Publication: THE NATIONAL ERA
Date: October 27, 1859
Title: HARPER'S FERRY INSURRECTION. BALTIMORE
Location: Washington, D.C.
HARPER'S FERRY INSURRECTION.
BALTIMORE,
The Baltimore infantry troops have just arrived, and are now marching to the armories. Their services were no longer required
at Harper's Ferry, the Government and Virginia troops being amply sufficient for all emergencies.
The report of the
Brown's chief aid was John E. Cook, a comparatively young man, who has resided in and near Harper's Ferry some years. He was
first employed in tending lock on the canal, and afterward taught school on the Maryland side of the river; and after a brief
residence in Kansas, where, it is supposed, he became acquainted with Brown, returned to Harper's Ferry, and married there.
He was regarded as a man of some intelligence, and known to be Anti-Slavery, but was not so violent in the expression of his
opinions as to excite any suspicions.
These two men, with Brown's two sons, were the only white men connected with the insurrection that had been seen about Harper's
Ferry. All were brought by Brown from a distance, and nearly all had been with him in Kansas.
The first active movement in the insurrection was made at about 10 1/2 o'clock on Sunday night. William Williamson, the watchman
at Harper's Ferry bridge, while walking across toward the Maryland side, was seized by a number of men; who said he was their
prisoner, and must come with them. He recognised Brown and Cook among the men, and knowing them, treated the matter as a joke;
but, enforcing, silence, they conducted him to the Armory, which he found already in their possession. He was detained till
after daylight, and then discharged. The watchman who was to relieve Williamson at midnight, found the bridge lights all out,
and was immediately seized. Supposing it an attempt at robbery, he broke away, and his pursuers stumbling over him, he escaped.
The next appearance of the insurrectionists was at the house of Col. Lewis Washington, a large farmer and slave-owner, living
about four miles from the Ferry. A party headed by Cook proceeded there, and rousing Col. Washington, told him he was their
prisoner. They also seized all the slaves near the house, took a carriage horse and large wagon with two horses. When Col.
Washington saw Cook, he immediately recognised him as the man who had called upon him some months previous, and to whom he
had exhibited some valuable arms in his possession including an antique sword presented by Frederick the Great to George Washington,
and a pair of pistols presented by Lafayette, to Washington, both being heir-looms in the family. Before leaving, Cook wanted
Col. Washington to engage in a trial of skill at shooting, and exhibited considerable certainty as a marksman. When he made
the visit on Sunday night, he alluded to his previous visit, and the courtesy with which he had been treated, and regretted
the necessity which made it his duty to arrest Col. Washington. He, however, took advantage of the knowledge he had obtained
by his former visit, to carry off all the valuable collection of arms, which the owner did not reobtain till after the final
defeat of the insurrection.
From Col. Washington's he proceeded with him as a prisoner in the carriage, and twelve of his negroes in the wagon, to the
house of Mr. Allstadt, another large farmer on the same road. Mr. Allstadt and his son, a lad of sixteen, were taken prisoners,
and all their negroes within reach forced to join the movement. He then returned to the Armory at the Ferry. All these movements
seem to have been made without exciting the slightest alarm in town, nor did the detention of Capt. Phelps's train at the
upper end of the town attract attention.
It was not until the town thoroughly waked up and found the bridge guarded by armed men, and a guard stationed at all the
avenues, that the people saw that they were prisoners. A panic appears to have immediately ensued, and the number of insurrectionists
was at once increased from fifty (which was probably their greatest force, including the slaves who were forced to join) to
from five to six hundred. In the mean time, a number of workmen, not knowing anything of what had occurred, entered the Armory,
and were successively taken prisoners, until at one time they had not less than sixty men confined in the Armory. Among those
thus entrapped were: Armistead Ball, Chief Draughtsman of the Armory; Benjamin Mills, Master of the Armory; and J.E.P. Dangerfield,
Paymaster's Clerk. These three gentlemen were imprisoned in the engine-house, which afterward became the chief fortress of
the insurgents, and were not released until after the final assualt. The workmen were imprisoned in a large building further
down the yard, and were rescued by a brilliant Zouaye dash, made by the railroad company's men who came down from Martinsburg.
