-->>> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 -/ 
 
 
 
 
 
BUST OF JOHN BROWN. 
 (See Note.) 
 
JOHN BROWN 
 THE HERO 
 
 personal IRemimscences 
 
 BY 
 
 J. W. WINKLEY, M.D., 
 
 Editor of Practical Ideals and Author of " First 
 Lessons in the New Thought." 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 FRANK B. SANBORN 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 BOSTON 
 JAMES H. WEST COMPANY 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1905 
 By James H. West Company 
 
U, 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE sub-title, "Personal Remi 
 niscences," is rightly appended 
 to this volume. The old say 
 ing, " Much of which I saw, and part 
 of which I was," the author can truth 
 fully apply to himself in connection 
 with the interesting and stirring oc 
 currences here recorded. He relates 
 the events because they were, in large 
 measure, personal experiences. And 
 the narrative is made up, for the most 
 part, of historical matter which has 
 not been presented heretofore by any 
 writer. In other words, it is history 
 at first hand. 
 
 Another and more particular reason 
 
 M532979 
 
6 Preface 
 
 for the preparation of this little vol 
 ume is because it is believed by the 
 writer that these narrations will serve 
 to throw some especially valuable 
 side-lights upon the subject of them. 
 John Brown was one of the most 
 unique characters in all our American 
 history, and an original factor in an 
 important part of that history. 
 
 The volume will surely be welcome 
 to all admirers of Brown, and it should 
 be of considerable interest to the gen 
 eral public. 
 
 It hardly needs mentioning here 
 that the standard work on John Brown, 
 giving very fully his life and letters, 
 is that of the Hon. Frank B. Sanborn, 
 who kindly contributes the Introduc 
 tion to the present volume. 
 
 BOSTON, January, 1905. 
 
Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION ............ 9 
 
 I. A CALL FOR AID ....... 19 
 
 II. THE PRAIRIE WONDER .... 24 
 
 III. THE NIGHT MARCH ..... 29 
 
 IV. A SIEGE AND ITS HEROINE . . 35 
 V. THE MARCH RESUMED .... 43 
 
 VI. SEEKING THE ENEMY ..... 50 
 
 VII. THE BATTLE ......... 55 
 
 VIII. A SCENE FOR A PAINTER ... 59 
 
 IX. BROWN S NIGHT APPOINTMENT 62 
 
 X. AN INTREPID CHARGE .... 68 
 
 XI. BROWN TO OUR PRISONERS . . 76 
 
 XII. HARD LINES ......... 82 
 
 XIII. A GOVERNMENT MUSKET ... 88 
 
 XIV. AN UNFAILING GUIDE .... 94 
 XV. HAZARDOUS JOURNEYS .... 102 
 
 XVI. THE OSAWATOMIE BATTLE . . in 
 
 XVII. CONCLUSION ......... 121 
 
NOTE 
 
 THE frontispiece to this volume is a represen 
 tation of a bust of Captain Brown, conveying in 
 so far a correct idea of the exterior man. 
 
 This excellent bust, the best representation of 
 him extant, was made from measurements taken 
 by the sculptor in the Charlestown (Va.) prison, 
 while Brown was awaiting trial there. The 
 photograph was courteously furnished by the 
 present owner of the bust, Mr. F. P. Stearns, 
 of Medford, Massachusetts, whose father, Mr. 
 Henry Stearns, a life-long friend of Brown, 
 caused the bust to be made. 
 
 In other places in the volume are pictures 
 of the log cabin of the Adair family, one an 
 exterior view of it, the other an interior, for 
 which we are indebted to Mr. F. B. Sanborn. 
 
 Under this modest roof Brown often sought 
 and never failed to find welcome resting-place 
 and hospitality. Mrs. Adair was his half-sister; 
 her husband, a Methodist clergyman, ministered 
 to the spiritual needs of a scattered flock in the 
 territory. 
 
 The writer, on the occasion of a visit a few 
 years since to Kansas to view the old familiar 
 spots, found the cabin, almost the last of its 
 race, not much changed outside or w r ithin from 
 what it was in the former days. It is owned 
 and occupied, as is the farm on which it stands, 
 by a son of the pioneer minister. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE interest attaching to this 
 little book demands from me 
 some notice of its author, and 
 of my indebtedness to him while pre 
 paring, twenty years ago, a " Life and 
 Letters of John Brown," which has 
 since become the basis of several 
 biographies of that hero. Dr. J. W. 
 Winkley, long a citizen of Boston, 
 was one of those who, in 1856, became 
 a Free State colonist of Kansas Ter 
 ritory, then the skirmish-ground of the 
 long conflict between free labor and 
 Negro slavery. His residence there 
 was brief (1856 and 1857), as was 
 that of many who went out in the years 
 1 8 5 5- 5 8 to take part on one side or the 
 
i o Introduction 
 
 other of the contest ; but he had the 
 good fortune, as a youth, in the percep 
 tive and receptive period of life, to come 
 under the influence of a hero ; and 
 this book portrays the incidents of 
 that interesting acquaintance. Nearly 
 thirty years later he communicated 
 to me this story, and I succinctly 
 mentioned it in my book. But it 
 required a fuller statement ; especially 
 since it seems largely to have escaped 
 the notice of the chroniclers of that dis 
 turbed and confused period of 1856. 
 The partisan movements here de 
 scribed came in between two of 
 Brown s famous rights, that of 
 Black Jack, in early June, when he 
 captured the Virginian captain, Pate, 
 and that in the end of August, when 
 he repelled the formidable attack of 
 the Missourians upon the small settle 
 ment of Osawatomie. The brothers 
 Winkley and their comrades took up 
 arms in the neighborhood of Osawat 
 omie, after the engagements of the 
 first two weeks in August, which cul- 
 
Introduction 1 1 
 
 minated in the capture of several 
 camps or " forts " of the Southern 
 invaders of eastern Kansas, August 
 14 and 1 6. Fort Saunders, not far 
 from Lawrence was taken by a Free 
 State force under General Lane, 
 August 14. On the i6th, another 
 Pro-slavery " fort," garrisoned by a 
 Colonel Titus, was captured, near 
 Lecompton. The reason for these 
 attacks was thus given by John 
 Brown, Jr., then a prisoner at Le 
 compton, guarded by Captain Sackett 
 with a force of United States dra 
 goons (August 1 6, 1856): 
 
 " During the past month the Ruf 
 fians have been actively at work, and 
 have made not less than five in 
 trenched camps, where they have, in 
 different parts of the Territory, es 
 tablished themselves in armed bands, 
 well provided with arms, provisions, 
 and ammunition. From these camps 
 they sally out, steal horses, and rob 
 Free State settlers (in several cases 
 murdering them), and then slip back 
 into their camp with their plunder. 
 
