Posted on 11/26/2019 4:56:00 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
Free Republic University, Department of History presents U.S. History, 1855-1860: Seminar and Discussion Forum
Bleeding Kansas, Dred Scott, Lincoln-Douglas, Harper’s Ferry, the election of 1860, secession – all the events leading up to the Civil War, as seen through news reports of the time and later historical accounts
First session: November 21, 2015. Last date to add: Sometime in the future.
Reading: Self-assigned. Recommendations made and welcomed.
Posting history, in reverse order
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by reply or freepmail.
SEMINARY OF LEARNING, NEAR ALEXANDRIA, LA., Nov. 27, 1859.
DEAR SIR: . . . Congress granted to Louisiana long ago, some thirty years, certain lands for a Seminary of Learning. These lands have been from time to time sold and the state now holds the money in trust, giving annually the interest sum $8100.
The accrued interest and more too has been expended in an elegant structure, only too good and costly for its purpose and location. The management has after a series of changes devolved on a Board of Supervisors, composed of fourteen gentlemen of whom the governor is ex-officio president and the superintendent of public education a member. These have selected five professors to whom is entrusted the management of the Seminary. The state has imposed the condition of educating sixteen free of charge for rent, tuition, and board. . .
This building is three miles from Alexandria in a neighborhood not at all settled, as the land here is poor and unfit for cultivation, all the alluvial land being on the south side of the Red River. There are therefore no houses here or near for families, and to remedy this an appropriation will also be asked to build two suitable houses for the married professors, Vallas and myself.
Governor Moore, just elected for four years, says that all educational attempts in Louisiana hitherto failed, mostly because religion has crept in and made the schools and colleges sectarian, which does not suit the promiscuous class who live here. He doubts whether at the start the legislature will feel disposed to depart from recent custom of refusing all such applications, but doubts not if we can for a year or two make good showing, and avoid the breakers that have destroyed hitherto endowed colleges, that this will be fostered and patronized to a high degree.
I shall therefore devote my attention to success, before I give my thoughts to personal advantage; and I find too much reliance is placed on me. I have no doubt I can discipline it and maybe control the system of studies to make it a more practical school than any hereabouts. And as parents are wealthy and willing to pay freely it may be we can get along for a time with little legislative aid further than we can claim as a right.
A small balance of the last appropriation still remains which I am now expending on the necessary furniture, and the Board of Supervisors being now in session at Alexandria I expect they will send me to New Orleans to procure the necessary outfit, in which case I will go down the latter part of this week, being absent about ten days. Red River is now low, still boats go and come with considerable regularity.
I met to-day among the Board of Supervisors a remnant of the old congressional times, Jesse A. Bynum, a little dried up old man, who moved to Louisiana from North Carolina, and who has a horror of an abolitionist. I was told he was angry at my election, because he thought all from Ohio were real abolitionists, but to-day he was unusually polite to me, and told me much of his congressional experience. . .
W. T. SHERMAN.
SOURCES: The article is abstracted in Walter L. Fleming’s, General W.T. Sherman as College President, p. 62-4
SEMINARY OF LEARNING, NEAR ALEXANDRIA, Nov. 27, 1859
DEAR SIR: Mr. Manning tells me that he has written you that your presence here is not required till after Christmas. That may be, but it would seem to me better that we should all have been here at least a month earlier to confer, agree upon our textbooks, and provide such of them in advance as will be necessary on the start. I have sent to New York for the mathematical textbooks, and will send to New Orleans for the French grammar at least; and I think you had better order at once from New Orleans the grammar you design to teach. I think much of our future success [depends] on the appearance of our start, and therefore any want of preparation at the outset would be embarrassing. With arithmetic, algebra, French and Latin grammar, we can at least begin at once, and then the Academic Board or faculty must as early as we can all come together, agree upon the entire course and textbooks, when by a system I can see that these textbooks are provided in advance.
Little or nothing can be had in Alexandria, and I judge we will receive no part of our salaries till after the legislature meets and appropriates. Therefore I advise you to prepare accordingly, and to bring with you such room furniture as you have that admits of transportation.
I am a stranger in these parts and confess my ignorance of your locality and station, and make the above points for your benefit. Applications for admission come in pretty freely, and I think early in January we will have from sixty to one hundred.
