Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1859-10-27


Russell and Lieutenant Green leading. marine
in the front fell; the firing from the interior is
rapid and sharp; they fire with deliberate aim,
and for moment the resistance is serious and
desperate enough to excite the spectators to some
thing like pitch Of frenzy. The next moment
the marines pour in, the firing ceases, and the
work was done, while the cheers rang from every
side the general feeling being that the marines
had done their part admirably.
When the insurgents were brought out-some
dead, others wounded-they were greeted with
e1ecrations, and only the precautions that had
been taken saved them from immediate execution.
The crowd, nearly every man of which had gun,
swsyed with tumultuous excitement, and cries OF
"shoot them," rang from every side. The ap-
pearance Of the liberated prisoners, all OF whom,
through the steadiness of the marines, escaped
injury, changed the current Of feeling, and pro-
longed cheers took the place Of howls and e1ecra-
tions. In the assault, private Rupert, OF the
marines, received ball in the stomach and was
believed to be fatally wounded another received
a slight flesh wound in the face.
The Dead and Wounded-The lawn in front OF
the engine house after the assault presented
dreadful sight. Lying on it were two bodies OF
men killed the previous day and found inside the
house; three wounded men, one just at the last
Wv
of the dead was Capt. Browns son 0ttowa, the
wounded man his son, Watson, whilst the father
himself laid upon the grass, CORY spectacle, his
face and hair clotted with blood and severe
bsyonet wound in his side.
Capt. Brown's Stdtement-A short time after
he was brought out, he revived, and talked earn
estly to those about him, defending his course and
avowing that he had done only what was right
He replied to questions substantially as follows
Q. Are you Captain Brown, of Kansas!
A. I am sometimes called so.
O. Are you Osawattamie Brown?
A. I tried to do my duty there.
@. What was your present object!
A. To free the slaves from bondage.
Q. Were any other persons but those with you
now connected with the movement?
A. No.
O. Did you expect aid from the North?
A, No; there was none connected with the
movement but those who came with me-
@. Did you expect to kill people in order to
carry your point?
A. did not wish to do it, but you forced me
to do it.
Various questions of this kind were put to Capt.
Brown, which he answered clearly and freely, and
seemed anxious to vindicate his course. He
urged that he had the town at his mercy, that he
could have burned it and murdered its inhabi-
tants, but did not. He had treated the prisoners
he had taken with courtesy, and complained that
he was hunted down like beast. He spoke OF
the killing of his son, which he alleged was done
whilst he was bearing flag of truce, and seemed
very anxious for the safety of the wounded son.
Altogether, his conversation bore the impress OF
O conviction that whatever he had done to free
slaves was right, and that in the war in which he
was engaged, he was entitled to be treated with
all the respect of prisoner of war. He seemed
fully convinced that he had been badly treated,
and had right to complain.
The Prisoners-Besides Capt. Brown, the pris-
oners taken sre his son, who is seriously wounded
in the abdomen, and not likely to live, Edwin Cop.
puck, who belongs to Iowa, and negro named
Shields Green, who came from Pittsburg to join
Brown. The stories of all these men are precise
ly the same; they agree to the object they pro-
posed to accomplish, and the number of parties
in the movement. Young Brown, in answer to a
question, said that there were parties in the North
connected with the movement-thus differing with
his father on this point Coppuck, the other
white prisoner, is quite young, and seems less
shrewd than the others. He said he did not wish
to join the expedition, and when asked, gave a
reply which showed the influence Brown had
over him. he said: "Ah you gentlemen don't
know Captain Brown when he calls for US we
never think Of refusing to come"
Several slaves were found in the room with the
insurrectionists, but it is not believed that they
were there willingly. Indeed, Browns expecta-
tons as to the slaves running to him were entire
1y disappointed. None seem TO have come to him
willingly, and in most cases they were forced tc
desert their masters But one instance in which
a slave made public appearance with arms in
his handsis related. A negro who had been sharp.
ly used by one of the town people, when he found
he had pike in his hand, used his .'brief author.
ity'' to arrest the citizen and have him taken to
the armory.
Hou the Insurgents Treated their Pri,oners.-
The citizens imprisoned by the insurrectonists all
testify to their lenient treatment. They were nei
ther tied nor insuted, and, beyond the outrage Of
restricting their liberty, were not i'll used. Cap
.ain Brown was always courteous to them, and al
all times assured them that they should not be
injured. He explained his purpose to them, and
whilst he had the workmen in confinement, made
an Abolition speech to them. Col. Washington
speaks of him as man of extraordinary nerve
He never blenched during the assault, though he
admitted during the night that escape was i'm.
possible and he would have to die. When the dool
was broken down, one of his men cried out, 81
surrender" The captain Immediately cried out
at the same moment, fred his own rifle at the
door. During the previous night he spoke freely
with Col. Washington, and referred to his sons
He said he had lost one in Kansas and two here
he had not pressed them to join him in this e1pe-
dition, but he did not regret their loss-they had
"died in glorious cause"
The position of the prisoners in the engine
house during the firing on Monday, and at the mo-
ment of the final attack, was O very trying one.
Without any of the incentives of combat they had
to risk the balls Of their friends, but happily they
all escaped. At the moment when the doors were
broken in, the prisoners, at the suggestion Of Col
Washington, held up their hands, so that it might
be seen that they were not combatants.
The mails bring very interesting particulars
from Harper's Ferry, in addition to those alrt ady
published. The only prominent member of the
organization who escaped is Captain Bill Cook,
for whose arrest 81 900 reward is offered by the
Governor of Virginia. He is o native of Connec-
ticut and formerly employed in Colts armory, at
Hartford. OF late years he has resided in Penn
sylvania. A telegraphic dispatch from Har-
pers Ferry, says it is understood that the prison
ers have been surrendered entirely to the urisdic-
tion of Virginia. Gov. Vice argued the question
of jurisdiction with Mr.. Ould, the United States
District Attorney, in this way: 'If the United
States has Jurisdiction over the prisoners it must
20 into court and establish that fact in legal
way. In the meantime they will be committed
to the jail at Charlestown. The Grand Jury con-
venes next week. they will be tried, convicted and
executed If the United States establishes its
claim of jurisdiction, it may take what the State
of Virginia has left of them"
The Governors Interview with Old Brown.-Yes-
terday morning, Gov. Wise, accompanied by Dis
trict Attorney Ould and several others, visited
this remarkable man in his bedroom. Brown
was propped up in his bed, evidently suffering