1 2 Introduction 
 
 Last week, a body of our men made 
 a descent upon Franklin (four miles 
 south of Lawrence) and, after a skir 
 mishing fight of about three hours, 
 took their barracks and recovered 
 some sixty guns and a cannon, of 
 which our men had been robbed some 
 months since, on the road from West- 
 port. Yesterday our men invested 
 another of their fortified camps, at 
 Washington Creek. . . . Towards 
 evening the enemy broke and fled, 
 leaving behind, to fall into the hands 
 of our men, a lot of provisions and 
 100 stand of arms. . . . This morn 
 ing our men followed Colonel Titus 
 closely, and fell upon his camp (near 
 Lecompton), killed two of his men, 
 liberated his prisoners, took him and 
 ten other prisoners, and with a lot of 
 arms, tents, provisions, etc., returned, 
 having in the fight had only one of 
 our men seriously wounded. . . . 
 This series of victories has caused 
 the greatest fear among the Pro- 
 slavery men. Great numbers are 
 leaving for Missouri. ... I see by 
 the Missouri papers that they regard 
 John Brown as the most terrible foe 
 they have to encounter. He stands 
 very high with the Free State men 
 
Introduction 13 
 
 who will fight, and the great majority 
 of these have made up their minds 
 that nothing short of war to the death 
 can save us from extermination." 
 
 Immediately following the date of 
 this letter of young John Brown came 
 the adventures which Dr. Winkley so 
 well describes. They may have had 
 no other chronicler ; and it is well 
 that the testimony of an eye-witness 
 should at last be given, ending with 
 the striking incident, just following 
 the Osawatomie fight of August 30, 
 when young Winkley, in the log-cabin 
 of the missionary Adair, husband of 
 Brown s half-sister, saw John Brown 
 sternly mourning over the body of his 
 son Frederick, killed on the morning 
 of the fight, on the high prairie above 
 Osawatomie. I visited Mr. Adair in 
 this cabin, in 1882, and talked with 
 him on the events of that year of con 
 tention, and the pictures here printed 
 of his prairie home are true to the 
 fact as I then saw it. Two weeks 
 after the burial of Frederick Brown, as 
 
1 4 Introduction 
 
 mentioned by Dr. Winkley (September 
 14, 1856), Charles Robinson, who had 
 commissioned John Brown as captain 
 nine months earlier, wrote to him by 
 that title from Lawrence, and said in 
 his letter : 
 
 " Your course has been such as to 
 merit the highest praise from every 
 patriot, and I cheerfully accord to you 
 my heartfelt thanks for your prompt, 
 efficient, and timely action against the 
 invaders of our rights and the mur 
 derers of our citizens. History will 
 give your name a proud place on her 
 pages, and posterity will pay homage 
 to your heroism in the cause of God 
 and humanity." 
 
 Robinson was at this time the nom 
 inal leader of the Free State settlers, 
 being their duly chosen State Gov 
 ernor under the Topeka Constitution ; 
 and he became the first actual Free 
 State Governor in 1 86 1 , when Kansas 
 was admitted to the Union under 
 another Constitution. Many years 
 later, at the dedication of a monument 
 
Introduction 1 5 
 
 commemorating the Osawatomie fight 
 (August 30, 1877), Charles Robinson 
 said, among other things : 
 
 " The soul of John Brown was the 
 inspiration of the Union armies in the 
 emancipation war ; and it will be the 
 inspiration of all men in the present 
 and the distant future who may revolt 
 against tyranny and oppression ; be 
 cause he dared to be a traitor to the 
 government that he might be loyal to 
 humanity." 
 
 Dr. Winkley agrees in this state 
 ment of Robinson ; and his portrayal 
 of the man as he was in the midst of 
 surprises and responsibilities, but ever 
 the same intrepid and resourceful 
 leader, will add a new picture to those 
 we already had of John Brown in 
 action. Active or in chains, in the 
 battlefield or in his Virginia prison, he 
 always commanded attention, and re 
 ceived the applause of those who 
 knew him. 
 
 The verdict of the world has con 
 firmed this praise ; and of all the men 
 
1 6 Introduction 
 
 connected with the dark and bloody 
 story of Kansas, from 1854 till the 
 close of the Civil War, Brown s name 
 is the most widely known. Blame 
 has been mingled with praise ; but 
 the involuntary tribute paid, by the 
 natural human heart, to invincible 
 courage and unwearied self-sacrifice 
 will insure the prevalence of praise 
 over blame. Those who cannot ap 
 prove all his acts, as Dr. Winkley 
 cannot, are yet convinced generally 
 of the high purpose and grand result 
 of his arduous life. Richard Menden- 
 hall, a Kansas Quaker, who knew him 
 well but " could not sanction his mode 
 of procedure," yet said, after Brown s 
 death in Virginia : 
 
 "Men are not always to be judged 
 so much by their actions as by their 
 motives. I believe John Brown was 
 a good man, and that he will be re 
 membered for good in time long hence 
 to come." 
 
 Quite recently an English author, 
 William Stevens, writing a history of 
 
Introduction 1 7 
 
 slavery and emancipation, has occasion 
 to name John Brown, and the warmth 
 of his eulogy does not satisfy the cool 
 judgment of that most reflective jour 
 nal, the London Spectator, which says : 
 
 " Mr. Stevens asks if Brown did 
 not see the forces moving towards 
 abolition more clearly than did his 
 friends who protested against the 
 daring of his schemes : yet he em 
 phasizes too much, surely, the forlorn 
 recklessness of the man s methods. 
 But a more fearless, resolute, and 
 cooler-headed man never lived. His 
 family life, the devotion of his own 
 flesh and blood to him, and his tender 
 ness were indications of a character 
 intensely human, but also of a man 
 who had counted the cost and knew 
 that the individual must yield to the 
 race. He lit, not a candle, but a 
 powder-magazine ; and his last words 
 prove that he foresaw, as plainly as 
 man ever saw sunrise follow dawn, 
 that blood, and blood alone, would 
 loosen the shackles of the slave." 
 
 Events, in fact, followed the track 
 which Brown pointed out, and with a 
 
1 8 Introduction 
 
 swiftness that startled even such as 
 accepted his clear insight of the 
 national situation. There was some 
 thing prophetic in his perception of 
 the future ; he could not see well 
 what was directly before him, but of 
 the consequences of his action, and 
 of that of other men, he had the most 
 piercing and sagacious view. Such 
 men appear on earth but rarely ; when 
 they come, it is as martyrs and seers. 
 Fatal are their perceptions, and to 
 themselves as well as to the order of 
 things they subvert. But it is more 
 fatal to disregard the warning they 
 give. Their remedy for existing ills, 
 sharp as it must be, is for the healing 
 of the nations and for the relief of 
 man s estate. 
 
 F. B. SANBORN. 
 
 CONCORD, January, 1905. 
 
JOHN BROWN THE 
 HERO 
 
 {Personal IRemfntecences 
 
 I 
 
 A Call for Aid 
 
 IT was of an August morning in 
 that eventful year of Kansas his 
 tory, 1856, in the gray of the 
 earliest dawn, that a horseman came 
 riding at full speed up the creek, the 
 south branch of the Pottawatomie, 
 from the direction of the lower settle- 
 
io John Brown the Hero 
 
 ments, and halted before our cabin 
 door. 
 
 The animal he rode was all afoam, 
 and gave other signs of having been 
 urged hard and over a long distance. 
 As the rider dismounted, his nerv 
 ous and excited manner told us he 
 was the bearer of ill tidings or that 
 he was on some errand of unusual 
 importance. 
 
 " What news below ? " was asked 
 the stranger. 
 
 " Bad news," he replied quickly. 
 "The Ruffians are over the border 
 upon us again, in strong force ; and 
 they are bent on cleaning us out 
 this time. If they keep on they 
 won t leave a cornstalk standing to 
 show where our crops grew." 
 
