Front matter
Reading edition
National Park Service History Series Office of Publications, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.
John Brown’s Raid 1
The Road to Harpers Ferry 2
Rendezvous for Revolution 12
To Free the Slaves 25
The Tiger Caged 35
The Trap is Sprung 43
John Brown’s Body 49
Epilogue 61
Appendix: The Capture of John Brown 65
Selected Reading List 70
John Brown's Fort, Harpers Ferry
The text of this booklet was prepared by the staff of the Office of Publications and is based on National Park Service reports by William C. Everhart and Arthur L. Sullivan.
National Park Handbooks are published to support the National Park Service’s management programs and to promote understanding and enjoyment of the more than 350 National Park System sites, which represent important examples of our country’s natural and cultural inheritance. Each handbook is intended to be informative reading and a useful guide before, during, and after a park visit. More than 100 titles are in print. They are sold at parks and can be purchased by mail from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is administered by the National Park Service, US. Department of the Interior. A superintendent, whose address is Harpers Ferry, WV 25425, is in immediate charge.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
United States National Park Service.
John Brown’s raid.
National Park Service history series
Supt. of Docs. no.: 129-2: J61/4.
1. Harpers Ferry. W. Va. John Brown Raid. 1859.
I. Title.
II. Series: United States. National Park Service. History series.
E451.U58 1974 973.7’116 73-600184
“All through the conflict, up and down Marched Uncle Tom and Old John Brown, One ghost, one form ideal; And which was false and which was true, And which was mightier of the two, The wisest sibyl never knew. For both alike were real.” Oliver Wendell Holmes June 14, 1882
This view of Harpers Ferry from Maryland Heights in 1859 appeared in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper shortly after John Brown’s raid brought the town to national prominence.
1
JOHN BROWN’S RAID
Through the gloom of the night, Sunday, October 16, 1859, a small band of men tramped silently behind a horse-drawn wagon down a winding Maryland road leading to Harpers Ferry, Va. From the shoulder of each man hung loosely a Sharps rifle, hidden by long gray shawls that protected the ghostly figures against the chilling air of approaching winter. A slight drizzle of rain veiled the towering Blue Ridge Mountains with an eerie mist. Not a sound broke the stillness, save the tramping feet and the creaking wagon.
Side by side marched lawyer and farmer, escaped convict and pious Quaker, Spiritualist and ex-slave, joined in common cause by a hatred of slavery. Some had received their baptism of fire in “Bleeding Kansas,” where a bitter 5-year war between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions left death and destruction in its wake and foreshadowed a larger conflict to come. Most were students of guerrilla tactics; all were willing to die to free the slaves.
This strange little force, five Negroes and 14 whites, was the “Provisional Army of the United States,” about to launch a fantastic scheme to rid the country of its “peculiar institution” once and for all, a scheme conjured up by the fierce-eyed, bearded man seated on the wagon—“Commander in Chief” John Brown. He was the planner, the organizer, the driving force, the reason why these men were trudging down this rough Maryland road to an uncertain fate.
2