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."

Hung As A Confederate Spy

John Yates Beall was hung in New York City February 24^th 1865 as a Confederate spy.

John Yates Beall was born January 1^st 1835 on his family’s farm; Walnut Grove, in Jefferson County, Virginia the son of George Brooke and Janet (Yates) Beall.  He began the study of law at the University of Virginia, but after his father’s death in 1855 he left school to take up farming.  Beall joined the militia company known as “Bott’s Grays”.  They would be present at the hanging of John Brown December 2^nd 1859.

When the Civil War started “Bott’s Grays” became Company G of the 2^nd Virginia Infantry.  Beall was wounded in chest at the Battle of First Manassas, and deemed unfit for service.  Beall then took up the roll of privateer.  He tried to talk the Confederate government into giving him a commission to operate on the Great Lakes, but they declined fearing its effect on relations with England.  So with two boats and 18 men as crew he operated on the Potomac River and in the Chesapeake Bay.  Beall was captured in November of 1863 and after being exchanged in May 1864, he moved to the north shore of Lake Erie in Canada where he plotted to release Confederate Prisoners of War being held on Johnson’s Island.

When that plan failed Beall moved onto a plan to free some Confederate officers by derailing a train they were on.  This time Union authorities captured him and his companion George S Anderson at Niagara, New York on December 16^th 1864.  Anderson agreed to testify against Beall for a lesser sentence.  Union General John Adams Dix ordered Beall’s trail to begin on January 17^th 1865.  He was found guilty of guerrilla activities and spying against the Union by the military commission on February 8^th 1865, and transported to Fort Columbus on Governors Island in the New York Harbor.  Appeals were made to save his life all the way up to Abraham Lincoln but no stay of execution was coming Beall’s way.  He was hung February 24^th 1865.  He is buried in the Zion Episcopal Churchyard, in Charlestown, West Virginia.

There Will Be No More Peace

A part of what is known as “Bleeding Kansas” the Battle of Osawatomie was fought August 30^th 1856 between pro-slavery men and Free State men, and included John Brown.

About 275 pro-slavery men, led by John W Reid and Reverend Marvin White attacked Osawatomie August 30^th 1856.  The plan was to destroy the town and then move on to the other Free State towns of Topeka and Lawrence, Kansas.  These pro-slavery men shot Frederick Brown, the son of John Brown, there by alerting the Free State men living in Osawatomie.  Brown with forty men did what they could to defend the town, but after a number of casualties the men from Osawatomie had to withdraw.  Once Osawatomie had been vacated Reid and White’s group looted and burnt the town.

As Brown watched the town of Osawatomie burn he was said to have said, “God sees it, I have only a short time to live - only one death to die, and I will die fighting for this cause. There will be no more peace in this land until slavery is done for."

For more information you might want to look at Kansas Legends Battle of Osawatomie

Killing At Pottawatomie

On the night of May 24^th and early morning hours of May 25^th 1856, John Brown led what is known as the Pottawatomie Massacre.

Following the attack on Lawrence, Kansas, which was led by a pro- slavery sheriff and included the destruction of abolitionist owned homes, hotel, and newspapers, John Brown was outraged.  He saw the action of these antislavery people as cowardly.  On the morning of May 22^nd 1856 a Free State company under the command of John Brown Jr heard of the sacking of Lawrence and not knowing if the people needed assistance set out.  They camped near Ottawa Creek until late on May 23^rd 1856.

John Brown Sr handpicked a party to join him on a private expedition.  He took four of his sons; Frederick, Oliver, Owen, and Watson, along with Henry Thomason, Theodore Weiner and James Towsley.  They camped throughout the 23^rd and into the evening of the May 24^th in a ravine just off the traveled road near Dutch Henry’s Crossing on Pottawatomie Creek in Franklin County, Kansas.  After dark on May 24^th 1856 they left their hiding place and went to the house of James P Doyle.  They ordered Doyle and his two adult sons William and Drury out of the house.  Brown’s party took the three men out into the darkness where the Brown brothers killed them with broadsword, finishing by shooting the men in the head to make sure they were dead.  From here Brown’s men went to the house of Allen Wilkinson who ran the local Post Office.  Wilkinson was ordered out of his house and stabbed to death.  Around midnight Brown’s group crossed the Pottawatomie and forced their way into the home of James Harris at the point of a sword.  Harris had three guests staying with him, Jerome Glanville, William Sherman, and John S Wightman.  Glanville and Harris were interrogated and released, while Sherman was taken to the creek and hacked to death.

Brown found out at Harris’s home that his target Henry Sherman was away from home, they ended their killed and returned to the ravine where they had camped the night before.

If you are interested in reading more about the Pottawatomie Massacre this is a good web site.

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.

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 Early Battle Pre Civil War

Abolitionist John Brown with followers on June 2nd 1856 attacked an encampment, causing the Battle of Black Jack.