 There is every reason to conclude 
 that our informant was no other than 
 James Montgomery, then all unknown 
 
A Call for Aid 21 
 
 to fame, but who was later to distin 
 guish himself as a leader in the Kansas 
 struggle for freedom. 
 
 As the writer remembers him as he 
 appeared that morning, he gave evi 
 dence of being a man of intelligence 
 and character. He was tall, some 
 six feet in height, rather slender in 
 build, and of dark complexion. This 
 answers the description given of 
 Montgomery by those who knew him 
 well. 
 
 Montgomery afterward gained well- 
 earned distinction by leading Free 
 State settlers, banded together for 
 self-defense, to fire upon United States 
 troops, putting them to rout. He 
 became, still later, a colonel in the 
 Northern army at the outbreak of the 
 Civil War. 
 
 The trooper s s.tory was soon told, 
 as it needed to be, for there was no 
 
22 John Brown the Hero 
 
 time to be lost. He was a messenger 
 from the Middle River region, so- 
 called, dispatched to us by his com 
 rades in distress. He had come 
 twenty-five miles through the night 
 and darkness, in an almost incredibly 
 short time, stopping by the way only 
 to arouse the scattered Free State 
 men to arms. 
 
 He had been sent to ask help. 
 The need was pressing. The in 
 vaders were many, defiant, and reck 
 less. They had encamped in the 
 neighborhood, were burning hay 
 stacks, foraging their horses in the 
 cornfields, hunting down Free State 
 men, and sending terror to the hearts 
 of women and children. Detach 
 ments of marauders were sent out 
 here and there on these errands of 
 mischief. They had even penetrated, 
 not twelve hours before, to within ten 
 
A Call for Aid 23 
 
 miles of the spot where we stood ; 
 had made prisoner and borne away a 
 pronounced Free State man ; and, in 
 addition to that, had besieged other 
 Northerners in their log cabins and 
 destroyed their property by pillage 
 or fire, as we shall see further on 
 in our story. 
 
II 
 
 The Prairie Wonder 
 
 BY this recital of the messenger 
 our sympathies were sufficiently 
 enlisted ; but if anything addi 
 tional were needed, further to gain 
 our attention, it was given then and 
 there. 
 
 As the speaker drew his narration 
 to a close, all present instinctively 
 turned their eyes in the direction 
 whence he had come : namely, toward 
 the south-east. There a sight met 
 our gaze that riveted us to the spot 
 a spectacle as marvelous as it was 
 beautiful, and singularly confirmatory 
 of our informer s words. To our utter 
 
The Prairie Wonder 25 
 
 astonishment we looked directly, at 
 that moment, into the enemy s camp 
 twenty miles away, though seem 
 ingly less than a quarter of that dis 
 tance. It was one of those peculiar 
 phenomena, rarely seen on the water 
 and less frequently on the land, and 
 more wonderful in the latter case 
 when it does thus appear, because 
 more perfect and on a grander scale : 
 the mirage. 
 
 The prairie mirage is of wondrous 
 beauty. It is usually in the autumn, 
 when all the atmospheric conditions 
 are favorable, that these strange illu 
 sions take place on the prairie ocean. 
 Along the eastern horizon, near sun 
 rise, a narrow belt of silver light 
 appears. As it grows broader the 
 silvery gray of its lower side changes 
 slightly golden. Fleecy clouds above 
 the belt take on a yellow red. The 
 grayish shadows of the dawn lift 
 
26 "John Brown the Hero 
 
 slowly from the earth. Just before 
 the red disk of the sun peers above 
 the horizon-line, one sees in the sky 
 the landscape of trees, of waving 
 grasses or grain, of rocks and hills, 
 held together as it were by threads 
 of yellow and gray and azure. The 
 earth stands inverted in the air. 
 
 The groundwork of this illusion is 
 a grayish, semi-opaque mist ; and the 
 objects are seen standing or moving 
 along in it. The feet of animals and 
 of men, the trunks of trees, the rocks 
 and hillocks, are set in this aqueous 
 soil. When the conditions are per 
 fect, objects far beyond the range of 
 vision over the prairie are brought 
 near and into plain view of the be 
 holder. 
 
 That morning was such a time and 
 afforded such a scene. There was 
 the camp of the enemy, miles 
 away, as has been said, mirrored 
 
Prairie Wonder 27 
 
 perfectly and beautifully on,#he sky, 
 every feature of it traced with the 
 minuteness of a line-engraving. By 
 the aid of our military field-glass we 
 could see the early risers moving 
 through the camp-ground ; the horses, 
 standing patiently outside awaiting 
 their morning meal ; the positions of 
 the pickets keeping guard ; the tent- 
 doors flapping in the slight breeze or 
 swaying back and forth as the men 
 made egress or entrance. Here and 
 there were knots of soldiers, of 
 two or three or four men each, 
 apparently discussing the situation 
 or lighting the early camp-fires for 
 breakfast. Even the curling smoke 
 of the newly kindled flame, as it as 
 cended upward, curiously traced itself 
 visibly to the eye. 
 
 But, what was of yet more interest 
 and practical moment to us, we beheld 
 the stacks of arms, the rifles and shot- 
 
28 John Brown the Hero 
 
 guns, of our foe, reflecting their bur 
 nished steel, and the army-wagons for 
 bearing their luggage and provisions, 
 stretched along the exposed sides of 
 their position to serve as barricades 
 for defense in case of attack. More 
 over, there were the evidences on 
 every side of wanton and cruel de 
 struction, whole cornfields stripped 
 or trodden into the dust, and the 
 blackened sites or yet smoking re 
 mains of burned houses, corn-bins, 
 and wheat-stacks, the property of the 
 Northern settlers. 
 
 Here we had, right before our 
 eyes, direct demonstration of the 
 truth that had just been told us. 
 Deeply impressive was it indeed, and 
 well calculated to fire us and to spur 
 us to the rescue. 
 
 Surely that effect it had. 
 
Ill 
 
 The Night March 
 *d 
 
 IT would perhaps suffice here, so far 
 as the main point in our story is 
 
 concerned, simply to say : We went 
 to their relief. But I am tempted to 
 give a brief account of that march, 
 and of the incidents by the way, as 
 affording the reader some idea of the 
 difficulties and vicissitudes of that 
 Western-border, Kansas warfare. 
 
 In the settlement of the South 
 Pottawatomie river there were thirty- 
 six men and boys, all told, capable of 
 bearing arms. They had been or 
 ganized into a company, and were 
 officered and drilled ready for emer- 
 
30 John Brown the Hero 
 
 gencies. But, inasmuch as they were 
 scattered up and down the creek over 
 a distance of some miles, to inform 
 all, and for each to make ready, and 
 for all to get together occupied the 
 swift hours of nearly the entire day. 
 
 Ammunition was to be collected ; 
 provisions were to be packed for the 
 journey ; horses were to be gathered 
 up from the prairie and bridled and 
 saddled. And, withal, preparations 
 were to be made for home defense 
 and for the care of the women and 
 children to be left behind. These, 
 though few, were all the more 
 precious. The males who were sick 
 or wounded, lame or otherwise dis 
 abled, constituted the " Home Guard." 
 
 Finally, the leave-taking of wives 
 and little ones, though hastily made, 
 also consumed time, so that the sun s 
 rim already dipped the western horizon 
 before we were well under way. 
 