Mr. Vallas and Mr. St. Ange are here, both foreigners. I shall, therefore, count much on your capacity of teaching and social qualities. Think well over the branches assigned to you, and on arrival give us the best course and textbooks you can select. I may have to go to New Orleans to provide for the tables, room furniture, etc., needed by the first of January.
SOURCES: The article is abstracted in Walter L. Fleming’s, General W.T. Sherman as College President, p. 68-9
Springfield, Nov. 28. 1859
Hon. L. Trumbull.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 23rd. is received. I agree with you entirely about the contemplated election of Forney. Nothing could be more short-sighted than to place so strong a man as Forney in position to keep Douglas on foot. I know nothing of Forney personally; but I would put no man in position to help our enemies in the point of our hardest strain.
There is nothing new here. I have written merely to give my view about this Forney business.
A. LINCOLN
SOURCE: Roy P. Basler, Editor, Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 3, p. 495
John W. Forney must be who Lincoln is referring to.
CHARLESTOWN, Nov. 28th, 1859.
I reached here last night in good health and spirits. Seven of us slept in the same room. I am much more pleased than I expected to be; the people appear to be very kind. There are about one thousand troops here, and everything is quiet so far. We don't expect any trouble. The excitement is confined to more distant points. Do not give yourself any concern about me. I am comfortable, for a temporary military post.
SOURCE: Mary Anna Jackson, Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson), p. 129-30
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
Continued from October 19 (reply #19.)
Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee, an abridgement by Richard Harwell
BOSTON, November 29, 1859.
. . . The doings at Harper's Ferry have made an impression which will long be felt. The execution of Brown, to take place on Friday, will sadden and embitter the hearts of the great majority north of the Potomac. The conduct of Wise has been, I think, weak and absurd; the course of the Court of Appeals, harsh if not iniquitous. I know well the horrors of an apprehended insurrection,1 and I can make large allowance for those who are affected by them, for I remember the morbid fears which prevailed after the Southampton tragedy. But it amazes me to find Governor Wise surrounding the helpless prisoner by a cordon of more than one thousand soldiers, and forbidding, as he has done, all approach to the place of execution.
I shall write you, dear Henry, by the steamer of Saturday. We are all well. Mr. Savage, who has been slightly lamed, now walks out. Hillard, since his return, has been suffering the effects of his very boisterous passage. Charles Sumner looks well, but I think his disease is rather healed over than eradicated. . . .
Congress is about to organize, and I fear with the prospect of a session of extraordinary turbulence. Already Mason and other extreme men of the South are applying the match to the magazine of combustibles gathered in Washington, by calling for an investigation by Congress of the Harper's Ferry invasion, as they call it. Throughout the Northern States, especially New England and the Northwest, the effect of Brown's mistaken enterprise, with the revelation of heroic self-renunciation which has accompanied it, has been to deepen and extend the hostility to the slave power. The contrast between the trembling fears of a whole State and the resolute bravery, for principle's sake, of one man is most impressive. The purpose of Brown seems to have been to liberate a large number of the slaves and assist them in escaping from the State. But he forgot the horrors and crimes of a servile revolt, to which his effort, if successful, would surely have led, and he must have been strangely ignorant, or deceived, to believe that he could aid the general emancipation of the slaves by such an attempt. He might have given occasion to an appalling loss of life, perhaps almost to the extermination of the blacks in Virginia. Perhaps the impression he has made in the South may hasten in Virginia, at least, the adoption of some prospective cure for this most perilous evil. The whole matter is full of sad suggestions to me. . . .
1 Of the slaves.<> SOURCE: Emma Savage Rogers & William T. Sedgwick, Life and Letters of William Barton Rogers, Volume 2, p. 16-7 p. 595-6
William Barton Rogers was a Virginia scientist who would found the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Henry Darwin Rogers was his brother.
Eagleswood, Perth Amboy, N. J., Nov. 30th, '59.
To the family of Mr. John Brown.
Dear Friends:
I would gladly say some words of my own to comfort you, and carry you through this great trial and affliction, but I have them not. May the God of your dear father sustain you as He has him.
