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Harpers Ferry, setting of John Brown's raid
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John Brown Took Harpers Ferry Hostage
October 16, 1859
With the nighttime surprise, the raiders had the upper hand. But that didn't last long. By the next evening, the conspirators were holed-up in an engine house. The next day Colonel Robert E. Lee's troops stormed the building and Brown was caught. For his actions, he was quickly tried and convicted of murder, slave insurrection, and treason against the state and sentenced to death by hanging. He had lost two sons in the raid. But John Brown was willing to give everything, even his life, in the fight against slavery.
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