The Night March 31 
 
 The march thus taken up was one 
 into a night of terror of which we 
 little dreamed when we set out. 
 
 We had not gone far before dark 
 ness settled down upon us. The sky, 
 cloudless through the day, became 
 overcast, and one could hardly see 
 his hand before him. Only with 
 great difficulty could we keep our 
 direction and follow the trail over the 
 prairie. 
 
 But the possibility of losing our 
 way was the least of our troubles. 
 In marching at all that dark night 
 we ran fearful risks. Of that fact 
 we were perhaps only too unduly 
 conscious. Fortunately, however, the 
 perils we feared we did not encounter. 
 Some of them we escaped by the 
 merest and luckiest chance. And 
 some of the dangers were wholly 
 imaginary, though they were none the 
 less harassing on that account. To 
 
32 John Brown the Hero 
 
 our excited minds, a foe lurked behind 
 every bush ; in every thicket and 
 cluster of underbrush was the enemy 
 in ambush. 
 
 Our apprehensions were augmented 
 by the rumor which twice met us 
 that the " Border Ruffians " had com 
 menced their march up the creek at 
 nightfall, as we began ours down. 
 The terribly anxious, distracted state 
 of mind we were in it is difficult to 
 portray to the reader. It was mainly 
 owing to the doubt and uncertainty 
 as to everything. 
 
 This is the case, naturally, in all 
 such warfare. It is otherwise where 
 there are regularly organized military 
 operations. In the latter case, by a 
 proper system of spies and scouts, 
 the general is of course kept informed 
 of the whereabouts of the enemy, of 
 their numbers, and of their move 
 ments. 
 
The Night March 33 
 
 With us it was wholly different. 
 The air was full of rumors, all 
 perhaps unreliable ; yet it was not 
 safe to let them go unheeded. If we 
 gave no heed to the reports we might 
 find ourselves attacked wholly un 
 expectedly. 
 
 We were not cowards, I will vent 
 ure to assert, and as the sequel will 
 abundantly show ; but such uncer 
 tainty and suspense were terribly try 
 ing to the nerves, especially on such 
 a night, and in such darkness ; ten 
 times more so than real battle would 
 have been. With open daylight and 
 a fair field we would not have hes 
 itated a moment to fight double our 
 own number. But the thought of 
 being mowed down in the darkness 
 by an ambushed foe, without the 
 chance of striking back in defense, 
 was truly a harrowing situation. 
 
 On the way we had several lesser 
 
34 John Brown the Hero 
 
 or larger streams to ford ; and, in 
 that prairie country, all such were 
 densely wooded. At any of these 
 points, a dozen men well posted would 
 have been equal to six times their 
 number, and could have cut us off 
 almost to a man. 
 
 Every unusual noise grated upon 
 our senses. Twice we halted and 
 prepared to repel an attack. But the 
 alarms were needless : one was occa 
 sioned by a drove of cattle crossing 
 the prairie, the other by a herd of 
 wild deer startled from their lair. 
 
 Twice we took a vote whether we 
 should continue our march, or in 
 trench in a good position and await 
 patiently the enemy or the daylight. 
 Once the ballot was a tie, and only 
 by the casting vote of our com 
 mander, Captain Anderson, was it 
 decided to proceed. 
 
IV 
 
 A Siege and its Heroine 
 
 -b 
 
 THE population of the region, 
 friends and foes, were now up 
 in alarm. Reports met us of 
 the outrages of the Ruffians upon 
 Free State settlers the night pre 
 vious. 
 
 Here is the story of one of the 
 depredations, detailed to us at one 
 of our halts. 
 
 It was upon a stanch old German 
 and his family, settled near the junc 
 tion of the North and South branches 
 of the Pottawatomie. Old Kepler, 
 as he was nicknamed, had not taken 
 any leading or even active part in the 
 
36 John Brown the Hero 
 
 "troubles" (as they were termed), 
 but his strong anti-slavery sentiments 
 had cropped out and were known to 
 the enemy. 
 
 They now made directly for his 
 cabin, evidently resolved, as the op 
 portunity might offer, to force him to 
 declare himself for one side or the 
 other. No man, in fact, in those 
 days of the Kansas conflict, par 
 tisan, bitter, bloody, could long 
 occupy anything like neutral ground. 
 If one undertook to " sit on the 
 fence," he soon became a target for 
 both parties and was relentlessly dis 
 lodged. 
 
 It was not the nature of the old 
 German to dissemble, when the trial 
 came. On the approach of the Ruf 
 fians he prepared for the worst, as he 
 expected no favor. He barricaded 
 his cabin door and refused their de 
 mand for admittance. They burned 
 
A Siege and its Heroine 37 
 
 his wheat and hay stacks, and all his 
 outbuildings, and then called upon 
 the besieged to surrender. 
 
 It was believed, probably rightly, 
 by the assailants, that the old man 
 was possessed of considerable money, 
 brought with him from the old coun 
 try. This lent incitement to their 
 attack ; while, if true, the fact was 
 undoubtedly an additional motive on 
 his part for keeping the invaders at 
 a distance. 
 
 Brave old Kepler was quite ad 
 vanced, in years. He was about three 
 score and ten, but all the old valorous 
 Teutonic blood in his veins was 
 aroused, and he prepared to resist 
 the spoilers even to the death, if 
 need be. His wife, partner of his 
 New World adventures and toils, had 
 succumbed not long before to the 
 frontier hardships and had passed on. 
 He had one son, a chip of the old 
 
38 John Brown the Hero 
 
 block, brave, strong, and inured to 
 the rough Western life, equally inter 
 ested with the father in carving out 
 their fortunes in this new country, 
 and in the making of their Western 
 prairie home. 
 
 And there was an only daughter, 
 alike the support and solace of both 
 father and brother ; the light, in 
 deed, of the household and of the 
 neighborhood. 
 
 I must interpolate a word here, in 
 passing, descriptive of this daughter, 
 the worthy heroine of the event, 
 as we shall see. She was a light- 
 haired, blond - complexioned young 
 girl, with all the proverbial German 
 fairness, bright and handsome as 
 a prairie flower. And she had the 
 German habit of taking a share in 
 the work in the open field. Often 
 was she seen by the passers up and 
 down the creek, "chopping in corn" 
 
A Siege and its Heroine 39 
 
 (as they call it in the West), keep 
 ing even step in the row with her 
 robust brother ; or now driving the 
 cattle while he held the plough ; then 
 changing work with him, guiding the 
 share while he drove the oxen. 
 
 Her household duties, however, were 
 not neglected meanwhile. Doubtless 
 the brother, in return, here gave her 
 a helping hand. Nowhere else on 
 the road (as the writer can testify 
 from personal experience) did the 
 weary and hungry traveler find such 
 bread as when thrown upon the 
 Keplers hospitality, bread of this 
 young girl s manufacture. 
 
 Besides all this, and appropri 
 ately to be said in this connection, 
 this fair maiden could handle a rifle 
 on occasion, as we shall presently 
 see. Such ability was often a quite 
 useful accomplishment for the gentler 
 sex on our wild Western border. It 
 
40 John Brown the Hero 
 
 proved eminently so in the case be 
 fore us. 
 
