Lakeview Cemetery there.

Exchanged

The 125^th New York; a regiment raised in Rensselaer County, New York, was officially exchanged on November 22^nd 1862 from Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois.

The 125^th New York Infantry was raised in Rensselaer County, New York and was mustered into Union service at the end of August 1862 in Troy, New York with Colonel George L Willard as their commander for a term of three years.  The men left Troy by train August 30^th 1862 for Martinsburg, Virginia.  Just a few days later they were involved in the Battle of Harper’s Ferry.  Several of the men of the regiment were killed and wounded.  The 125^th were also among the 11,500 men garrisoned at Harper’s Ferry who surrendered to the Confederates on September 15^th 1862.

The 125^th along with the other captured troops were sent under parole to Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois to await exchange.  They would be referred to as the “Harpers Ferry Cowards”   The exchange came for the 125^th on November 22^nd 1862, and the men were sent back to Virginia, where they took up position in the defense of Washington, DC.  They were camped at Centerville on June 24^th 1863, when they became part of the II Corps, Union General Alexander Hay’s Division.  Their commander Colonel George L Willard became the brigade commander.  The men marched off to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  During the Battle of Gettysburg the 125^th lost 139 men killed and wounded, including Colonel Willard.

The 125^th would go on the fight at Bristoe Station, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor and many more.  They would be engaged every day during the siege of Petersburg from July 16^th 1864 through April 1^st 1865.  The 125^th or what was left of it was at Appomattox when Confederate General Robert E Lee surrendered.

Following the Grand Review of the troops in Washington, DC, the men of the 125^th proceeded to Troy, New York, where they were mustered out of service June 15^th 1865.

A Confederate Gun

The Fayetteville Rifle a Confederate made gun, ceased to be made March 11^th 1865, when Union General William Tecumseh Sherman destroyed the arsenal.

The Fayetteville Rifle was a .58 caliber, two banded rifled musket that was made at the Confederate States Arsenal in Fayetteville, North Carolina.  The rifle’s back sights were set for 500 yard and it had a place for a bayonet.  The machinery used to make these guns was captured in April 18^th 1861 at the United State Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.  It had been used to make the US Model 1855 Rifle.  They were able to make about 300 rifles a month, with a maximum of 500 when needed.  The Fayetteville was produced from early in 1862 until the arsenal was captured and destroyed March 11^th 1865 by troops under Union General William T Sherman.

Always A Colonel

Confederate Colonel John Mercer Brockenbrough resigned his commission on January 21^st 1864.

John Mercer Brockenbrough was born August 1^st 1830 in Richmond County, Virginia, the son of Moore Fauntleroy and Sarah Waller (Smith) Brockenbrough.  He attended and graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1850.

Brockenbrough was appointed the Colonel of the 40^th Virginia at the start of the Civil War.  They were a part of Confederate Major General A P Hill’s Light Division.  Brockenbrough led his men during the Seven Days Battles seeing casualties of about 50%.  At the Battle of Chantilly he moved up to Brigade command, and continued there through the battles of Harpers Ferry, Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg.  In the early part of the 1863 Confederate Brigadier General Henry Heth replaced Brockenbrough as the brigade commander.  But, when A P Hill was wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Heth moved up and Brockenbrough got his brigade back.  His men saw action at Gettysburg on the afternoon of July 1^st 1863, fighting against Union Colonel Roy Stone’s Pennsylvania Buck Tails, and as part of Pickett’s Charge on the 3^rd.

Following a reckless charge on Union troops at the Battle of Falling Waters on July 14^th 1863; a part of the Confederate retreat from Gettysburg, Brockenbrough was removed from Brigade command and he resumed command of the 40^th Virginia.  He led the 40^th the Battles of Bristoe and Mine Run, before resigning his command January 21^st 1864 still as a Colonel.

Brockenbrough lived in Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia following the war.  He died August 25^th 1892 in Richmond, Virginia and is buried in the Hollywood Cemetery there.

