The Start of an Uprising

After sundown on October 16, 1859, John Brown and twenty-one men invaded Harpers Ferry. After leaving their hideout, Brown and his supporters arrived in the early hours of October 17 and seized the federal complex with little resistance. Many of Brown's men took prominent citizens as hostages, though the thought of killing the hostages was never an option to Brown. He had the goal of getting possession of the weapons in the base and arming slaves to escape, but word about the revolt spread quickly and Brown’s time to execute his plan was limited. 

Within hours, the building was surrounded by the town's armed forces and later the Marines. Brown’s options became more selective as time went on. The idea of surrendering was acknowledged by his men and was agreed upon by all of them, except Brown. He chose to arm the slaves they had freed and lead them, and the rest of his original twenty-one men, in the rebellion. The slaves rejected the idea of using weapons due to fear of being punished when they returned to their owners. Without their support Brown's hope for overthrowing the Navy and the U.S. Marines, led by Lieutenant Israel Greene and Colonel Robert E Lee, to escape became dim.