Posted on 10/16/2010 4:28:16 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
Civil War
Oct 16, 1859:
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
Abolitionist John Brown leads a small group on a raid against an arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in an attempt to incite an insurrection and destroy the institution of slavery.
Born in Connecticut in 1800 and raised in Ohio, Brown came from a staunchly Calvinist and antislavery family. He spent much of his life failing at a variety of businesses--he declared bankruptcy at age 42 and had more than 20 lawsuits filed against him. In 1837, his life changed irrevocably when he attended an abolition meeting in Cleveland, during which he was so moved that he publicly announced his dedication to destroying the institution of slavery. As early as 1848 he was formulating a plan to incite an insurrection, and he shared the idea with Frederick Douglass.
In the 1850s, Brown traveled to Kansas with five of his sons to fight against the proslavery forces in the contest over that territory. On May 21, 1856, proslavery men raided the abolitionist town of Lawrence, and Brown personally sought revenge. On May 25, Brown and his sons attacked three cabins along Pottawatomie Creek. They killed five men with broad swords and triggered a summer of guerilla warfare in the troubled territory. One of Brown's sons was killed in the fighting.
(Excerpt) Read more at history.com ...
As I recall William Joyce (AKA "Lord Haw Haw") was tried and hanged as a traitor by the British even though he was technically an American citizen.
Brown cared about blacks so much that the one of his first victims in the raid was a free black man of Harpers Ferry who refused to join his raid.
Really?
Initially, the raid went well, and they met no resistance entering the town. They cut the telegraph wires and easily captured the armory, which was being defended by a single watchman. They next rounded up hostages from nearby farms, including Colonel Lewis Washington, great-grandnephew of George Washington. They also spread the news to the local slaves that their liberation was at hand. Things started to go wrong when an eastbound Baltimore & Ohio train approached the town. The train’s baggage master tried to warn the passengers. Brown’s men yelled for him to halt and then opened fire.
The baggage master, Hayward Shepherd, became the first casualty of John Brown’s war against slavery.
_Ironically, Shepherd was a free black man._
_Two of the hostages’ slaves also died in the raid._
For some reason, after the shooting of Shepherd, Brown allowed the train to continue on its way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottawatomie_Massacre
Can’t imagine the Lord was over pleased by all that.
The monument to Hayward Shepherd, paid for and erected by the daughters of the Confederacy was first walled up in plywood after “Brown Worshipers” complained and then removed altogether.
[hubby and I went to pay our respects this spring and leave a memorial and it was simply “vanished” and no one knew (or admitted to) where it went]
Ironically, there’s a wax museum with a scary, psychotic looking Brown figure and a terrified black man in the window.
I’ve often thought the black guy must be Shepherd, considering the sheer horror on his face.
Can’t imagine why.
[unless it’s because he “freed” 3 black folks from their mortal coils that day]
“The wrong execution of the right idea” doesn’t even begin to cover Brown’s “methods”.
Having said that, if you’re into the “paranormal”, Harper’s Ferry is veritable feast for the “sensitive”.
Beautiful place but stay out of the ruined church’s old alcove.
Somebody “persistent” hangs out there...:)
Whole story below your post.
_Three_ of his beloved, suffering blacks were killed by him.
Have you ever been there?
The place has an overwhelming aura of malevolance you can’t even imagine.
I go to take IR/UV photos and take EMF readings every so often.
Oddly enough, I *always* pick up “Ol’ 66” every time I go.
Stays near me the whole time I’m there.
Dark, creepy, “busy” but beautiful place.
Very subtle, I like it.
More than twenty years ago I took the same route you did only in the opposite direction. I started at Harper's Ferry and ended at Gettysburg. I wonder how many people do the same thing either going southward or northward?
Yep, that's it. Such a nice guy Brown was.... :)
They were democrats, doing what democrats do. Don’t like the results of a lawful election? Ignore it and do whatever the hell you want. Consequences be damned.
Hardly conservatism.
To an Irish born father and mother so he could be considered a dual citizen. In any event his family returned to Ireland when he was very young. He grew up there, was educated there, and spent his entire adult life living and working in England before fleeing to Nazi Germany about a month before the war began. His connections to Britain were infinitely stronger than Brown's connections to Germany, and his execution for treason by the British makes perfect sense.
I'm sure that people have seen this famous painting of him:
That's from a mural in the Kansas Capitol building.
One of the problems for Harpers Ferry is it's not exactly an easy detour off of either I-70 or I-81.
John Brown’s body lies a-mold’ring in the grave
John Brown’s body lies a-mold’ring in the grave
John Brown’s body lies a-mold’ring in the grave
His soul goes marching on
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
His soul is marching on
He captured Harper’s Ferry with his nineteen men so true
He frightened old Virginia till she trembled
through and through
They hung him for a traitor, themselves the traitor crew
His soul is marching on
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
His soul is marching on
John Brown died that the slave might be free,
John Brown died that the slave might be free,
John Brown died that the slave might be free,
But his soul is marching on!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
His soul is marching on
The stars above in Heaven are looking kindly down
The stars above in Heaven are looking kindly down
The stars above in Heaven are looking kindly down
On the grave of old John Brown
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
His soul is marching on
Well, this was just the first attempt at petty thievery in Harpers Ferry which was fully accomplished by Jackson in 1862.
Hey you think the drooling wannabes that inhabit this place will get angry since I just called Stonewall Jackson a petty thief? :-)
That flag design is backwards.
It’s probably distressed...;-)
:-)
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