An Independent Battery

The 26^th Ohio Independent Battery, made up of men from the 32^nd Ohio Infantry, was organized as a distinct battery on December 22^nd 1863.

The battery was organized August 1861 as Company “F” of the 32^nd Ohio Infantry at Camp Dennison in Cincinnati, Ohio.  They were detached under the command of Captain Theobold D Yost; when they were captured at Harper's Ferry September 15^th 1862.  During the Vicksburg Campaign the unit was known as the Yost’s Independent Ohio Battery.  They were permanently detached from the 32^nd on December 22^nd 1863.

The men of the 26^th Ohio Battery mustered out of Union service on September 2^nd 1865 in Columbus, Ohio.  They lost 22 men during service all dying from disease.

If I Cannot Whip Bobby Lee

Robert E Lee’s lost Special Order 191 was found by the Union Army on September 13^th 1862, leading to the Battle of Antietam.

Robert E Lee’s Special Order 191 was written in early September during the Maryland Campaign.  In it were the detailed movements of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.  Lee listed the routes and road that would be used, and the timing for taking Harpers Ferry.  Lee’s Adjutant Brigadier General Robert Hall Chilton wrote the copies of the Order and distributed copies to the Confederate generals.

In the morning of September 13^th 1862 Union Corporal Barton W Mitchell of the 27^th Indiana Infantry found an envelope wrapped around cigars in the grass at a vacated Confederate camp on the Best Farm.  Realizing he had found something important, Mitchell gave the paper to Sergeant John M Bloss, and it continued up to chain of command until it reached the hands of the Union commander Major General George B McClellan.  McClellan was said to have exclaimed, "Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home."

To read more about this, check out General Robert E. Lee’s “Lost Order” No. 191, Hdqrs. Army of Northern Virginia, September 9, 1862

Believed He Was Just To The Last

Abolitionist Aaron Dwight Stevens was executed March 16^th 1860 for his part in John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry.

Aaron Dwight Stevens was born March 15^th 1831 in Lisbon, New London, Connecticut.  At sixteen he enlisted in Cushing’s Massachusetts regiment and saw service in the Mexican American War.  Latter as part of Company F of the United States 1^st Dragoons, Stevens was tried for assaulting United States Major George A H Blake.  The assault was understood to have been caused by Blake’s treatment of enlisted soldiers.  Stevens was sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted by President Franklin Pierce, and Stevens was sent to Leavenworth for three years hard labor.  He escaped and became the Colonel of 2^nd Kansas Militia, using the name Whipple.

It was while Stevens was with the 2^nd that he met John Brown on August 7^th 1856 during “Bleeding Kansas”.  In 1859 Stevens was with John Brown at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.  Stevens was trapped in the engine house with Brown and several other raiders.  He thought they should use the hostages as shields and make a run for it, but Brown overruled him and they stayed in the engine house.  Stevens was sent out with Brown’s son Watson to negotiate and was shot four times.  When taken captive by militia, they thought he was dead.

Stevens’ lawyer George H Hoyt said of him that, “He's in a most pitiable condition physically, his wounds being of the most painful and dangerous character. He has now four balls in his body, two of these being about the head and neck. He bears his sufferings with grim and silent fortitude, never complaining and absolutely without hope. He is a splendid looking young fellow. Such black and penetrating eyes! Such an expansive brow! Such a grand chest and limbs! He was the best, and in fact the only man Brown had who was a good soldier besides being reliable otherwise."  Stevens made a deathbed confession, but never changed his belief that the raid on Harper’s Ferry was just.

Stevens was found guilty of treason for his part in the Harper’s Ferry raid, and for conspiring with slaves to bring on an insurrection.  One day after his 29^th birthday Stevens was executed on March 16^th 1860 in Charlestown, Virginia.

Ambushed At His Mother's Home

Confederate Captain Redmond Burke was killed November 25^th 1862 as he approached a home in Shepherdstown, Virginia.

Redmond Burke was born in Ireland in 1816.  He lived in Harper's Ferry and worked as a stonecutter.

