Raid, Incarceration, and Execution

Time Period

1825 to 1861

Topics

Politics & Government

Although John Brown and his followers easily captured the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), no army of runaway slaves and sympathetic whites emerged to join his movement. During a day-and-a-half of skirmishing, townspeople and the local militia killed or wounded many of his men. On October 18, a detachment of U.S. Marines commanded by Robert E. Lee captured the remaining insurgents. Ten days later Brown was placed on trial and charged by the state with treason, murder, and inciting slaves to revolt.

At his trial, Brown argued that his deeds were justified because they were based on Christian principles and his goal was to end slavery. He said that his plan was simply to free a few enslaved people and shed no blood. That statement was entirely different from what he had boasted when he was captured—that his intention was to spark a widespread slave insurrection. A few days after the speech, Brown changed his story—he argued that he had been confused in court and that he had hoped the raid would start a rebellion. The important point is that the courtroom speech—which denies the endorsement of violence—was read throughout the North, in newspapers and in pamphlets. It caused many there to reassess Brown and side with him. The speech, however, had no bearing on the outcome of the trial: Brown was sentenced to hang on December 2.

In the following weeks John Brown wrote emotional, persuasive letters from jail that defended the antislavery movement and carefully omitted any mention of the widespread human slaughter that would have accompanied his planned slave revolt. The letters, combined with his courtroom testimony, caused northerners and southerners to reassess their original impressions. Brown could no longer be dismissed as a mere madman who had launched an impossible crusade. When John Brown was hanged, he became a martyr for the abolitionist movement.

General View of Harper's Ferry, Harper's Weekly, 5 November 1859

Although John Brown and his followers easily captured the federal arsenal, no army of runaway slaves and sympathetic whites emerged to join his movement. Following a day-and-a-half of skirmishing with local militia units, the insurgency was put down by a detachment of U.S. Marines commanded by Robert E. Lee. Ten days later Brown was placed on trial and charged by the state of Virginia with treason, murder, and inciting slaves to revolt. Brown was convicted on all counts and sentenced to hang in December. (VMHC AP2 H23)

John Brown with a company of 21 men, white and black, marched on Harper's Ferry

John Brown's plan was to seize the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, not only to carry off guns with which to arm the slaves whom he planned to liberate, but also to sound a protest against the federal government's tolerance of slavery. On Sunday evening, October 16, 1859, with a company of twenty-one men, five of whom were black, Brown marched on Harpers Ferry. The arsenal was easily taken by surprise in the middle of the night. (Image courtesy of Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, used with permission)

Attack on the Insurgents at the bridge at Harpers Ferry of the railroad men

By morning, residents of the town and neighboring county hurried to respond to what they believed to be an invasion by robbers. The residents and twelve neighboring militia units attacked the insurgents aggressively, killing ten of them and forcing Brown and the last four of his men still standing to retreat into the fire-engine house on the arsenal grounds. Seven other raiders had escaped; two of those would be captured and hanged. This engraving, published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper on October 29, 1859, shows the chaos of the attack. (VMHC 2003.31.20)

The Storming Of The Engine-House By The United States Marines

President James Buchanan sent to the scene a contingent of U. S. Marines under the command of Robert E. Lee. The men arrived Monday evening. At dawn on Tuesday—before Lee ordered a group to storm the engine house—he sent Lieutenant Jeb Stuart forward under a flag of truce in an attempt to negotiate surrender. Having served in Kansas, Stuart recognized John Brown, whose identity to that point had been unknown. On the failure of Stuart's effort, Lee ordered the marines forward. One of them was killed, as were two insurgents. The episode lasted only a few minutes. In the end, four citizens had been shot and killed, along with the one marine. Several other citizens were severely wounded. Ten of Brown's twenty-one men were dead; six more, plus Brown himself, would be hanged. This engraving of the storming of the engine house was published in Harper's Weekly on November 5, 1859. (VMHC 2003.31.21)

Old John Brown's Residence, Kennedy Farm, Maryland

Southerners initially dismissed Brown as a madman. Then his papers, 200 rifles, and 950 "pikes" (spears) were discovered in two buildings from which he had staged the raid. The papers, which included letters from the "Secret Six," and the quantity of the weapons suggested that northerners wanted to unleash a bloody slave insurrection that would take the lives of men, women, and children. This engraving, published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper on November 26, 1859, shows the hideout that Brown and his men used in Maryland before the raid on Harpers Ferry. (Image courtesy of the Library of Congress)

The Trial Of John Brown, At Charlestown, Virginia, For Treason And Murder

At his trial, the still wounded John Brown lay stretched out on a cot, seemingly oblivious to the proceedings. When asked if he chose to speak, Brown rose to argue that his deeds were justified because they were based on Christian principles and his goal was to end slavery. His address to the court was masterful. Ralph Waldo Emerson later ranked it with Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" as the two greatest speeches in all of American history. This engraving of the trial was published in Harper's Weekly on November 12, 1859. (VMHC 2003.31.3)

Mary Brown and Two of Her Daughters

Among the many visitors to Brown in jail was his wife, Mary. She arrived a day before the hanging and the couple was allowed four hours together. Husband and wife were said to have embraced tightly for minutes without speaking; Brown fumed when she was not allowed to stay the night. Mary would not have his body burned as he wished; she would take it home for burial. They discussed his will, which he would later dictate to Andrew Hunter, the man who had prosecuted him. She carried home his papers and the letters he had received in jail. (Image courtesy of the Library of Congress)

The Execution Of John Brown, In A Stubble Field, Near Charlestown, Va.

To the consternation of many in the North and abroad, the state of Virginia ignored their humanitarian protests and hanged John Brown, on December 2, 1859, as shown in this engraving published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper on December 10, 1859. The execution assured him martyrdom and victory for his cause. Not a single slave had been freed by Brown, but Americans were forced by the raid and the execution to reconsider the horrific institution of slavery. Southerners and northerners who had previously dismissed the idea of secession and possible armed conflict moved rapidly toward the more militant positions that would bring war two years later. It can be argued that if Brown had not invaded Virginia, the war might never have happened. (VMHC AP2 F82 o.s.)