Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1902-01-17
THE JOHN BROWN RAID
As Seen by Governor 0'FerraIl Who was
Present at Harper's Ferry and Took
Part In the Capture.

Present at Harper's Ferry and Tool
Part In the Capture.
Ex- x-Governor Charles T. O'Ferral
referring to the John Brown letters
said they recalled to his mind very
vividly the incidents of the Brown rai(
on Harper's Ferry, in October, 1859.
The ex Governor said: my home at
that time was at Berkeley Springs
forty eight miles west of Harper s
Ferry, on the BaltimoI and Ohio Rail
road. 1 was boy and had gone to
Winchester to exhibit a fast horse at
the Agricultural Fair, which was to
open in few days On Monday, the
18th of October, the people of Win
chester were thrown into state of
excitement by news of serious trouble
at Harper's Ferry; but the exact ma
ture of it was not underst ood, except
that the town was in the hands of arm
ed men, who were arresting and kill
ing people.
| uO OOuu1dOu bdio, ohO bpIChuiu Oiu
military company of Winchester, was
called out and ordered to Harper's
Ferry; asked, and received, permls--
sion to go with them, and Joseph H.
Sherrard, Esq, afterwards Jueg9
Sherrard, borrowed doubled barreled
shotgun and loaned it to me. Some
other citizens also volunteered. among
them Judge T. T. Fauntleroy, late of
our Court of Appeals. We all proceed
ed bv railroad train until we reached
Halltown, four miles from Harper's
Ferry. There the train was stopped
and we were told that body of North
ern men were in possession Of the Uni
ted States Arsenal and fighting had
been going on all day. This was about
sunset. We were ordered to leave the
train and proceed by way of the turn
pike and through Bolivar to the Ferry.
We reached the upper end of the
armory grounds after dark and march
ed through them to the lower end and
to the main street of the town. Judge
Fauntleroy and l were together and we
marched cautiously with our guns
port thumb on hammer and finger on
trigger, expecting every moment to en-
counter the insurgents. After going |
through the grounds we learned that |
on the night before Sunday the lights |
on the streets were put out and the
people were arrested on their way |
home from church and the arsenal was
5aken possession of by armed men;
that a faithful cOlored man in the en-
)loyment of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad Company had been killed by
,hese men because he refused to give
jhem certain keys; that Mr.. Beckham,
;he Mayor, had also been killed that
Mr.. Allstat, the Master Armorer, and
Colonel Washington, who lived near
Harper's Ferry, had been arrested and
we're then prisoners. We learned fur
,her that the leader of the party was
hone other than John Brown, known as
'Ossawattomie Brown" who had OBJ
bained this sobriquet in his notorious
warfare in Kansas, and
that he had declared bis object to be the
freeing of the slaves ''by the authority
Of God Almighty" or ''by decree of
High Heaven"
The Martinsburg Volunteer Com.
0any had reached the scene about
noon, I think, of Monday, ant before
we arrived the citizens and military
had killed and wounded several of
Browns party; among the latter
Stevens, who was lying in the Wager
House at the depot, and had captured
Coppic and forced Brown, with the re-
mainder of his party and prisoners to
take refuge in the fire-engine house
Of the armory, which stood at the low
er end of the reservation, opposite the
railway depot. The town by this time
was literally swarming with citizens
from miles around, armed with all
kinds of weapons. Was up all night
seeing and hearing all l could and do
ing some guard duty. About 12 o.
clock that night call came from the
for physician to minis
ter to a wounded, perhaps, dying man.
1t was Browns call. A physician
went in. 1t was one of Browns sons
for whom the call was made. l heard |
that the prisoners said that during
Monday, Brown, having made port
holes in the engine house by knocking
out bricks, would watch for an op-
portunity to shoot, holding his rifle in
one hand and with his other hand feel
ing the pulse of his wounded son and
urging him to bear his sufferings
bravely and if death came die like a
martyr in just cause. II was
through one of these portfolios that
he shot and killed Mayor Beckham.
During the night Colonel Robert E.
Lee arrived from Washington In com
mand of detachment of United States |
Marines. With him were Lieutenant |
J. E. B, Stuart, as an aide, and Lieu |
tenant Green, of the marines. Colonel
Lee was then something over fifty |
years of age, but his hair and beard
were black, with scarcely any tracing
of gray. He was erect and looked every |
inch a soldier. He was, l thought,
+Lo I,a,1eoroof mon bod ovor soop
Lieutenant Stuart was about twenty
seven and Lieutenant Green probably |
a little older. 1t soon became known
that the marines would attack the
engine-house Tuesday morning, and
determined to see it, if possible. So
quite early | went around and got
position on the railroad in front of and
in full view of the engine house.