On Sunday, October 16, 1859, abolitionist John Brown and a group of 21 men captured the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia). On orders from President James Buchanan, Secretary of War John B. Floyd asked the Navy Department for a unit of Marines from the Washington Navy Yard, the nearest troops. First Lieutenant Greene was ordered to take a force of 86 Marines to the town. At 3:30 in the afternoon of Monday the 17th, Greene and the Marines proceeded to Harpers Ferry via the Baltimore &amp; Ohio Railroad, they even brought two 12-pounder Dahlgren guns (though they were left on the train and not used). At 10:00 that evening, they were met by Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee, who was the commander of the expedition. The night they surrounded the engine house, where Brown and his followers as well as nine hostages were barricaded.