I heard also from your mother yesterday. Her note came part way with your father's letter. She is with most lovely and excellent friends, who will do all in their power to sustain her. I like better to have Mrs. Brown with Mrs. Lucretia Mott than in any other place, except in that prison. I should like better to have her there in that now sacred place which is now
SOURCE: Lillie Buffum Chace Wyman and Arthur Crawford Wyman, Elizabeth Buffum Chace, 1806-1899: Her Life and Its Environment, Volume 1, p. 352
WASHINGTON, November 30, 1859.
Everybody but me is busy about the organization of the House of Representatives. That, and the execution of John Brown day after to-morrow, are the only topics discussed.
I heard Wendell Phillips lecture on l'Ouverture at Philadelphia, to an immense and breathless audience.
SOURCE: William Salter, The Life of James W. Grimes, p. 121
ALEXANDRIA, Nov. 30, 1859.
DEAR SIR: . . . Only six members of the Board of Supervisors convened on Monday 28th and the same number again on yesterday. Dr. [S. A.] Smith was sick, but his presence would not have made a quorum. So we did nothing — only talked. There was this done however; that as the only means of getting the money from Doctor Smith with which to prepare the building for the reception and accommodation of cadets, I gave him my individual obligation to hold him harmless, which we all thought a rather unnecessary piece of fastidiousness on the part of the Doctor. . .
Major Sherman will now go to New Orleans on Saturday to make the requisite purchases. . .
I was also requested in the same capacity, to call another meeting of the Board for Saturday, Dec. 10th, which I have done, but do not anticipate any different result, as Mr. Sanford is in Virginia.
As it is manifest that Mr. Henry Gray will never attend any of our meetings, I wish very much that you would oblige us by at once appointing Doctor Lewis Magruder in his stead. He is a gentleman of education and intelligence, a son-in-law of Mr. R. C. Hynson, stirring, active man, with a growing family, and will make a good and attentive member, is a warm advocate for the military feature of the school, to injure which in indirect modes the two or three opponents of it in the Board are now making efforts. If you can at once dispatch an appointment to Doctor Magruder, it will reach him in time for the next meeting, and greatly relieve me, for I cannot make head against Manning and Smith, with Ryan1 playing “fast and loose” between us all the time.
1 Judge T. C. Manning, Dr. S. A. Smith, and Michael Ryan, all members of the Board. Manning and Smith were the chief opponents of the military system. — Ed.
SOURCES: The article is abstracted in Walter L. Fleming’s, General W.T. Sherman as College President, p. 64-5
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
Sad news about Washington Irving, but at least he went quick.
I’ll bet the mayoral election will be quite a mess. Where’s a selfless guy like Michael Bloomberg when you need him?
State of Pennsylvania,
Executive Chamber. Harrisburg, Dec. 1, 1859.
To His Excellency, the Governor of Virginia, Richmond, Va.:
Sir — Your letter of the 25th, having been missent to Harrisonburg, Virginia, was not received until this morning. Of all the desperadoes to whom you refer, not a man, so far as I can learn, was a citizen of Pennsylvania; nor was their rendezvous (which you say was unobstructed by guards or otherwise), in this State, but in Maryland or Virginia. In relation to them, Pennsylvania has done her duty. Virginia has no right to anticipate that she will not do so in the future. The information you have received in regard to a conspiracy to rescue John Brown, will, undoubtedly, be found, in the sequel, utterly and entirely without foundation, so far as Pennsylvania is concerned. Nor will we permit any portion of our territory, along our borders, or elsewhere, to be made a depot, a rendezvous, or a refuge, for lawless desperadoes, from other States, who may seek to make war upon our southern neighbors. When that contingency shall happen, the constitutional and confederate duty of Pennsylvania shall be performed; and, under all circumstances, she will take care to see that her honor is fully vindicated.
WM. F. PACKER
SOURCE: George Edward Reed, Editor, Pennsylvania Archives, Fourth Series, Volume 8, Papers of the Governors, 1858-1871, p. 198-9
Continued from October 19 (reply #18) .
Nicole Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty in the Civil War Era
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
I, John Brown, a prisoner, now in the prison of Charlestown, Jefferson County, Virginia, do hereby make and ordain this as my last will and testament.
I will and direct that all my property, being personal property, which is scattered about in the States of Virginia and Maryland, should be carefully gathered up by my executor, hereinafter appointed, and disposed of to the best advantage, and the proceeds thereof paid over to my beloved wife, Mary A. Brown.