 The yelling, hooting, and now 
 drunken mob began at length to fire 
 upon the cabin at its vulnerable 
 points. The heroic inmates returned 
 the shots through the holes between 
 the logs in the loft, and not without 
 effect. One of the assailants was 
 seriously wounded and several others 
 less so. The battle grew warm, the 
 effusion of blood thus far serving 
 only to increase the wild fury of the 
 besiegers. 
 
 The father and son stood with 
 their guns at the openings, while the 
 young girl loaded the pieces for them 
 as fast as they were emptied. At 
 length the baffled and maddened 
 crowd changed their tactics. They 
 managed to pile wood, logs, and rub 
 bish against the cabin, hoping to fire 
 the building. There was danger that 
 
A Siege and its Heroine 41 
 
 the dastardly effort would prove only 
 too successful. The flames began to 
 crackle. All now seemed lost, when 
 suddenly the brave daughter unbarred 
 the cabin door and sprang forth with 
 a bucket of water in her hand to dash 
 out the newly kindled flames. This 
 was done from the girl s own impulse 
 at the moment. Had they divined 
 her intention, the father and brother 
 would not have allowed it. The feat, 
 however, strange to say, was as suc 
 cessful as it was heroic and peril 
 ous. 
 
 The surprised besiegers were not 
 actually cowardly and base enough to 
 fire upon the unarmed, defenseless 
 girl. However, one of them sprang 
 from his covert behind a tree to seize 
 her. But the old backwoodsman 
 father, watching breathlessly the 
 scene below from his post in the 
 loft, his hand and eye steadied to 
 
42 John Brown the Hero 
 
 perfect accuracy by the imminent 
 danger, sent a rifle-bullet straight 
 to the heart of the venturesome 
 wretch, and he fell forward dead at 
 the maiden s feet. 
 
 The girl regained the door and, 
 with the aid of her brother, who 
 hastened to her assistance, rebarred 
 it securely. All was now again safe 
 for the time being, and perma 
 nently, as it proved. The marauders, 
 overawed by this episode and by the 
 generally unexpected course of affairs, 
 one of their number being actually 
 killed and several others more or less 
 severely wounded, hastily fell back 
 to a safe distance and finally beat a 
 retreat from the neighborhood. 
 
V 
 The March Resumed 
 
 IT did not require the narration of 
 this stirring tale to nerve our for 
 ward movement, but it certainly 
 increased our determination to pro 
 ceed at all hazard. 
 
 Our next halt was made at the 
 cabin, some miles further on, from 
 which, as mentioned in the first chap 
 ter, the young man whom we all knew 
 and counted as one of us had been 
 borne off a prisoner. As soon as it 
 was made known, by the usual signs, 
 that we were friends, we were joy 
 fully if tearfully greeted. The fam 
 ily, consisting of aged parents, sister, 
 
44 John Brown the Hero 
 
 brother s wife and little children, were 
 in despair. Dreadful anxiety filled 
 their minds. It was an illustration 
 of the saying that " to know the worst 
 is better than suspense." If in the 
 great cause then firing their hearts 
 this family had seen that son and 
 brother shot down before their eyes, 
 they would have borne the affliction 
 silently and with submission. But 
 the terrible uncertainty as to his fate 
 wrought upon them. A price had 
 previously been set upon the young 
 man s head, and they had reason to 
 fear the worst for him. 
 
 It must be added, in passing, that 
 his beloved ones never saw him again 
 alive. The good fortune fell to us to 
 liberate him the next day from his 
 captors, when we found him bound 
 upon his horse, with his hands lashed 
 behind him and his feet tied together 
 under the animal ; but, alas ! his lib- 
 
The March Resumed 45 
 
 eration gave him only a short respite 
 from death. He fell, only a few days 
 after, heroically fighting at the battle 
 of Osawatomie. 
 
 Some miles beyond we had to 
 make that ford of the Pottawatomie 
 river of unenviable fame, and which 
 we looked upon as the danger-point 
 of all others in our journey ; for there 
 our enemy, we thought, would most 
 likely be in ambush. But we swam 
 the swift, dark, muddy stream, swelled 
 by recent rains to a flood, with the 
 water up to our horses backs, luckily 
 without hindrance or serious mishap. 
 
 That ford was the notorious Dutch 
 Henry s crossing, so-called, surely 
 a gloomy, gruesome, and dreaded spot 
 at that dark midnight hour. There, 
 close by, had been enacted, just 
 two months prior, the rightly named 
 Pottawatomie tragedy, which made 
 that locality, on account of this 
 
;? 46 y^A Brown the Hero 
 
 bloody event, verily for the time the 
 " storm center " of the Kansas con 
 flict. But, terrible as it was, it served 
 a great purpose and was speedily 
 followed by good. 
 
 The hero of our sketch was the 
 central figure in this tragic act of the 
 Kansas drama, as he was in most 
 others at this trying period. Brown 
 was the cyclonic force, the lightning s 
 flash in the darkness, that cleared 
 and lighted the way for the men of 
 that day. 
 
 Despite all delays on the way, we 
 made our forced night - march of 
 twenty-two or more miles in remark 
 ably good time, and arrived at our 
 destination about two o clock in the 
 morning, as weary, exhausted, and 
 hungry a set of troopers as ever drew 
 rein and slipped stirrup to seek rest 
 and refreshment. 
 
 It will be of interest to our readers 
 
48 John Brown the Hero 
 
 the man who is the principal subject 
 of these sketches. 
 
 We were challenged by friendly 
 pickets on guard, who escorted us to 
 the old " block-house " reared for 
 town defense, where we were glad to 
 find shelter, and especially to find 
 food, for hungry we were indeed. 
 
 To what a sumptuous feast were 
 we welcomed on that occasion ! And 
 yet, strange to relate, the recollection 
 of it is not calculated to make one s 
 mouth water. It so happened that a 
 side of bacon and a barrel of hard 
 tack were stored there, for just such 
 emergencies as the present one, and 
 these were now pressed into our 
 service. 
 
 Their edible condition was such as 
 naturally to suggest certain Scripture 
 phrases as descriptive thereof ; of 
 the bacon, " ancient of days "; and of 
 the biscuit, " fullness of life." As we 
 
The March Resumed 49 
 
 crunched the latter between our teeth, 
 the peculiar, fresh, sweet - and - bitter 
 taste, commingling at every mouth 
 ful, told us too well of the " life " 
 ensconced therein. No comments 
 were made, however, except the ejac 
 ulation occasionally, by one and an 
 other, " Wormy ! " Wormy ! " 
 
 However, nothing daunted, we 
 paused not in our eating till our 
 ravenous hunger was appeased. And 
 then, on the bare floor of boards, 
 rived roughly out of forest trees, - 
 though it was a little difficult to fit 
 our forms to their ridges and hollows, 
 we gained a few hours of as sweet 
 and refreshing slumber as ever visited 
 mortal eyes. 
 
VI 
 Seeking the Enemy 
 
 *> 
 
 IT will be asked, perhaps, why we 
 came to this particular place. In 
 
 this little town were encamped, at 
 this particular time, Captain John 
 Brown and his daring and trusty 
 band of men. 
 
 " Old Brown," as he was most 
 often called, was a tower of strength 
 in time of need. He had become by 
 that time a veritable terror to the 
 enemy. Tell a Border Ruffian : 
 "John Brown is coming," and he 
 would shake in his shoes, or would 
 run away had he strength enough left 
 
Seeking the Enemy 51 
 
 for locomotion. Missouri mothers 
 frightened their babies to sleep or 
 to quietude by the sound of his 
 name. 
 