This was the condition of things at daylight, about which time Capt. Cook, with two white men, accompanied by thirty slaves,
and taking with them Col. Washington's large wagon, went over the bridge and struck up the mountain-road toward Pennsylvania.
It was then believed that a large wagon was used to convey away the Paymaster's safe, containing $17,000 Government funds,
and also that it was filled with Minie rifles, taken out to supply other bands in the mountains, who were to come down upon
Harper's Ferry in
over-whelming force. These suppositions proved untrue, as neither money nor arms were disturbed. As day advanced, and news
spread around, and people came into the Ferry, the first demonstrations of resistance were made to the insurrectionists.
A general warfare commenced, chiefly let on by a man named Chambers, whose house commanded the Armory yard. The colored man
named Hayward, a railroad porter, was shot early in the morning, for refusing to join the movement.
The next man shot was Joseph Burley, a citizen of the Ferry. He was shot standing in his own door. The insurrectionists by
this time, finding a disposition to resist from, them, had withdrawn nearly all within the Armory grounds, leaving only a
guard on the bridge.
About this time, also, Samuel P. Young, Esq., was shot dead. He was coming into town on horseback, carrying a gun, when he
was shot from the Armory, receiving a wound of which he died during the day. He was a graduate of West Point, and greatly
respected in the neighborhood for his high character and noble qualities.
At about noon, the Charlestown troops, under command of Col. Robert W. Baylor, crossed the Shenandoak river some distance
up, and marched down the Maryland side to the mouth of the bridge. Firing a volley, they made a gallant dash across the bridge,
clearing it of the insurrectionists, who retreated rapidly down toward the Armory. In this movement of the insurrectionists,
a man named William Thompson was taken prisoner.
The Shepherdstown troops next arrived, marching down the Shenandoah side, and joining the Charlestown forces at the bridge.
A desultory exchange of shots followed, one of which struck Mr. Fountain Beckham, Mayor of the town, and agent of the Railroad
Company, entering his breast and passing entirely through his body. The ball was a large elongated slug, and made a dreadful
wound. Mr. Beckham died almost immediately. He was without fire-arms, and was exposed for only a moment while approaching
a water-station. His assailant, one of Brown's sons, was shot almost immediately, but managed to get back to the engine house,
where his body was found next day.
The murder of Mr. Beckham greatly excited the populace, who immediately raised a cry to bring out the prisoner, Thompson.
He was brought out on the bridge, and there shot down. He fell into the water, and some appearance of life still remaining,
he was riddled with balls.
At this time the general charge was made down the street from the bridge toward the Armory gate by the Charlestown and Shepherdstown
troops and Ferry people. From behind the Armory wall a fusilade was kept up, and returned by the insurrectionists from the
Armory buildings.
While this was going on, the Martinsburg levies arrived at the upper end of the town, and, entering the Armory grounds by
the rear, made an attack from that side. This force was largely composed of railroad employees, gathered from the tonnage
trains at Martinsburg, and their attack was generally spoken of as showing the greatest amount of fighting pluck exhibited
during the day. Dashing on, firing and cheering, and gallantly led by Captain Alburtis, they carried the building in which
the Armory men were imprisoned, and released the whole of them.
They were, however, but poorly armed, some with pistols, and others with shot-guns; and when they came within range of the
engine-house, where the
A guerilla warfare was maintained during the rest of the day, resulting in the killing of two of the insurrectionists, and
the wounding of a third. One crawled out through a culvert leading into the Potomac, and attempted to cross to the Maryland
side, whether with the view of escaping, or conveying information to Cook, is not known.
He was shot while crossing the river, and fell dead on the rocks. An adventurous lad waded out and secured his Sharpe's rifle.
The body was afterward stripped of a part of its clothing. In one of his pockets was found a captain's commission, drawn up
in full form, and declaring that the bearer, Captain Lehman, held that commission under Major General Brown. A light mulatto
was shot just outside of the Armory gate. The ball went through the throat, tearing away the principal arteries, and killing
him instantly. His name is not known, but he is one of the free negroes who came with Brown. His body was left in the street
until noon yesterday, exposed to every indignity that could be heaped upon it by the excited populace.
At this time, a tall, powerful man, named Evans Stephens, came out from the Armory, conducting some prisoners, it was said.