A posse of 750 pro-slavery men led by Henry Clay Pate on May 21st 1856 sacked Lawrence, Kansas. Pate held two of John Brown’s sons prisoner. At dawn on June 2nd 1856 John Brown led 29 men against Pate‘s camp along the Santa Fe Trail in Douglas County, Kansas. Pate a native of Virginia with his “militia” were looking for Brown, to get even with him for the Pottawatomie Massacre. Following the three to five hour Battle of Black Jack, Brown held Pate and 22 other pro-slavery men as ransom for the return of his sons. A United States military company, led by JEB Stuart was sent to force Brown to release Pate.

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.

The Man Who Fired The First Shot

The ardent slave holder, supporter of the Confederacy and the man who fired the first shot of the Civil War, Edmund Ruffin was born January 5th 1794.

Edmund Ruffin was born January 5th 1794 in Price George County, Virginia. He was educated at home with a private tutor until he entered the College of William & Mary in 1810. He was dismissed form the school in 1812 as he showed more interest in outside activities then school work. He saw military service in the War of 1812. Ruffin became a farmer and edited the “Farmers Register”. He was interested in bogs and swamps and ways to improve the for agriculture.

In the 1859 Ruffin made a point of attending the execution of John Brown, obtaining some of the pikes Brown had used to arm slaves to send to southern Governors. Ruffin left Virginia as sectional hostilities grew, and moved to South Carolina. It is claimed that Ruffin fired the first cannon shot on Fort Sumter in April 1861, he was one the first to enter the Fort after it fell into Confederate hands. He was present at the Battle of First Manassas, but was to old to fight.

In 1865 following General Robert E Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Ruffin wrote in his diary, “I here declare my unmitigated hatred to Yankee rule—to all political, social and business connection with the Yankees and to the Yankee race. Would that I could impress these sentiments, in their full force, on every living Southerner and bequeath them to every one yet to be born! May such sentiments be held universally in the outraged and down-trodden South, though in silence and stillness, until the now far-distant day shall arrive for just retribution for Yankee usurpation, oppression and atrocious outrages, and for deliverance and vengeance for the now ruined, subjugated and enslaved Southern States! And now with my latest writing and utterance, and with what will be near my latest breath, I here repeat and would willingly proclaim my unmitigated hatred to Yankee rule--to all political, social and business connections with Yankees, and the perfidious, malignant and vile Yankee race.” On June 18th 1865, shortly after writing these words Ruffin draped himself in the Confederate flag and shot himself in the head.

A Starting Killing

The killing of “Free Stater” Charles Dow on November 21st 1855 led to what was called the Wakarusa War.

Charles Dow a “Free Stater” living in Kansas was shot dead by proslavery settler Franklin Coleman November 21st 1855. Dow moved to Kansas in 1855 from Ohio, and settled near Hickory Point Kansas.

Violence on both sides escalated leading to what was called the Wakarusa War. A small group of armed Missourians under the command of Douglas County, Kansas Sheriff Samuel J Jones laid siege to Lawrence, Kansas December 1st 1855. The invaders camped on the Wakarusa Bottoms about six miles from Lawrence. There were about 1,500 men, armed with weapons taken from the United State Arsenal at Liberty, Missouri. In Lawrence, Kansas the “Free Staters” led by John Brown and James Lane had set up barricades, preparing for a battle. A treaty of peace came before the attack was made. One fatality occurred during the incident, a “Free Stater” Thomas Barber who had come to Lawrence’s defense.

Franklin Coleman was captured in 1856, and was linked to Dow’s and another “Free Stater’s” murder.

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.

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

Only Independent Unit

The Virginia Military Institute was founded on November 11th 1839 on the site of Virginia state arsenal.

The Virginia Military Institute; VMI, the oldest state supported military college is located in Lexington Virginia. VMI has been referred to as the West Point of the south. VMI students known as cadets, are required to take ROTC, they are not however expected to serve in the military after graduation.

VMI was founded on November 11th 1839 on the site of the Lexington, Virginia state arsenal. The first superintendent was Major General Francis Henry Smith, and the first cadet was Private John Strange. In 1842 the school graduated sixteen cadets. Thomas J Stonewall Jackson became a professor at VMI in 1851 teaching Natural and Experimental Philosophy. Infantry and artillery units from VMI attended the execution of John Brown, providing security.

Upon the out break of the Civil War VMI cadets were called to serve the Confederate army during fourteen different battles. On May 15th 1864 at the Battle of New Market, VMI became only military school in the country to fight as an independent unit. The Confederate commanding General John C Breckinridge held the VMI cadets in reserve until the Union troops broke through lines. The VMI students held their line and eventually moved forward capturing Union artillery. Union forces under General David Hunter shelled the Institute on June 12th 1864 as part of the Valley campaign. The school was destroyed and class had to be held in Richmond, Virginia until after the end of war. VMI reopened on the Lexington campus on October 17th 1865.

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.