On October 16, 1859, John Brown and his “army” of some 20 men seized the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). By the morning of October 18, Marines under the command of Bvt. Col. Robert E. Lee, stormed the building and captured Brown and the survivors of his party. Even after Brown was captured, false rumors persisted about abolitionists and slaves hiding in the mountains, preparing for a new attack on the town. It was in this atmosphere of panic, as the Marines prepared to withdraw, that the Superintendent sent this plea for help to the Secretary of War.
The advance of the Gunboats up the river to New Berne, N. Carolina. Passing the Barricade
Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