When the Civil War started Burke enlisted as a Private in the 1^st Virginia Cavalry.  He was transferred to serve on Confederate Major General JEB Stuart’s staff as aide decamp and scout and was portrayed as "a man of great presence of mind and courage and had done some deeds of desperate gallantry".  He was commissioned on April 3rd 1862 as a Lieutenant.  He was wounded twice, once in the leg at the Battle of Brandy Station and in the wrist at Fredericksburg.  Burke had reached the rank of Captain by November 1862.

Burke and several companions went to the home of his mother in Shepherdstown, Virginia on November 25^th 1862.  It was here that Union soldiers ambushed him.  He was killed.  When Stuart learned of Burke’s death he wrote of him that “he possessed a heart intrepid, a spirit invincible, patriotism too lofty to admit a selfish thought and a conscience that scorned to do a mean act. A devoted champion of the South, his gray hairs have descended in honor to the grave, leaving a shining example of heroism and patriotism to those who survive…”

Ending Of A Slave Revolt

United States Colonel Robert E Lee led a detachment of Marines against John Brown on October 18^th 1859, bringing an end to the Raid on Harper's Ferry.

John Brown led an armed slave revolt against the United States Arsenal in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in October 1859.  Brown rented the Kennedy House in Washington County, Maryland, about 4 miles from Harper's Ferry, where he used the name Isaac Smith.  He led a group of 21 men, including 4 free black men and 1 fugitive slave.  His plan was to capture the arms located at the Arsenal and arm slaves to create a revolt of slaves against their masters.  Brown expected around 400 slaves to join him in a rebellion.

Brown and his followers were trapped in the Harper's Ferry fire engine house on October 18^th 1859, when Lee sent United States Lieutenant JEB Stuart in to negotiate for a surrender of Brown and his followers.  Lee then ordered United States Lieutenant Israel Greene to lead the marines against the engine house if Brown refused to capitulate.  Brown would not accept any terms, and two marines armed with sledgehammers tried to break down the door.  They switched to using a ladder and ten marines busted through the door.  Green described the scene, "Quicker than thought I brought my saber down with all my strength upon [Brown's] head. He was moving as the blow fell, and I suppose I did not strike him where I intended, for he received a deep saber cut in the back of the neck. He fell senseless on his side, then rolled over on his back. He had in his hand a short Sharpe's cavalry carbine. I think he had just fired as I reached Colonel Washington, for the Marine who followed me into the aperture made by the ladder received a bullet in the abdomen, from which he died in a few minutes. The shot might have been fired by someone else in the insurgent party, but I think it was from Brown. Instinctively as Brown fell I gave him a saber thrust in the left breast. The sword I carried was a light uniform weapon, and, either not having a point or striking something hard in Brown's accouterments did not penetrate. The blade bent double.”

The whole action only took about three minutes.  Brown and his raiders where take prisoner.

An Up Front Leader

Colonel Benjamin Franklin “Grimes” Davis was killed June 9th 1863 while leading a charge during the Battle of Brandy Station.


Benjamin Franklin Davis was born 1832 in Alabama. He grew up in Mississippi. He received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 1856. He saw fighting with the 1st United States Dragoons in New Mexico against Apache.

When the Civil War started Davis stayed with the Union where he was a Captain in the 1st United States Cavalry [he had two brothers who served with the Confederacy]. On June 25th 1862 Davis received a commission to Colonel in the 8th New York Cavalry. He and his cavalry fought their way out of Harpers Ferry when it fell to Confederate General Thomas Stonewall Jackson. Following this he received a promotion to Major. David led the First Brigade in the Untied States Cavalry division for Brigadier General Alfred Pleasonton as part of the Chancellorsville Campaign.

Leading the First Brigade in the early morning hours of June 9th 1863 at the Battle of Brandy Station, his men charged a South Carolina artillery battery near Beverly’s Ford. Davis and his men were met by a Confederate cavalry counterattack. Most of Davis brigade fell back, but he refused to and challenged the on coming cavalry. The men of Confederate Major Caball E Flournoy’s 6th Virginia Cavalry charged Davis. Confederate Lieutenant Owen R Allen hugged his horse’s neck and fired his pistol point blank at Davis. The shot hit Davis in the forehead killing him instantly. Davis is buried in the cemetery at West Point.

