On the 16th of October, with eighteen of his men, he proceeded to Harper's Ferry, broke down the Armory gate, and overpowered the watchman on duty. By midnight he had distributed his men as patrolmen over the village. He had sent out men to capture and bring in neighboring farmers with their negro slaves, and had a number of the citizens of the place as prisoners.
When the citizens became informed of what had happened, they hastily armed themselves, and several volleys were exchanged, resulting in the killing of a number of persons, several of them being citizens not engaged in the matter. Brown with his force entered the engine-house (the ruins of which are still to be seen, and which is remembered as ‘John Brown's Fort’). A detachment of marines had been ordered from Washington under command of Colonel Robert E. Lee, and immediately upon their arrival the ‘Fort’ was surrounded. Brown's force in the ‘Fort’ had been reduced to six. He was summoned to surrender, but refused, unless terms were granted him, which was refused, and the marines attacked the ‘Fort.’ Many shots were fired on both sides, and finally a battering ram was improvised, consisting of a ladder, and an entrance effected, and all inside were captured. In the meantime several militia companies had also assembled. Under guard of a detachment of the marines the prisoners were transferred from Harper's Ferry for trial by the Circuit Court at Charlestown, over which Judge Richard Parker presided. Brown's avowed object was to free the slaves—peaceably if he could, but forcibly if he must—and after his arrest asserted that if the people had let him alone, and permitted their negroes to be taken away from them without resistance, there would have been no bloodshed; but the latter was provoked by the owners not permitting this, and hence killing ensued. In contemplation of an easy accomplishment of his project, Brown had prepared and printed a form of government which he was to set up, and of which he was to be the chief.
The Governor of Virginia at the time was Hon. Henry A. Wise, who immediately repaired to the scene of murder. By many he was urged to assemble a drumhead court-martial and administer summary and well-deserved justice; but he would not consent to this, preferring to leave the matter to the civil courts as being superior to military rule. All the safeguards and protection of a fair trial were to be accorded the prisoners; and to show to the present generation of readers that Dr. Von Holst's conclusions are erroneous is partly the object of this article; the other object is to duly inform the generation
