Harper’s Weekly – October 15, 1859

Harper's Weekly archives ^ | October 15, 1859

[Homer_J_Simpson]

John Brown to Judge Thomas Russell,* October 21, 1859

CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON COUNTY, VA., Oct. 21, 1859.

HON. THOMAS RUSSELL.

DEAR SIR, — I am here a prisoner, with several sabre-cuts in my head and bayonet-stabs in my body. My object in writing to you is to obtain able and faithful counsel for myself and fellow-prisoners (five in all), as we have the faith of Virginia pledged through her Governor and numerous other prominent citizens to give us a fair trial. Without we can obtain such counsel from without the slave States, neither the facts in our case can come before the world, nor can we have the benefit of such facts as might be considered mitigating in the view of others upon our trial. I have money in hand here to the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars, and personal property sufficient to pay a most liberal fee to yourself, or to any suitable man who will undertake our defence, if I can be allowed the benefit of said property. Can you or some other good man come on immediately, for the sake of the young men prisoners at least? My wounds are doing well. Do not send an ultra Abolitionist.

Very respectfully yours,
JOHN BROWN.

Indorsed, "The trial is set for Wednesday next, the 25th inst. — J. W. Campbell, Sheriff of Jefferson County.”

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* A copy of this letter was also sent to Reuben A. Chapman, of Springfield, Mass., and a third to Daniel R. Tilden, of Ohio.

SOURCES: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 578-9

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Extract of Speech of Governor Henry A. Wise, October 21, 1859

And they are themselves mistaken who take Brown to be a madman. He is a bundle of the best nerves I ever saw: cut and thrust and bleeding, and in bonds. He is a man of clear head, of courage, fortitude, and simple ingenuousness. He is cool, collected, and indomitable, and it is but just to him to say that he was humane to his prisoners as attested to me by Colonel Washington and Mr. Mills, and he inspired me with great trust in his integrity as a man of truth. He is a fanatic, vain and garrulous, but firm, truthful, and intelligent. His men, too, who survive, except the free negroes with him, are like him. He professes to be a Christian in communion with the Congregational Church of the North, and openly preaches his purpose of universal emancipation; and the negroes themselves were to be the agents, by means of arms, led on by white commanders.

When Colonel Washington was taken, his watch, and plate, and jewels, and money were demanded, to create what they call a ‘safety fund,’ to compensate the liberators for the trouble and expense of taking away his slaves. This, by a law, was to be done with all slaveholders. Washington, of course; refused to deliver up anything; and it is remarkable, that the only thing of material value which they took, besides his slaves, was the sword of Frederick the Great, which was sent to General Washington. This was taken by Stevens to Brown, and the latter commanded his men with that sword in this fight against the peace and safety of Washington's native State! He promised Col. Washington to return it when he was done with it. Colonel Washington says that he was the coolest and firmest man he ever saw in defying danger and death. With one son dead by his side, and another shot through, he felt the pulse of his dying son with one hand, held his rifle with the other, and commanded his men with the utmost composure, encouraging them to be firm, and to sell their lives as dearly as they could. Of the tree white prisoners Brown, Stevens and Coppic – it was hard to say which was most firm; and of the two negroes, it was hard to say which seemed the most cowardly and false. The North Carolina negro offered to betray all person involved in the affair, if spared, and the Canada negro – who was I believed, one of the members of their Provisional Congress – was a crouching craven, who lied, as Brown said, for life.

SOURCES: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 571-2; Richard Josiah Hinton, John Brown and His Men, p. 329; The Life and Letters of Captain John Brown, p. 166-8; “Old Brown,” Orleans Independent Standard, Irasburgh, Vermont, Friday November 4, 1859; James, Redpath,The Public Life of Capt. John Brown, p. 273; “Speech of Gov. Wise at Richomnd,” The National Era, Washington, D. C., Thursday, November 3, 1859; “The Insurrection of Harper’s Ferry,” New York Daily Tribune, New York, New York, Saturday, October 22, 1859 which states the date that Wise returned to Richmond on October 21, 1859; “Local Matters,” Daily Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia, Saturday, October 22, 1859, p. 1 which verified Wise “returned to the city yesterday afternoon, from Harper’s Ferry.”

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