 If our information were correct, 
 the foe we sought largely outnum 
 bered us. What more natural than 
 that we should, under the circum 
 stances, desire the counsel of the 
 stanch old man, and his help, if 
 needed. 
 
 He had not looked for an invasion 
 from the direction at present threat 
 ened, but was daily expecting one 
 from another quarter. He detailed 
 two small companies, Captain Shore s 
 and Captain Cline s, two-thirds of 
 his own command, to join our 
 force ; then bade us seek the enemy, 
 with the direction, if we found them 
 too strong for us, to send back word 
 to him, whereupon he would come 
 
52 John Brown the Hero 
 
 to our aid. Meanwhile, he said, he 
 would stay with the remainder of his 
 men and guard the town. 
 
 We set out in the morning, early 
 and hopefully. Scouts with fleet 
 horses were dispatched in advance, 
 and we rapidly followed after. Ru 
 mors of all wild and exaggerated sorts 
 met us as we went. First, it was 
 said, there were three hundred of the 
 enemy, well armed and mounted ; 
 then there were five hundred men, 
 strongly intrenched to receive our 
 attack ; later, there were a thousand, 
 coming to meet us. 
 
 At last we began to be a little 
 apprehensive, possibly a grain fright 
 ened. In the uncertainty, a mes 
 senger was sent back to Captain 
 Brown to say that probably we should 
 need his help. 
 
 But we resolutely pushed on, if 
 
Seeking the Enemy 53 
 
 with somewhat slackened speed. Pres 
 ently a scout returned bearing reliable 
 tidings. The position and strength 
 of the invaders had been quite accu 
 rately ascertained. They were about 
 three hundred in number, quietly 
 encamped, and as yet unaware of our 
 approach. 
 
 Our officers decided not to wait for 
 Captain Brown to come up, but to 
 press forward to the attack and by 
 celerity of movement gain what ad 
 vantage was possible. 
 
 One point was, nevertheless, taken 
 into consideration. We were but 
 about sixty in number, all told. We 
 were prepared and determined to do 
 some hard fighting if necessary ; but, 
 it was argued, if we could take the 
 enemy by surprise, victory would be 
 more fully assured us, and much 
 needless spilling of blood might be 
 avoided. 
 
54 John Brown the Hero 
 
 We therefore proceeded cautiously 
 till we arrived within two miles of 
 the hostile force, where our advanced 
 scouts had taken up position and were 
 actually looking down with spy-glasses 
 into the enemy s camp and watching 
 their every movement. The foe 
 seemed wholly unconscious of any 
 impending danger. 
 
VII 
 The Battle 
 
 IN less time than it takes to relate 
 it, the plan of battle was arranged. 
 
 Our men were divided into three 
 companies. Two divisions were to 
 make flank movements, one on the 
 right and the other on the left of the 
 foe, while the third was to assault 
 directly in front. The plan of attack 
 was well conceived and as success 
 fully executed. 
 
 We had a circuit of some miles to 
 make to gain the flank positions. It 
 was quickly and silently traveled. In 
 our division, detailed on the left flank, 
 hardly a word was spoken during a 
 
56 John Brown the Hero 
 
 two hours march. Each man was 
 busy with his own thoughts. It is 
 said that persons in critical situations 
 will sometimes have their whole lives 
 pass before them. I believe that 
 most of us, during this march, re 
 called nearly all we had ever done 
 or seen, known or felt. 
 
 We were suddenly awakened, at 
 length, from such reveries, by the 
 crack of rifles and the clash of mus 
 ketry, and by bullets actually whiz 
 zing about our ears. So closely had 
 we stolen the march on them that 
 when we opened fire we were actually 
 more in danger from the guns of our 
 friends than from those of our foes. 
 
 The enemy were taken completely 
 by surprise. As prisoners whom we 
 took told us afterward, they thought 
 that " Old Brown " was surely upon 
 them ; and their next and only 
 thought was of escape. They left 
 
The Battle 57 
 
 all, and ran for dear life, some on 
 foot, shoeless and hatless ; others 
 springing to their horses, and, even 
 without bridle or saddle, desperately 
 making the trial of flight. Perfectly 
 bewildered, they ran this way and 
 that ; and naturally, as our forces 
 were positioned, many ran directly 
 into our hands. 
 
 The one thing they did not do well 
 was to fight, except in the case of a 
 few desperate ones and of the leaders, 
 who called in vain upon their men to 
 rally. Then they gave up all for 
 lost, and each looked out for himself. 
 Many discharged their pieces at the 
 first onslaught, but so much at ran 
 dom that not a man of our number 
 was fatally injured, though several 
 were more or less severely wounded. 
 We took many prisoners, and cap 
 tured some thirty horses, all the 
 enemy s wagons and luggage, and 
 
58 John Brown the Hero 
 
 much ammunition and arms. The 
 victory was complete. 
 
 Not until all was over did Captain 
 Brown and his reserve come up, 
 though they had ridden hard to lend 
 us a helping hand. He warmly con 
 gratulated us, however, upon our good 
 success, saying that he could not have 
 done it better himself, and that he 
 was just as glad and proud of our 
 victory as though he had won it. 
 
VIII 
 A Scene for a Painter 
 
 THERE were incidents not a few, 
 connected with the day and with 
 the central figure of our sketch, 
 which would add interest to our pages. 
 One there was which especially im 
 pressed itself upon all witnesses of 
 it. 
 
 This relates to one of the enemy 
 who was fatally wounded in the 
 battle. He desired very much, he 
 said, to see " Old Brown " before he 
 died. 
 
 Captain Brown was informed of 
 the wish, whereupon he rode up to 
 the wagon which served as ambulance, 
 
60 John Brown the Hero 
 
 and, with somewhat of sternness in 
 his manner, said to the prisoner, 
 " You wish to see me. Here I am. 
 Take a good look at me, and tell 
 your friends, when you get back to 
 Missouri, what sort of man I am." 
 
 Then he added in a gentler tone, 
 " We wish no harm to you or to your 
 companions. Stay at home, let us 
 alone, and we shall be friends. I 
 wish you well." 
 
 The prisoner meanwhile had raised 
 himself with great difficulty, and 
 viewed the old man from head to 
 foot as if feasting his eyes on a great 
 curiosity. Then he sank back, pale 
 and exhausted, as he answered, "I 
 don t see as you are so bad. You 
 don t talk like it." 
 
 The countenance of Brown as he 
 viewed the sufferer had changed to a 
 look of commiseration. The wounded 
 man saw it, and, reaching out his 
 
A Scene for a Painter 61 
 
 hand, said, " I thank you." Brown 
 tenderly clasped it, and replied, " God 
 bless you," while he turned with 
 tears in his eyes and rode away. 
 
 The present writer was standing 
 within a few feet of Brown at the 
 time, and naturally drank in the scene 
 with a boy s eager curiosity and sus 
 ceptibility to impression. 
 
 It was a scene for a painter, and 
 the artist could with appropriateness 
 have called his work, " The Conqueror 
 Conquered." 
 
 But it was perfectly illustrative of 
 the man and of the hero. Brown 
 was as brave as a lion. He seemed 
 absolutely not to know fear. Yet 
 withal he possessed a heart tender 
 as a child s or as the tenderest 
 woman s. 
 
