Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1859-10-24
CLEVELAND, MONDAY MORNING, OCTOBER "a, 1862

erly swivel--it is q very large rifle on pivot.
The ball is larger than musket ball. Its in
tended for slug. nat
Brown here made a statement intended for
the reporters az follows:
| IL you do not want to converse any more,i II
will remark 10 those reporting gentlemen that
! claim TO be here in carrying out q measure
believe to bo perfectly justifabe and not ~
set q part at all iucendiary or ruilianlJ; but on
the contrary, 10 aid those suffering under great
wrong. Is ish to say, furthermore, that now
all you people Of The South bad better prepare
| yourselves for settlement OF this question:
Il IDutt come up for settlement sooner than you
are prepared for IT, and the sooner you com.
nlence that preparation, the better for you.---
/ You may dispose Of mo very easy--l Am nearly
disposed Of now-but this question, mean
the end Of il, is not yet. These wounds were
inflicted upon me--bOth the sabre cuts on my
head and body, and the bayonst stabs in differ
ent parts Of my body--somo minutes alter
had ceased fighting, and had consented TO sur
render for the benefit Of others, and not for my
own benefit ll4Y
Several persons present denied this state
ment
1 believe the Major pointing 10 Stewart,
would not have been alive but for me- Knight
have killed him just as easy a. could kill .
muSquto, when he came in, but supposed hS
came only to receive our surrender. There had
been long and loud calls Of surrender from US
as loud as men could yell, but in the confusion
aud excitement, ! suppose we we're not heard
| do not believe the Major or any one else want
ed to butcher us after we had surrendered.
An officer present here stated that specific
orders had been given 10 tho Marines not 10
shoot anybody, bat when they were fired upon
by Browns men, and one Of them bad beer
killed and another wounded, they were Obliged
to return the compliment Brown insisted
with sono warmth, that the Marines fired
first.
| An oficer-why did you not surrender be-
fore the attack
B.-I did not think Il was my duty or inter
est TO do so. We assured our prisoners ths
we did not wish to harm them, and that theI
should be set at liberty. 4 exerciI ed my bes
Judgment, not believing the people would wan
tOny eseritice their own fellow citizens. WheI
we offered TO let them 10 upon condition o
being allowed to change our position about
quarter Of a mile, the prisoners agreed by
vote among themselves 20 pass across tn
bridge With us. We wanted them only a.
sort Of guarantee for our own safety, that vi
should not be fred into. We took them ia tn
first place, as hostages, 20 keep them from dom
any harm. We did kill some when defendin
ourselves, but saw no one fire, except direetl
in selfdefense Orders were strict not TO harI
any one not in u-ms against uL ea
t! Brown, suppose you bad any negroes in lh
Free Sta'es what would you DO with thenh
Brown, in loud tone and with emphasis
Set them free, sir.
Your intention was to carry them OF an
free themi
Bfown-Not at all.
Bystander-To set them free would saoriGc
the life of every man in the community
Brown-I do not think so.
Bystander-I know that. I think you AZ
fanatical.
Brown-And l think you are fanatisal,-
"Whom the Coda would destroy, they first max
mad" sat
,, Was your only object to free tho negroes.
Brown-Absolutely our only object. D.
Bystander-But you went and took Co
Q Washington's silver and watch
BTown-Oh, yes; we intended freely 10 hAl
! appropriated the property Of shareholders
: carry out our object IL was for that, and OnI
= that. We had no desire TO enrich oursolyt
e with any pIunder whatever.
Bystander-Did you know Sherod in Ra
J. sasl / understand ou killed him.
j Il killed no man, except in a fair fight
! fought at Black Jack and Ossawattome, al
if killed anybody, it was at one Of those pl
o ces
The surgeon having at this time arrived
look after his charges, and the dinner bell ha
+ ing rung, the visitors left him and his sompa
i ion to that gentleman'a care. u.