Kagi became Brown's most trusted advisor and his "Secretary of War". Brown believed that slavery would not end without bloodshed. Brown had for years been formulating a plan that he was convinced would end slavery forever – a raid on the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. This effort was supposed to arm slaves who would in turn hold an armed uprising against their masters. Once free, they would form a community where they could live peacefully. But, before he moved forward with that plan, Brown, Kagi, and the rest of Brown's followers were dealing with anti-slavery efforts in "Bleeding Kansas". By December 1858, they were at Bain's Fort, having freed an anti-slavery friend from captivity.