If you like to more about Colonel Benjamin Franklin Davis this is a good site.

The First Confederate Death

Killed on June 1st 1861, John Quincy Marr was the first Confederate officer killed in the Civil War.

John Quincy Marr was born May 27th 1825 in Warrenton, Fauquier, Virginia, the son of John and Catherine [Inman Horner] Marr. He graduated in 1846 from the Virginia Military Institute, the second in his class. After graduating Marr was the assistant professor of mathematics and tactics at VMI. When his father died in 1848 Marr returned home where he served for two years as the sheriff of Fauquier County, Virginia. Following John Brown’s Harpers Ferry raid in 1859, Marr helped organize the “Warrenton Rifles”, a local militia company.

Once the Civil War began Marr was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel on May 5th 1861 in the Confederate Army. A company of Union Cavalry entered Fairfax Court House on June 1st 1861, driving back Confederate pickets and taking prisoners. At the time the town was occupied by two companies of Confederate cavalry and Marr’s “Warrenton Rifles”. As the Confederate Cavalry began to retreat from Fairfax Court House, it left only about 40 of Marr’s men to fight the Union Cavalry.

The 2nd United States Cavalry led by Lieutenant Charles Henry Tompkins, with about 70 men in two groups road through the town. Marr was shot by a stray bullet and fell dead by the road side in a clover field. His death was not immediately known and his body wasn't found for several hours. Marr’s body was taken home to Warrenton where his funeral was attended by a large crowd.

Failure In The Shenandoah

Robert Patterson was mustered into service and given command of the districts of Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Pennsylvania April 15th 1861.


Robert Patterson was born January 12th 1792 in Cappagh, Tyrone, Ireland. His family emigrated to the United States in 1799. He attended local schools and then clerked in a Philadelphia counting house. Volunteering for service, Patterson rose in rank during the War of 1812 to Colonel in the 2nd Pennsylvania Militia. With the Mexican-American war he was commissioned a Major General, and saw action at the Battle of Cerro Gordo and Veracruz. Following the war he returned to Pennsylvania where he joined in politics and became quite wealthy because of his cotton mills and a Louisiana sugar plantation.

When the Civil War started Patterson was appointed Major General of Pennsylvania volunteers. He was given the command of the Department of Pennsylvania and the Army of the Shenandoah on April 15th 1861. Ordered to re-take the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Patterson failed, and was then outmaneuvered at the Battle of Hoke’s Run, and by Confederate Brigadier General Joseph E Johnston at Winchester Virginia. Due to Patterson’s failure with Johnston, the Confederate leader was able to be at First Bull Run. Patterson was honorably discharged from the Army July 27th 1861.

Patterson returned to his cotton mills and wrote the book “A Narrative of the Campaign in the Valley of the Shenandoah in 1861” which was published in 1865. He was the President of the Aztec Club from 1867 to 1881. Patterson died August 7th 1881 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania and is buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery there.

Jackson's Ordnance Officer

Alexander “Sandie” Swift Pendleton was born September 28th 1840 in Alexandria Virginia. He was the son of Minister and Confederate General William N and Anzolette Elizabeth [Page] Pendleton. He grew up in Maryland. Pendleton graduated in 1857 from Washington College were he first met Thomas J “Stonewall” Jackson. He was studying for a Master’s degree at the University of Virginia when the war started.

Pendleton received a commission of Second Lieutenant in the Provisional Army of Virginia. “Stonewall” Jackson, who was in command of the Confederate forces in Harpers Ferry had Pendleton assigned to his staff as an Ordnance officer. Pendleton would serve with Jackson until the General’s death after the Battle of Chancellorsville. Pendleton would continue with the Confederate Second Corps under General Richard S Ewell. General Jubal A Early took over command in 1864, and he promoted Pendleton to Lieutenant Colonel and chief of staff. During the Third Battle of Winchester on September 19th 1864 the Confederates were forces to retreat to Fisher’s Hill. When the Union force under Major General Philip H Sheridan attacked the hill on September 22nd 1864; Pendleton was mortally wounded. He was moved to the town of Woodstock, where he died on September 23rd 1864. He was buried near the battle field, but latter his body was exhumed and sent home to his family. He was reburied October 24th 1864 near “Stonewall” Jackson.