He was twice shotonce in the side, once in the breast. He was then captured, and taken to a tavern, and after the insurrection
was quelled was turned over to the United States authorities in a dying condition. During the afternoon, a sharp little affair
took place on the Shenandoah side of the town. The insurrectionists had also seized Hall's rifle works, and a party of their
assailants found their way in through a mill-race, and dislodged them.
In this rencontre, it was said, three insurrectionists were killed, but we found but one dead body, that of a negro, on that
side of the town. Night by this time had set in, and operations ceased. Guards were placed around the Armory, and every precaution
taken to prevent escapes.
At eleven o'clock, the Monday night train, with Baltimore military and marines, arrived at Sandy Hook, where they waited for
the arrival of Col. Lee, deputized by the War Department to take the command.
The reporters pressed on, leaving their military allies behind; they found the bridge in the possession of the military, and
entered the besieged town without difficulty, the occasional report of a gun or singing motion of a Sharpe's rifle ball warning
them that it was advisable to keep themselves out of the range of the Armory. The first visit was made to the bedside of the
Aaron Stevens, the wounded prisoner; they found him to be a large, exceedingly athletic man, a perfect Samson in appearance.
He was in a small soom, filled with excited armed men, who more than once threatened to shoot him, where he was groaning with
pain, but answering with composure and apparent willingness every question in relation to the fray in which he was engaged.
He said he was a native of Connecticut, but had lately lived in Kansas, where he knew Captain Brown. He had also served in
the United States army. The sole object of his attempt was to give the negroes freedom, and Brown had represented that as
soon as they seized the Armory, the negroes would flock to them by thousands, and they would soon have force enough for their
purposeone for which he would sacrifice his lifebut he said he thought Brown had been greatly deceived. He said that preparations
had been making for some months for a movement, but that the whole force consisted of seventeen white men and five free negroes.
This statement was repeated without variation by all the prisoners with whom we conversed. All agreed as to the number in
the movement, and as to its objects, which some called the work of philanthropy.
Lewis Leary, a negro shot at the rifle mill, stated, before he died, that he enlisted with Capt. Brown for the insurrection
at a fair held in Lorraine county, Ohio, and received the money to pay his expenses. They all came down to Chambersburg, Pa.,
and from there they travelled across the country to Brown's farm.
The night passed without any serious alarms, but not without excitement. The marines were marched over immediately after their
arrival, when Col. Lee stationed them within the Armory grounds, so as to completely surround the engine-house. Occasionally,
shots were fired by country volunteers, but what for was not escertained. There was only one return fire from the insurgents.
The broken telegraph was soon repaired, through the exertions of Superintendents Westervelt and Talcott, who accompanied the
expedition. The announcement that communication was opened with Baltimore gave the press representatives abundant employment.
There was no bed to be had, and daylight was awaited with anxiety. Its earliest glimpses were availed of to survey the scene.
A visit to the different localities in which the corpses of the insurrectionists were lying stark and bloody, a peep close
or far off, according to the courage of the observer, at the Malakoff of the insurgents, was the established order of sight-seeing,
varied with a discussion of all sorts of terrible rumors.
The building in which the insurgents had made their stand was the fire-engine-house, and no doubt the most defensible building
in the Armory. It has dead brick walls on three sides, and on the fourth large doors, with window sashes above, some eight
feet from the ground.
A dead stillness surrounded the buildings, and, except that now and then a man might be seen peeping from the nearly-closed
door, and a dog's nose slightly protruding, there was no sign of life, much less of hostility, given.
Various opinions were given as to the number of persons within, and the amount of resistance they would be able to offer.
The cannon could not be used without endangering the safety of Col. Washington, Mr. Dangerfield, Mr. Ball, and other citizens,
whom they still held prisoners. The doors and walls of the building had been pierced for rifles, but it was evident that from
these holes no range could be had, and that without opening the door they would be shooting in the dark. Many thought that
the murder of the prisoners held was determined upon, and that a fight to the death would be the ending of their desperate
attempt.
While the people thus looked and speculated, the door was opened; and one of the men came out with a flag of trace, and delivered
what was supposed to be terms of capitulation. The continued preparations for assault showed they were not accepted. Shortly
after seven o'clock, Lieut. E.B. Stuart, of the 1st cavalry, who was acting as aid for Col. Lee, advanced to parley with the
besieged, Samuel Strider Esq., an old and respectable citizen, bearing a flag of trace. They were received at the door by
Capt. Brown. Lieut. Stuart demanded an unconditional surrender, only promising them protection from immediate violence, and
a trial, by law.