Many of these articles are not of a warlike character, and I trust as to such, and all other property that I may be entitled to, that my rights and the rights of my family may be respected; and lastly I hereby appoint Sheriff James W. Campbell executor of this my last true will, hereby revoking all others.
Witness my hand and seal this 2d day of December, 1859.
JOHN BROWN
[L. S.]
Signed, sealed and declared to be the true last will of John Brown, in our presence, who attest the same at his request, and in his presence and in the presence of each other.
(Sgd.)
JOHN HESS,
ANDREW HUNTER.
Codicil. — I wish my friends, James W. Campbell, Sheriff, and John Avis, Jailer, as a return for their kindness, to have a Sharp rifle, of those belonging to me, or if no rifle can be had, then each a pistol.
Witness my hand and seal.
JOHN BROWN
[L. S.]
A correct copy.
G. A. P.
SOURCE: Southern History Association, Publications of the Southern History Association, Volume 1, No. 3, July 1897, p. 194-5
CHARLESTOWN, VA., Dec. 2, 1859.
I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think vainly, flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done.
SOURCE: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 517
SEMINARY, Friday, Dec. 2 [1859].
DEAR GENERAL: I was in town [Alexandria] yesterday at 8 a.m. and waited till ten to prove the paper which we left with Mr. Boyce. I then got the first page and corrected it. He had not prepared the paper and would have to strike off the whole number of sheets of the first matter before trying the second page. I therefore assured myself that it was in proper order, and left Boyce to correct the second page and came out with Captain Jarreau.
I think we have made fair progress now, and I have given Mr. James1 written instructions with drawings of what remains to be done, and by my return from New Orleans I hope to see all the necessary tables, benches, desks, blackboards, stands, shelves, and hooks all done. I have one man cutting wood, and Jarreau promises another next Tuesday, so that I feel confident that we shall be more than ready by Christmas.
I think also that in New Orleans I will be satisfied to depend on Alexandria for blankets of which both Robertson and Henarie have a good supply at fair prices from $3.25 to $4.50 a pair. Same of brooms, glass tumblers, assorted hand soap and castile soap. I think also we may depend on the Trechur for wash-basins and dippers. All else on my list I will try and bring up. I feel a little embarrassed by Mr. Ford's offer to make twenty-five or thirty mattresses without naming price. It would be better to have mattresses made uniformly by one responsible person, but as in case of accident to Mr. Ford and there being no other mattresses to be had in Alexandria I may purchase more than otherwise might seem prudent.
In New Orleans, I will ascertain the price of everything needed by us in future, and then if persons in our neighborhood apply we can encourage the manufacture of about the quantity needed at standard prices. . .
I generally have strong opinions on a subject of importance, but experience has taught me the wisdom of forbearance, and as the Board will again attempt to meet on the tenth during my absence, I will only say now that I listened to your argument and that of the other members with great interest.
I have always believed that a Military Academy was only possible, when the state made present compensation, or held out future inducements, to compensate the cadet for the usual drills, guards, and restraints customary in such colleges, here and abroad. I doubt whether we could when cadets pay all expenses enforce that rigid obedience without which the system would become ridiculous. I am satisfied that we can make certain drills, guards, and military parades and exercise so manifestly advantageous to the cadets, that their own sense, judgment, and fancy will take the place of compulsion, and the course of studies being more practical, and useful, will be preferred by cadet and parent to the old routine of grammar and everlasting lexicon.
As to the encampment, I think in the regulations there is no mention made of an encampment, nor do I recall any expression that would lead to it. Therefore they will need no amendment on that point. The Board can pass over the point in silence. If you are not fortified in the legislature it might also be wise to allow a few years to slide along till we have four classes of well drilled cadets. Let them at first have the vacation allowed in Kentucky, elsewhere, and at all literary colleges. If our system of instruction be good, and if we take good pains to impress the cadets with our kindness, justness, fairness, and give them a manly bearing, good ideas of truth, honor, and courtesy, and withall teach them practical wisdom, by going home they will spread the good seed, and actually serve the cause of the institution in its infancy, better than they could in the mere routine duties of a camp. I do not think an encampment necessary to our course of instruction, nor does it seem to me prudent to prevent cadets from going home; if such be the custom, and if their parents desire it. I don't think Captain Jarreau2 will object as his contract runs for only six months, and longer if we are all satisfied. My idea is to make all things conspire to the economy, cleanliness, good order, and proper instruction of those cadets, till we naturally pass into the system which is to last, for some system “must endure.”