The Lost Orders

Special Order Number 191, written by Confederate General Robert E Lee on September 9th 1862, outlined plans for the Maryland Campaign. The Order detailed the dividing of his army, with Major General Thomas J Stonewall Jackson going to Harpers Ferry, Major General James Longstreet north to Boonsboro and the rest of the army to Hagerstown. Confederate Adjutant Robert H Chilton made copies of #191 for each commander and their subordinate commanders. One of the copies which was made for Major General Daniel Hill, was in some way left at the Best Farm in Frederick County Maryland.


Union Private Barton W Mitchell of the 27th Indiana found the Orders on September 13th 1862, in an envelope wrapped around a bunch of cigars. Giving the find to his superiors Orders #191 made its way into the hands of Union Major General George B McClellan. McClellan having the Confederate troop movements was reported to have said, "Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home." The two armies would meet at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland, the bloodiest day of the war.

For further information about this subject check out this web site Special Order No 191

The Town That Started The Civil War

Presbyterian Ministers John Jay Shipherd and Philo P Stewart founded on September 2nd 1833 Oberlin College a private liberal arts college in Oberlin Ohio. Motivated by Pastor John Frederick Oberlin, the college was set up to “train teachers and other Christian leaders for the boundless most desolate fields in the West." That December twenty-nine male and fifteen female students began classes. Two years latter in 1835 Oberlin was receiving students “irrespective of color." Oberlin College was the first school to graduate an African American woman; Mary Jane Petterson with a BA degree in 1862. Oberlin Ohio the town around the college was know as the “town that started the Civil War”. In 1858 the faculty and students of the school took part in the rescue of a fugitive slave, which got national news coverage as the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. A couple of students participated in John Brown’s raid on Harper's Ferry.

One Of Four Generals

An Officer in the United States Cavalry William Selby Harney died May 9th 1889.


William Selby Harney was born August 27th 1800 in Haysboro Davidson Tennessee. While visiting his brother Dr Benjamin F Harney who was an Army Surgeon in Baton Rouge Louisiana in 1817 met some high military officers. Harney was so impressed by these men that he worked to get a commission to Second Lieutenant through President James Monroe. He began his military carrer in the 1st Unites States Infantry under Andrew Jackson. He saw action in the Seminole and Blackhawk Wars. With an appointment to Colonel with command of the 2nd Dragoons he was a member of General Winfield Scott’s Army at the Battle of Cerro Gordo during the Mexican American War. After this Harney found himself fighting Indians in the west, at the Battle of Ash Hollow and with a then Captain George E Pickett serving under him in the Dept of Oregon.

Harney received a promotion to Brigadier General June 14th 1856 and was one of the only four generals serving in the regular army at the start of the Civil War [the other three being Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, and Brigadier Generals John E Wool and Edwin Vose Sumner]. He was in command of the Department of the West, stationed in St Louis Missouri at the out break of the Civil War. Although Missouri vowed neutrality at the beginning of the war, the “Camp Jackson Affair” where Union General Nathaniel Lyon captured some Missouri State Militia, and fired on a crowd, causing the Missouri General Assembly to authorize attacks on any Army North or South end the neutrality. Harney struck a deal with the Missouri State Guard and Governor Claiborne Jackson to remain neutral and finaly to swear allegiance to the Union. Harney was ordered to Washington DC April 1861 over the affair and was captured by Confederates at Harper’s Ferry Virginia on the way. The Confederates offered him a command, he refused it but found himself relieved of command when he reached Washington and was replaced by Lyon. Harney retired from military service in 1863.