IX 
 
 Brown s Night Appointment 
 
 -*> 
 
 WE gathered together the spoils 
 and took up our march on 
 the backward track toward 
 home, discussing the exciting events 
 of the day and recounting to each 
 other our individual experiences, ad 
 ventures, and " hairbreadth escapes." 
 When we had thus proceeded some 
 three miles, it was nearing sundown, 
 and we halted for supper and to de 
 termine our course for the night. 
 
 Meanwhile we had learned an 
 important fact from our prisoners, 
 namely : that we had not met all of 
 our enemies. A part of them, quite 
 
Brown s Night Appointment 63 
 
 a large force, had gone north that 
 morning, and might be at that very 
 moment ravaging our own homes 
 which we had left behind the evening 
 before. Naturally, these unwelcome 
 tidings cast a cloud across our rejoic 
 ings. They might after all be turned 
 to mourning ! 
 
 Having nearly finished our meal, 
 and while we were yet speculating on 
 the situation, Captain Brown hastily 
 rose to his feet and called upon all 
 those, who were ready to go with him, 
 to mount their horses. Forty or 
 more men instantly sprang into their 
 saddles, and others were about to do 
 the same, when the old man cried, 
 " Enough and too many." He 
 thanked them for their readiness, and 
 then selected thirty of the number, 
 tried and trusted men who had fol 
 lowed him before, and without asking 
 why or whither. In the present in- 
 
64 John Brown the Hero 
 
 stance also they ventured not a ques 
 tion. 
 
 Brown seldom disclosed his inten 
 tion or plans to any one. He wished 
 no man with him who was not ab 
 solutely reliable. He required the 
 implicit confidence of his followers 
 and unquestioning obedience to his 
 commands. Whoever put himself 
 under his leadership took his life in 
 his hand and followed whithersoever 
 he was led. 
 
 On this occasion some not ac 
 quainted with his habits plied him 
 with queries as to where he was going 
 and what he would do. He only 
 answered, characteristically, that he 
 " had an appointment with some 
 Missourians and must not disappoint 
 them." One ventured jocosely to 
 ask further, concerning the appointed 
 place of meeting. He replied, they 
 had not been kind enough to fix upon 
 
Brown s Night Appointment 65 
 
 the precise spot, but he felt bound, 
 out of courtesy, inasmuch as they 
 came from a distance, to hold himself 
 in readiness when wanted. This left 
 us, of course, wholly in the dark as 
 to his movements. 
 
 With some words of advice to 
 those of us remaining, that we 
 would better seek our homes, be 
 prepared to defend them, and ready 
 for any action when needed, he 
 gave the command, " Ready ! For 
 ward ! " and, with a wave of his 
 hand, led his Knights Errant away. 
 
 After they had departed it was 
 decided that it would be advisible for 
 us to return to the camping-ground 
 of the enemy and pitch our tents 
 there for the night ; because, it was 
 argued, when the detached force gone 
 north returned, they would naturally 
 seek their friends in the camp where 
 they left them. 
 
66 John Brown the Hero 
 
 Accordingly, though weary near to 
 exhaustion, we returned and camped 
 there, threw out our pickets, and 
 made every preparation to give the 
 marauders a warm reception should 
 they appear. We slept on our arms, 
 ready for any emergency, but the 
 night passed and we were undis 
 turbed. 
 
 The next morning dawned on us 
 clear and beautiful. All our appre 
 hensions of danger had passed with 
 the darkness. Our pickets were with 
 drawn. The scouts, who had been 
 sent out to gather news of the scat 
 tered settlers, had come back with no 
 tidings of the foe we had awaited. 
 Consequently, relieved of all military 
 restraint, we gave ourselves up for 
 the time to the preparation and en 
 joyment of an early breakfast. 
 
 The wagons were unpacked of 
 their provisions. The horses were 
 
Brown s Night Appointment 67 
 
 picketed, or were turned loose for 
 grazing. The prisoners, disarmed, 
 were allowed comparative freedom. 
 Fires were lighted here and there for 
 cooking. And thus we were spread 
 out over a large area, forgetful of 
 the enemy, without a thought of an 
 attack, and bent only on making 
 ready to satisfy the cravings of 
 hunger. 
 
An Intrepid Charge 
 
 THEN occurred the scene which 
 gives us one of the glimpses of 
 John Brown for the sake of 
 which these reminiscences have been 
 written. 
 
 Suddenly, over the hill or rising 
 ground some half or third of a mile 
 away, two horsemen came up at full 
 speed. 
 
 " Look ! look ! " was whispered in 
 suppressed voices from one to another 
 of our party, and all eyes were up 
 turned in that direction. 
 
 Observing us, the horsemen as 
 
An Intrepid Charge 69 
 
 suddenly turned on their heels, and 
 disappeared the way they came, leav 
 ing us stupefied with doubt and 
 wonder. 
 
 In a moment more, however, the 
 heads of a whole troop rose in sight, 
 and the cry, " The Missourians ! 
 the Missourians!" rang through our 
 camp in startling accents. 
 
 We were in dismay, for we were 
 entirely unprepared for attack and 
 there was no time to make ready. 
 We were apparently caught just as 
 our enemy had been surprised by 
 ourselves. Men sprang, some for 
 their arms, some for their horses. 
 Whether to fight or to try to escape 
 was uppermost in their minds, each 
 could settle that question only for 
 himself. At any rate, every one felt 
 that a daring and determined foe, 
 apparently numbering a hundred, 
 which was double our own number, 
 
jo John Brown the Hero 
 
 could, in the condition in which we 
 were, utterly cut us to pieces and 
 destroy us at a blow. 
 
 What grave emotions that thought 
 aroused ! It is difficult for one, 
 never thrown into any such situation, 
 to realize or in any degree even im 
 agine the feelings that may surge 
 through the bosom of men thus 
 placed. Accounts have been given 
 of what panic-stricken crowds or 
 armies will sometimes do, but a 
 description of what they feel on 
 such occasions of disaster was never 
 yet fully penned or painted by 
 man. 
 
 Meanwhile, some of our number, 
 who had been cool enough to observe 
 the fiercely advancing cavaliers, per 
 ceived that they were friends, not 
 foes. It was old Captain Brown 
 himself and his trusty band. With 
 joy, this news rang through our 
 
An Intrepid Charge 71 
 
 ranks. All eyes were then directed 
 toward them, enchained and en 
 chanted. It was a splendid sight. 
 
 They at first, naturally, took us 
 for enemies, not dreaming but that 
 we were miles away, where they left 
 us the evening before. They sus 
 pected us to be the force, encamped 
 there, which they had been riding all 
 night to overtake, the same force 
 we had awaited. 
 
 They came swiftly up over the 
 brow of the hill, in full view, with 
 Brown at their head, and, without 
 halting or even slackening their 
 speed, swung into line of battle. 
 Only thirty men ! yet they presented 
 a truly formidable array. The line 
 was formed two deep, and was 
 stretched out to give the men full 
 room for action. Brown sprang his 
 horse in front of the ranks, waving 
 his long broadsword, and on they 
 
ji John Brown the Hero 
 
 came, sweeping down upon us with 
 irresistible fury. 
 