Should the legislature of this state determine to put an arsenal here, the necessity of a guard is then patent and she would naturally offer to pay us, and make it to our interest to guard her property, afford a safe place for arms, rendezvous, and safety for this at present remote district of valuable country. We would then have a good necessity, a good reason for an encampment, which now would be a mere naked ceremony. Nevertheless my theory is that the Board must legislate, and I will try to execute their resolves and policy. . .
1 The contractor. — Ed.
2 The Seminary steward. — Ed.
SOURCES: The article is abstracted in Walter L. Fleming’s, General W.T. Sherman as College President, p. 70-2
SEMINARY OF LEARNING, ALEXANDRIA, LA., Dec. 2,1859
. . . . Last Monday there was a meeting of the Board of Supervisors called but the governor could not come, and consequently there was no quorum and the Board had to work informally. They could not adopt the regulations, but called another meeting for December 10. I attended the meeting and found they were willing to vest me with ample powers but they will be embarrassed in their finances unless the legislature help or unless we have more students than we now expect. We shall prepare for one hundred, but sixty are as many as I expect. I will have no teaching to do this year unless I choose, but will have all the details of discipline and management.
I found that there are two distinct parties in the Board — one in favor of a real out and out military college and another who prefer a literary seminary, only consenting to the military form of government. The former party led by General Graham, want a continuous course, without vacations, as at West Point, the summer vacations to be taken up with a regular encampment. This would keep me here all the time until everything had settled down into such a fixed system that I could go away. I can hardly forsee how it will turn out but for the present believe we will have a summer vacation of two months, during which I can come to Ohio.
The legislature meets the third Monday in January, soon after which we will discover their temper and whether they will be willing to build any buildings for the professors, but I believe they will not, as I notice a hesitation to ask it and unless it be asked and urged very strongly of course they will not appropriate. All kinds of labor, building especially, costs so much that though the state as such is liberal, yet they cannot answer half the calls made on them for such purposes.
I am lonely enough out here alone in this big house, but will have plenty to divert me the next two weeks, and afterwards, the session will be so near at hand with new duties and new things. I suppose my patience will be tested to its utmost by a parcel of wayward boys.
SOURCES: The article is abstracted in Walter L. Fleming’s, General W.T. Sherman as College President, p. 72-4
CHARLESTOWN, December 2, 1859.
. . . The execution is over. We have just returned from the field, and I sit down to give you some account of it. The weather was very favorable: the sky was a little overcast, with a little haze in the atmosphere that softened without obscuring the magnificent prospect afforded here. Between eight and nine o'clock the troops began to put themselves in motion to occupy the positions assigned to them on the field, as designated on the plan I send you. To Colonel Smith had been assigned the superintendence of the execution, and he and his staff were the only mounted officers on the ground, until the major-general and his staff appeared. By ten o'clock all was arrayed. The general effect was most imposing, and at the same time picturesque. The Cadets were immediately in rear of the gallows, with a howitzer on the right and left, a little behind, so as to sweep the field. They were uniformed in red flannel shirts, which gave them a gay, dashing, Zouave look, exceedingly becoming, especially at the Battery. They were flanked obliquely by two corps, the Richmond Greys and Company F, which, if inferior in appearance to the Cadets, were superior to any other company I ever saw outside the regular army. Other companies were distributed over the field, amounting in all to perhaps 800 men. The military force was about 1500.
The whole enclosure was lined by cavalry troops, posted as sentinels, with their officers — one on a peerless black horse, and another on a remarkable looking white horse — continually dashing around the enclosure. Outside this enclosure were other companies acting as rangers and scouts. The jail was guarded by several companies of infantry, and pieces of artillery were put in position for defense.