Harney died May 9th 1889 in Orlando Florida. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

John Brown's Body

Following his raid and capture at Harper’s Ferry, John Brown was on December 2nd 1859 hung.

John Brown was born May 9th 1800 in Torrington Connecticut. His family moved in 1805 to Ohio, where the resolutely anti-slavery family ran a station on the Underground Railroad. Brown returned to Connecticut to study to become a Congregational minister, but soon returned to his family in Ohio. Brown held many jobs, he married twice and fathered twenty children.

In 1849 John Brown took his family and settled in the black community of North Elba New York. With the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, Brown formed the “United States League of Gileadites” an organization created to defy slave-catchers. Brown moved with five sons in 1855 to the Kansas Territory to help anti-slavery oponities try to gain control, and his home was burned and a son killed. After this he moved to Virginia where he set up a refuge for escaped slaves.

Brown lead a group of twenty-one men on October 16th 1859 in an attack on the Federal armory at Harper’s Ferry Virginia. His hope was that slaves would rise up and join him creating an emancipation army. After holding the armory for two days it was stormed by a company soldiers led by Robert E Lee. Brown and six men who held the engine house in Harper’s Ferry fought until two of his sons where killed and Brown had been critically wounded.

Brown was convicted at trial of treason, insurrection and murder. He was executed by hanging on December 2nd 1859. The song “John Brown’s Body” was a popular marching song with Union troops during the Civil War.

Another web site you might be interested in viewing
Slavery, Passion, Intrigue & Murder: The Story of John Brown

One Of The Raiders

John Henry Kagi one of John Brown’s Raiders, was born March 15th 1835 in Bristolville, Ohio.

John Henry Kagi the son of a respected blacksmith was born March 15th 1835 in Bristolville, Ohio. John was mostly self-taught, but well educated. In 1855 he taught school in Virginia, however do to his abolition views he didn’t last long in the South. He moved on to Nebraska where he became a lawyer and newspaper reporter writing for the New York Times. He was shot by a pro-slavery judge, the bullet only being stopped by a book from going into his heart. After a long recovery, and a visit home to Ohio, Kagi went to Kansas and joined John Brown. In Brown he found a like minded spirit, and KagI would become John Brown’s Secretary of War. Kagi helped Brown with his raid on Harper’s Ferry, designed to get weapons to be used in a slave revolt. Kagi was only 24 when he was shot to death on October 17th 1859 during the raid.

He Hoped the Slaves Would Rise Up

On October 16th 1859 perhaps the first shot of the Civil War was fired by twenty-two men, five of whom were black.

The abolitionist John Brown led a group of 21 men; five of whom were black, on this date in 1859 against the Arsenal in Harper’s Ferry,VA [now located in WV]. John Brown hoped to use the weapons that would be captured to begin a slave revolt in South. The raid began that night when a free black man named Shepherd, who worked for the B & O Railroad as a night baggage porter was shot. The sound woke Dr John Starry at about 1 am.  Starry walked from his home to investigate the noise and was confronted by the raiders. Starry stated that he was a doctor, but that he could do nothing more for Shepherd, Brown’s men let him go. The Doctor went straight to the livery, took a horse and rode to Charleston,VA to alert people of the raid.

John Brown and his men found themselves surrounded by local militia and angry citizens. They took up refuge in a building adjacent to the Armory known as the Engine House. Brown's group had taken 60 hostages, mostly prominent people from Harper’s Ferry. The Secretary of War requested assistance of a unit of United States Marines, A unit of 86 led by Lieutenant Israel Green was sent. In need of an officer to lead this force, non other than Colonel Robert E Lee who was on leave near by, was assigned the job, with Lieutenant J E B Stuart as his aide-de-camp. These Marines arrived on the 18th, and after trying to negotiate with Brown, the Engine House was stormed with most of the raiders killed or captured. [9 to 12 {the numbers differ} of the raiders were killed, including two of the black men and two of John Brown’s sons]

John Brown was seriously wounded. He was taken to Chalestown,VA [now WV] were he was tried for treason, convicted and hung on December 2nd 1859.