was to invade the south secretly, call upon the slaves to rise, arm them, and establish a black sanctuary in the west. He set his eyes on the small town of Harper’s Ferry in western Virginia. Harper’s Ferry was located on the Potomac River and would be a good site for attack. The country did not expect what was about to happen.Brown knew that his attack would have to be swift and well designed. He would have to first commandeer Harper’s Ferry and then seize arms and ammunition from the army. This would be followed by a swift retreat into the Alleghenies, where Brown and his freed slaves could live without shackles. His hope was that the slaves in Harper's Ferry and slaves from around the country would rise and revolt against their owners. Between the hours of 10:00 and 11:00 PM on October 16, 1859, Brown first entered the town of Harper’s Ferry. He was accompanied by 2 of his sons and 18 other men, some of which were former slaves. (White 1) Their first move was to cut the telegraph wires so that word of their attack could not be sent out. Next they surprised the watchman at the armory. Several shots were fired and the town awoke. By the next morning Brown and his men were forced to leave the armory and fortify themselves in a fire-engine house. Even though Brown was greatly outnumbered he decided to stay instead of retreating. They took up defensive positions and fought anything that came their way. The local militia kept Brown pinned down for over a day. On October 17, Robert E. Lee arrived to put an end to this revolt. Lee tried to talk to Brown, but he would not hear him. On the 18th Lee was left with no other choice than to forcibly put an end to it. Brown held ten hostages, but they did not impact Lee’s decision. Lee sent Lieutenant Israel Green to crash through the engine room door with bayonets. Green caught Brown as he was reloading his weapon. Green beat Brown to the ground wi...