Shortly before eleven o'clock, the prisoner was taken from the jail and the funeral cortege was put in motion. First came three companies — then the criminal's wagon, drawn by two large white horses. John Brown was seated on his coffin, accompanied by the sheriff and two other persons. The wagon drove to the foot of the gallows, and Brown descended with alacrity, and without assistance, and ascended the steep steps to the platform. His demeanor was intrepid, without being braggart. He made no speech: whether he desired to make one or not I do not know. Had he desired it, it would not have been permitted. Any speech of his must of necessity have been unlawful, as being directed against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth, and, as such, could not be allowed by those who were then engaged in the most solemn and extreme vindication of Law. His manner was free from trepidation, but his countenance was not without concern, and it seemed to me to have a little cast of wildness. He stood upon the scaffold but a short time, giving brief adieus to those about him, when he was properly pinioned, the white cap drawn over his face, the noose adjusted and attached to the hook above, and he was moved blindfold a few steps forward. It was curious to note how the instincts of nature operated to make him careful in putting out his feet, as if afraid he would walk off the scaffold. The man who stood unblenched on the brink of eternity was afraid of falling a few feet to the ground!
He was now all ready. The sheriff asked him if he should give him a private signal, before the fatal moment. He replied in a voice that sounded to me unnaturally natural — so composed was its tone and so distinct its articulation — that “it did not matter to him, if only they would not keep him too long waiting.” He was kept waiting, however. The troops that had formed his escort had to be put in their proper position, and while this was going on, he stood for ten or fifteen minutes blindfold, the rope around his neck, and his feet on the treacherous platform, expecting instantly the fatal act. But he stood for this comparatively long time up right as a soldier in position, and motionless. I was close to him, and watched him narrowly, to see if I could perceive any signs of shrinking or trembling in his person. Once I thought I saw his knees tremble, but it was only the wind blowing his loose trousers. His firmness was subjected to still further trial by hearing Colonel Smith announce to the sheriff, “We are all ready, Mr. Campbell.” The sheriff did not hear, or did not comprehend, and in a louder tone the announcement was made. But the culprit still stood steady, until the sheriff, descending the flight of steps, with a well-directed blow of a sharp hatchet, severed the rope that held up the trap-door, which instantly sank sheer beneath him, and he fell about three feet. And the man of strong and bloody hand, of fierce passions, of iron will, of wonderful vicissitudes, — the terrible partisan of Kansas — the capturer of the United States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry — the would-be Catiline of the South — the demigod of the Abolitionists — the man execrated and lauded — damned arid prayed for — the man who in his motives, his means, his plans, and his successes must ever be a wonder, a puzzle, and a mystery — John Brown was hanging between heaven and earth.
There was profoundest stillness during the time his struggles continued, growing feebler and feebler at each abortive attempt to breathe. His knees were scarcely bent, his arms were drawn up to a right angle at the elbow, with the hands clinched; but there was no writhing of the body, no violent heaving of the chest. At each feebler effort at respiration, the arms sank lower, and his legs hung more relaxed, until at last, straight and lank he dangled, swayed slightly to and fro by the wind.
It was a moment of deep solemnity, and suggestive of thoughts that make the bosom swell. The field of execution was a rising ground that commanded the outstretching valley from mountain to mountain, and their still grandeur gave sublimity to the outline, while it so chanced that white clouds resting upon them gave them the appearance that reminded more than one of us of the snow peaks of the Alps. Before us was the greatest array of disciplined forces ever seen in Virginia, infantry, cavalry, and artillery combined, composed of the old Commonwealth's choicest sons, and commanded by her best officers, and the great canopy of the sky, overarching all, came to add its sublimity — ever present, but only realized when great things are occurring beneath it.
But the moral of the scene was the great point. A sovereign State had been assailed, and she had uttered but a hint, and her sons had hastened to show that they were ready to defend her. Law had been violated by actual murder and attempted treason, and that gibbet was erected by Law, and to uphold Law was this military force assembled. But greater still, God's holy law and righteous will was vindicated. “Thou shalt not kill.” “Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” And here the gray-haired man of violence meets his fate, after he has seen his two sons cut down before him earlier in the same career of violence into which he had introduced them. So perish all such enemies of Virginia! all such enemies of the Union! all such foes of the human race! So I felt, and so I said, without a shade of animosity, as I turned to break the silence, to those around me. Yet the mystery was awful — to see the human form thus treated by men — to see life suddenly stopped in its current, and to ask one's self the question without answer, “And what then?”