Captain Brown refused all terms but those previously demanded, which were substantially, "That they should be permitted to
march out with their men and arms, taking their prisoners with them; that they should proceed unpursued to the second toll-gate,
when they would free their prisoners. The soldiers would then be permitted to pursue them, and they would fight if they could
not escape." Of course, this was refused; and Lieut. Stuart pressed upon Brown his desperate position, and urged a surrender.
The expostulation, though beyond ear-shot, was evidently very earnest; and the coolness of the Lieutenant, and the courage
of his aged flag-bearer, won warm praise. At this moment, the interest of the scene was most intense. The volunteers were
arranged all around the building, cutting off an escape in every direction. The marines, divided in two squads, were ready
for a dash at the door.
Finally, Lieut. Stuart, having exhausted all argument with the determined Captain Brown, walked slowly from the door.
Immediately the signal for attack was given, and the marines, headed by Col. Harris and Lieut. Green, advanced in two lines
on each side of the door. Two powerful fellows sprung between the lines, and, with heavy sledge hammers, attempted to batter
down the door.
The doors swung and swayed, but appeared to be secured with a rope, the spring of which deadened the effect of the blows.
Failing thus, they took hold of a ladder, some forty feet long, and, advancing at a run, brought it with tremendous effect
against the door. At the second blow, it gave way, one leaf falling inward in a slanting position. The marines immediately
advanced to the breach, Major Russell and Lieut. Green leading. A marine in front fell.
The firing from the interior was rapid and sharp. They fired with deliberate aim, and for a moment the resistance was serious
and desperate enough to excite the spectators to something like a pitch of frenzy. The next moment, the marines poured in,
the firing ceased, and the work was done, while cheers rang from every sidethe general feeling being that the marines had
done their part admirably.
When the insurgents were brought outsome dead, and others woundedthey were greeted with execrations, and only the precautions
that had been taken saved them from immediate execution. The crowd, nearly every man of which carried a gun, swayed with tumultuous
excitement, and cries of "Shoot them!" "Shoot them!" rang from every side. The appearance of the liberated prisonersall of
whom, through the steadiness of the marines, escaped injurychanged the current of feeling, and prolonged cheers took the place
of howls and execrations.
In the assault, private Rupert of the marines received a ball in the stomach, and was believed to be fatally wounded. Another
received a slight flesh wound.
The lawn in front of the engine-house after the assault presented a dreadful sight. Laying on it were two bodies of men killed
on the previous day, and found inside the house; three wounded men, one of them just at the last gasp of life, and two others
groaning in pain. One of the dead was Brown's Son Ottoway; the wounded man and his son Watson were lying on the grass, the
father presenting a gory spectacle. He had a severe bayonet wound in his side, and his face and hair were clotted with blood.
"A short time after Capt. Brown was brought but, he revived, and talked earnestly to those about him, defending his course
and knowing that he had done only what was right. He replied to questions substantially as follows:
Are you Capt. Brown of Kansas?
I am sometimes called so.
Are you Ossawatomie Brown?
I tried to do my duty there.
What was your present object?
To free the slaves from bondage.
Were any other persons but those with you now connected with the movement?
No.
Did you expect aid from the North?
No; there was no one connected with the movement but those who came with me.
Did you expect to kill people in order to carry your point?
I did not wish to do so, but you forced us to it.
Various questions of this kind were put to Capt. Brown, which he answered clearly and freely, with seeming anxiety to vindicate
himself.
He urged that he had the town at his mercy; that he could have burnt it, and murdered the inhabitants, but did not; he had
treated the prisoners with courtesy, and complained that he was hunted down like a beast. He spoke of the killing of his son,
which he alleged was done while bearing a flag of truce, and seemed very anxious for the safety of his wounded son. His conversation
bore the impression of the conviction that whatever he had done to free slaves was right, and that in the warfare in which
he was engaged he was entitled to be treated with all the respect of a prisoner of war.