In all that array there was not, I suppose, one throb of sympathy for the offender. All felt in the depths of their hearts that it was right. On the other hand there was not one word of exultation or insult. From the beginning to the end, all was marked by the most absolute decorum and solemnity. There was no military music, no saluting of troops as they passed one another, nor anything done for show. The criminal hung upon the gallows for nearly forty minutes, and after being examined by a whole staff of surgeons, was deposited in a neat coffin, to be delivered to his friends, and transported to Harper's Ferry, where his wife awaited it. She came in company with two persons to see her husband last night, and returned to Harper's Ferry this morning. She is described by those who saw her as a very large masculine woman, of absolute composure of manner. The officers who witnessed their meeting in the jail, said they met as if nothing unusual had taken place, and had a comfortable supper together.
Brown would not have the assistance of any minister in the jail, during his last days, nor their presence with him on the scaffold. In going from prison to the place of execution, he said very little, only assuring those who were with him that he had no fear, nor had he at any time of his life known what fear was. When he entered the gate of the enclosure, he expressed his admiration of the beauty of the surrounding country, and pointing to different residences, asked who were the owners of them.
There was a very small crowd to witness the execution. Governor Wise and General Taliaferro both issued proclamations exhorting the citizens to remain at home and guard their property, and warning them of possible danger. The train on the Winchester railroad had been stopped from carrying passengers; and even passengers on the Baltimore railroad were subjected to examination and detention. An arrangement was made to divide the expected crowd into recognized citizens and those not recognized; to require the former to go to the right, and the latter to the left. Of the latter there was not a single one. It was told that last night there were not in Charlestown ten persons besides citizens and military.
There is but one opinion as to the completeness of the arrangements made on the occasion, and the absolute success with which they were carried out. I have said something of the striking effect of the pageant, as a pageant; but the excellence of it is that everything was arranged solely with a view to efficiency, and not for the effect upon the eye. Had it been intended for a mere spectacle, it could not have been more imposing: had actual need occurred, it was the best possible arrangement.
You may be inclined to ask, Was all this necessary? I have not time to enter upon that question now. Governor Wise thought it necessary, and he said he had reliable information. The responsibility of calling out the force rests with him. It only remained for those under him to dispose the force in the best manner. That this was done is unquestionable, and whatever credit is due for it may be fairly claimed by those who accomplished it.
SOURCE: Elizabeth Preston Allan, The Life and Letters of Margaret Junkin Preston, p. 111-7
The second of December, 1859. This will be a great day in our history; the date of a new Revolution, — quite as much needed as the old one. Even now as I write, they are leading old John Brown to execution in Virginia for attempting to rescue slaves! This is sowing the wind to reap the whirlwind, which will come soon.
SOURCE: Samuel Longfellow, Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow With Extracts from His Journals and Correspondence, Volume 2, p. 347
“Santa Bibiana's Day.”* Day appointed to hang Capt. Brown. — It is now 6 P.M., and I suppose it is all over with my friends at Charlestown, Va., and that six corpses lie there, ghastly, stiff, dead. How the heart of the slave-holders rejoices! But there is a day after to-day. John Brown did not fear the gallows; he had contemplated it, no doubt, as a possible finger-post to indicate the way to heaven. It is as good as a cross. It is a pity they could not have had two thieves to hang with Brown. There have been anti-slavery meetings to-day, at Boston, Worcester, Salem, New Bedford, Providence, &c. The telegraph has spread the news of Brown's death, I suppose, over half the Union by this time. It is a great dark day in America. Thunder and lightnings will come out of it.
* Bibiana, Virgin and Martyr at Rome, in the year 363, towards the end of the reign of Julian the Apostate. She was tied to a pillar and scourged to death with loaded whips. A chapel was afterwards constructed, in the times of Christian freedom, over the place where she was secretly buried; and a church now stands there, rebuilt in 1628.
SOURCE: John Weiss, Life and correspondence of Theodore Parker, Volume 2, p. 388
Ossawatomie Brown (John), hanged to-day in Virginia, as a traitor, for his mad inroad at Harper's Ferry. A stern Cromwellian fanatic; but probably a much better man than those who execute him. The Lord reigneth: let the earth rejoice"!