He seemed fully convinced that he was badly treated, and had a right to complain. Although at first considered dying, an examination
of his wounds proved that they were not necessarily fatal. He expressed a desire to live, and to be tried by his country.
In his pockets nearly $300 were found in gold. Several important papers, found in his possession, were taken charge of by
Col. Lee, on behalf of the Government.
The following is a fragment of a letter found in Brown's pocket:
"CAPT. BROWN
(The foregoing occupies a page of fine note paper, straw-tinted, is written in pencil, and not dated, and was evidently written
by a person of education, and the freight he had was, no doubt, that usually carried on the underground railroad.)
Besides Captain Brown, the prisoners taken arehis son, who is seriously injured in the abdomen, and who is not likely to live;
Edward Coppich, who belonged to Iowa; and a negro named Shields Green, who came from Pittsburgh to join Brown. The stories
of all these men are precisely the same. They agree as to the objects proposed to be accomplished, and the number of persons
in the movement.
Young Brown, in answer to a question, said there were persons in the North connected with the movement, thus differing with
his father on this point. Coppich, 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 which Brown had over him.
He said, "Ah, you gentlemen don't know Capt. 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 believed that they were there unwillingly. Indeed,
Brown's expectation as to slaves rushing to him was entirely disappointed. None seem to have come to him willingly, and in
most cases were forced to desert their masters. But one instance in which slaves made a public appearance with arms in their
hands is related. A negro who had been sharply used by one of the town people, when he found that he had a pike in his hand,
used his brief authority to arrest the citizen, and have him taken to the Armory. The citizens imprisoned by the insurrectionists
all testify to their lenient treatment.
They were neither tied nor insulted, and, beyond the outrage of restricting; their liberty, were not ill used. Capt. Brown
was always courteous to them, and at all times assured them that they should not be injured. He explained his purposes to
them; and while he had them (the workmen) in confinement, made an abolition speech to them. Col. Washington speaks of him
as a man of extraordinary nerve. He never blanched during the assault, though he admitted in the night escape was impossible,
and that he would have to die.
When the door was broken down, one of his men exclaimed, "I surrender." The Captain immediately cried out, "There's one surrenders;
give him quarter;" and at the same moment tired 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 the expedition, but did not regret their loss. They had died in a glorious
cause."
The position of the prisoners in the engine-house during the firing on Monday, and at the moment of the attack, was a 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, threw up their hands, so
that it might be seen they were not combatants.
During Tuesday morning, one of Washington's negroes came in, and reported that Capt. Cook was on the mountain, only three
miles off; about the same time some shots were said to have been fired from the Maryland hills, and a rapid fusilade was returned
from Harper's Ferry. The Independent Greys, of Baltimore, immediately started on a scouting expedition, and in two hours returned,
with two wagons, loaded with arms and ammunition, found at Capt. Brown's house.
The arms consisted of boxes filled with Sharpe's rifles, pistols, &c., all bearing the stamp of the Massachusetts Manufacturing
Company, Chicopee, Massachusetts. There were also found a quantity of United States ammunition, a large number of spears,
sharp iron bowie knives fixed upon polesa terrible looking weapon, intended for the use of the negroeswith spades, pickaxes,
shovels, and everything else that might be neededthus proving that the expedition was well provided for, that a large party
of men were expected to be armed, and that abundant means had been provided to pay all expenses.
How all these supplies were got up to this farm without attracting observation is very strange. They are supposed to have
been brought through Pennsylvania. The Greys pursued Cook so fast that they secured a part of his arms, but, with his more
perfect knowledge of localities, he was enabled to evade them. On their arrival at the Ferry with the evening's spoils, they
were greeted with hearty cheers. The wagons were driven into the Armory yard, and given into the custody of the Government.
As everybody else helped themselves, why should not the Greys have a share of the spoils?
The insurrectionists did not attempt to rob the paymaster's department at the Armory. A large amount of money was there, but
it was not disturbed.
Perfect order having been restored, the military, with the exception of the United States marines, who remained in charge
of the Prisoners, left in various trains for home. An immense train brought the Baltimore troops (accompanied by the Frederick
troops to the junction) home.
HIGHLY IMPORTANTTHE STATEMENT OF "OLD BROWN."
The Hon. Henry A. Wise, Governor of Virginia, has established his quarters in the hotel at Harper's Ferry, and is extending
his investigation of the insurrection in every direction. Witnesses were being hourly brought before him, and the most alarming
proof of a formidable plot was being gradually traced out. Parties of scouts on horseback, and accompanied by hounds, had
gone to the mountains in search of others of the implicated parties, and for the purpose of recapturing any parties of slaves
that might be found making their way into the free States.
The Governor is aided in his investigations by District Attorney Ould, of Washington, who has prepared the papers necessary
for the commitment to jail of those of the insurgents captured.
The following is the only correct list of the insurgents killed and captured, both black and white, with their nativity and
places of residence:
LIST OF THE INSURGENTS.
Old Gen. Ossawatomie Brown and Aaron C. Stevens are still alive. They lie in their beds guarded, and none but the surgeons
and attendants are allowed to enter the rooms. Brown has nine wounds, and Stevens three wounds on his person. Edward Coppee
is unhurt, and with the negro Copeland was yesterday taken to the jail at Charlestown, Va. Emperor, also negro, is in chains
at Harper's Ferry.
These five are the miserable remnant of the fanatical band.
THE GOVERNOR'S INTERVIEW WITH OLD BROWN.
Yesterday morning, Gov. Wise, accompanied by District Attorney Ould and several others, visited this remarkable man in his
bed-room. Brown was propped up in his bed, evidently suffering great pain from his numerous wounds, but with his mind collected,
and looking calmly about him, now and then giving vent to a groan. The Governor, after questioning him several times, got
him into a talkative mood, and he voluntarily made the following important disclosures:
"I' rented the 'Kennedy Farm' from Dr. Kennedy, of Sharpsburg, Washington county, Md., and named it after him. Here I ordered
to be sent from the East all things required for my undertaking. The boxes were double, so no one could suspect the contents
of them, even the carters engaged in hauling them up from the wharf. All boxes and packages were directed to J. Smith & Son.
I never had more than 22 men about the place, but I had it so arranged that I could arm, at any time, 1,500 men, with the
following arms: 200 Sharpe's rifles, 200 Maynard's revolvers, 1,000 spears and tomahawks. I would have armed the whites with
the rifles and pistols, and the blacks with the spears, they not being sufficiently familiar with the other arms.
"I had plenty of fixed ammunition and enough provisions, and had a good right to expect the aid of from 2,000 to 5,000 men
at any time I wanted. Help was promised me from Maryland, Kentucky, North and South Carolina. Virginia, and Canada. The blow
was struck a little too soon. The passing of the train (Phelps's, on Sunday night) did the work against usthat killed us.
I should not have let it pass. But I only regret I have failed in my designs, but I have no apologies to make or concessions
to ask now. Had we succeeded, when our arms and funds were exhausted by an increasing army, contributions would have been
levied on the slaveholders, and their property appropriated to defray expenses, and carry on the war of Freedom. Had I known
Government money was in the safe here, I would have appropriated it."
Old Brown here appeared quite exhausted, and leaned back in his bed, looking calmly around. Gov. Wise told him he had better
be preparing for death, to which Brown responded, that he, (the Governor.) though he might live fifteen years, would have
a good deal to answer for at last, and had better be preparing now too.
COPY OF THE ANONYMOUS LETTERA CLUE TO THE MYSTERY.
The following is a copy of the anonymous letter sent to the Hon. Secretary of War, from Cincinnati, some two mouths since,
and which afiords a clue to the mystery of the insurrection at Harper's Ferry.
"CINCINNATI,
"SIR: I have lately received information of a movement of so great importance that I feel it to be my duty to impart it to
you without delay.
"I have discovered the existence of a secret association, having for its object the liberation of the slaves of the South,
by a general insurrection. The leader of the movement is '
"As soon as everything is ready, those of their number who are in the Northern States and Canada are to come in small companies
to their rendezvous, which is in the mountains of Virginia. They will pass down through Pennsylvania and Maryland, and enter
Virginia at Harper's Ferry. Brown left the North about three or four weeks ago, and will arm the negroes and strike a blow
in a few weeks, so that whatever is done must be done at once. They have a large quantity of arms at their rendesvous, and
are probably distributing them already. I am not fully in their confidence. This is all the information I can give you.
"I dare not sign my name to this, but trust that you will not disregard this warning on that account."