SOURCE: Alfred A. Thomas, Editor, Correspondence of Thomas Ebenezer Thomas, p. 109
At the thought of the United States of America, a majestic form rises in the mind, — Washington. In this country of Washington what is now taking place? There are slaves in the South; and this most monstrous of inconsistencies offends the logical conscience of the North. To free these black slaves, John Brown, a white man, a free man, began the work of their deliverance in Virginia. A Puritan, austerely religious, inspired by the evangel, “Christ hath set us free,” he raised the cry of emancipation. But the slaves, unmanned by servitude, made no response; for slavery stops the ears of the soul. John Brown, thus left alone, began the contest. With a handful of heroic men he kept up the fight; riddled with bullets, his two youngest sons, sacred martyrs, falling at his side, he was at last captured. His trial? It took place, not in Turkey, but in America. Such things are not done with impunity under the eyes of the civilized world. The conscience of mankind is an open eye; let the court at Charlestown understand — Hunter and Parker, the slaveholding jurymen, the whole population of Virginia — that they are watched. This has not been done in a corner. John Brown, condemned to death, is to be hanged to-day. His hangman is not the attorney Hunter, nor the judge Parker, nor Governor Wise, nor the little State of Virginia, — his hangman (we shudder to think it and say it!) is the whole American republic. . . . Politically speaking, the murder of Brown will be an irrevocable mistake. It will deal the Union a concealed wound, which will finally sunder the States. Let America know and consider that there is one thing more shocking than Cain killing Abel, — it is Washington killing Spartacus.
SOURCE: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 630
December 2d.
John Brown was hung to-day at about half-past eleven A. M. He behaved with unflinching firmness. The arrangements were well made and well executed under the direction of Colonel Smith. The gibbet was erected in a large field, southeast of the town. Brown rode on the head of his coffin from his prison to the place of execution. The coffin was of black walnut, enclosed in a box of poplar of the same shape as the coffin. He was dressed in a black frock-coat, black pantaloons, black vest, black slouch hat, white socks, and slippers of predominating red. There was nothing around his neck but his shirt collar. The open wagon in which he rode was strongly guarded on all sides. Captain Williams (formerly assistant professor at the Institute) marched immediately in front of the wagon. The jailer, high-sheriff, and several others rode in the same wagon with the prisoner. Brown had his arms tied behind him, and ascended the scaffold with apparent cheerfulness. After reaching the top of the platform, he shook hands with several who were standing around him. The sheriff placed the rope around his neck, then threw a white cap over his head, and asked him if he wished a signal when all should be ready. He replied that it made no difference, provided he was not kept waiting too long. In this condition he stood for about ten minutes on the trap-door, which was supported on one side by hinges and on the other (the south side) by a rope. Colonel Smith then announced to the sheriff “all ready” — which apparently was not comprehended by him, and the colonel had to repeat the order, when the rope was cut by a single blow, and Brown fell through about five inches, his knees falling on a level with the position occupied by his feet before the rope was cut. With the fall his arms, below the elbows, flew up horizontally, his hands clinched; and his arms gradually fell, but by spasmodic motions. There was very little motion of his person for several moments, and soon the wind blew his lifeless body to and fro. His face, upon the scaffold, was turned a little east of south, and in front of him were the cadets, commanded by Major Gilman. My command was still in front of the cadets, all facing south. One howitzer I assigned to Mr. Trueheart on the left of the cadets, and with the other I remained on the right. Other troops occupied different positions around the scaffold, and altogether it was an imposing but very solemn scene. I was much impressed with the thought that before me stood a man in the full vigor of health, who must in a few moments enter eternity. I sent up the petition that he might be saved. Awful was the thought that he might in a few minutes receive the sentence, “Depart, ye wicked, into everlasting fire!” I hope that he was prepared to die, but I am doubtful. He refused to have a minister with him. His wife visited him last evening. His body was taken back to the jail, and at six o'clock P. M. was sent to his wife at Harper's Ferry. When it arrived, the coffin was opened, and his wife saw the remains, after which it was again opened at the depot before leaving for Baltimore, lest there should be an imposition. We leave for home via Richmond to-morrow.
SOURCE: Mary Anna Jackson, Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson), p. 130-2
BKML
Regards
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The thing is done. Another milestone passed on the way to the cataclysm.
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