 It was indeed a splendid and fear 
 ful sight, never to be forgotten by 
 the beholders. Only thirty men ! 
 yet they seemed a host. In their 
 every action, in their entire move 
 ments, seemed emblazoned, as in 
 their determined souls it was written, 
 " Victory or death !" 
 
 Their leader looked the very im 
 personation of Battle. Many of us 
 had seen John Brown before, some 
 of us a number of times, and under 
 trying circumstances. But now all 
 felt that the real man we had never 
 before beheld. The daring, the in 
 trepidity, the large resources of the 
 man, none of us had imagined till 
 that moment. 
 
 Not a gun was discharged, their 
 commander having given to his men 
 the same strict orders that were 
 
An Intrepid Charge 73 
 
 given at Bunker Hill of old, that 
 they should "reserve their fire till 
 they could see the whites of their 
 enemy s eyes." But before they 
 had quite gained that very danger 
 ous proximity to us, we succeeded 
 in making them understand that we 
 were their friends. 
 
 Then such a glad shout as rent 
 the air from both sides was seldom 
 ever heard, we believe, on any field 
 even of victory. They were as glad 
 to find that we were their friends, 
 as we, in our helpless condition, were 
 glad to learn that they were not our 
 enemies. 
 
 The full intrepidity of Brown and 
 his men, though it appeared to us 
 astounding, was not fully appreciable 
 till we came to look at it somewhat 
 from their own view-point. 
 
 We were actually about eighty 
 men, prisoners and all. But, spread 
 
74 John Brown the Hero 
 
 out as we were, with the many 
 horses grazing, the scattered and 
 unpacked wagons, numerous camp- 
 fires, widely separated for con 
 venience, arms stacked in some 
 places, and men gathered in groups 
 in others, we presented altogether a 
 formidable appearance. What was 
 more, this was enhanced by our 
 peculiar position, so that, to them, 
 our numbers and strength were ex 
 aggerated, while our weakness and 
 confusion were concealed. Brown 
 admitted to us himself, afterward, 
 that he thought he was undertaking 
 to whip a force of two or three hun 
 dred, while his men declared that 
 they believed they were actually 
 charging upon not less than a thou 
 sand. 
 
 Brown s quick military eye took in, 
 at the first, the supposed situation; 
 and, as in a flash, he decided what to 
 
An Intrepid Charge 75 
 
 do. All depended, he concluded, upon 
 rapidity of action. His only hope 
 lay in striking a sudden and crush 
 ing blow, for which we were unpre 
 pared, and from which we could not 
 recover till he had made victory sure. 
 From the time Brown s forces came 
 in sight over the hill, till they were 
 within gunshot of us, hardly thirty 
 seconds elapsed, a very short notice 
 in which to prepare for action, even 
 if an attack were expected. 
 
XI 
 Brown to Our Prisoners 
 
 AFTER mutual congratulations 
 over the bloodless and happy 
 conclusion of the adventure, we 
 set our friends down with us to eat the 
 interrupted breakfast, to which they 
 were prepared to do ample justice. 
 They had ridden all night, some forty 
 or fifty miles, in pursuit of the enemy, 
 had ridden all night, without rest or 
 food, from the time they left us, at dusk 
 of evening, till they surprised us that 
 morning with their dauntless charge. 
 
 Another incident in connection 
 with the events described it seems 
 fitting to mention, as affording a very 
 
Brown to Our Prisoners 77 
 
 interesting side-glance at the charac 
 ter of our hero. After the meal, 
 Captain Brown was asked by our 
 officers to give a talk to the prisoners 
 taken the day before, who were now 
 drawn up in line for parole. He 
 responded without an instant s hes 
 itation or a moment to think what 
 he should say. 
 
 He spoke to them in a plain, sim 
 ple, unpretentious way, but with a 
 directness, a force, and an eloquence 
 withal, which doubtless wonderfully 
 impressed those addressed, as cer 
 tainly it held spell-bound all others 
 who listened. Such vivid and in 
 delible impression did this speech 
 of Brown make on the mind of the 
 present writer that, even after the 
 lapse of these many years, he is able 
 to reproduce it, not only in sub 
 stance, but almost word for word ; 
 and he has no doubt of its excep- 
 
7 8 John Brown the Hero 
 
 tional character. Perhaps it was 
 second only to that immortal address 
 which the hero made three years 
 later to the court at his trial in 
 Virginia, which Emerson pronounced 
 one of the three most remarkable 
 addresses in the world. 
 
 On the latter occasion, however, 
 instead of a few plain, simple, rough 
 and ready, but intensely admiring 
 followers, he had almost the whole 
 civilized world eagerly to hear and 
 sacredly to preserve his utterance. 
 
 Brown s speech to the prisoners 
 was probably not over five minutes 
 long in its delivery, but it lasted 
 those forty trembling men a lifetime. 
 It was not known that one of them 
 ever afterward ventured over the 
 Missouri border into the Kansas 
 territory. 
 
 The address was as follows : 
 
Brown to Our Prisoners 79 
 
 " Men of Missouri, one of your 
 number has asked to see John Brown. 
 Here he is. Look at him, and here 
 after remember that he is the enemy 
 of all evil-doers. 
 
 " And what of you yourselves, 
 men ! You are from a neighboring 
 State. What are you here for ? You 
 are invaders of this territory, and 
 for evil purposes, you know as well 
 as we know. You have been killing 
 our men, terrorizing our women and 
 children, and destroying our property, 
 houses, crops, and animals. So 
 you stand here as criminals. 
 
 " You are fighting for slavery. 
 You want to make or keep other 
 people slaves. Do you not know that 
 your wicked efforts will end in mak 
 ing slaves of yourselves ? You come 
 here to make this a slave State. You 
 are fighting against liberty, which our 
 Revolutionary fathers fought to estab- 
 
8o John Brown the Hero 
 
 lish in this Republic, where all men 
 should be free and equal, with the 
 inalienable rights of life, liberty, and 
 the pursuit of happiness. Therefore, 
 you are traitors to liberty and to your 
 country, of the worst kind, and de 
 serve to be hung to the nearest 
 tree. 
 
 " But we shall not touch a hair 
 of your heads. Have no fear. You 
 are deluded men. You have been 
 deceived by men who are your elders 
 but not your betters. You have 
 been misled into this wrong, by 
 those your leaders ; thus, they are 
 the real criminals and worse than 
 traitors, and, if we had them here 
 instead of you, they would not find 
 such mercy at our hands. 
 
 " You we forgive. For, as you 
 yourselves have confessed, we believe 
 it can be said of you that, as was said 
 of them of old, you being without 
 
Brown to Our Prisoners 81 
 
 knowledge, you know not what you 
 do. But hereafter you will be with 
 out excuse. 
 
 " Go in peace. Go home and tell 
 your neighbors and friends of your 
 mistake. We deprive you only of 
 your arms, and do that only lest some 
 of you are not yet converted to the 
 right. We let you go free of pun 
 ishment this time ; but, do we catch 
 you over the border again commit 
 ting depredations, you must not ex 
 pect, nor will you receive, any mercy. 
 
 " Go home, and become liberty- 
 loving citizens of your State and 
 country, and your mistakes and mis 
 deeds, as also the injuries which you 
 have inflicted upon us, will not have 
 been in vain." 
 
XII 
 Hard Lines 
 
 THE personal experiences here 
 related are of interest and have 
 a value mainly as they throw 
 somewhat of fresh light upon the 
 character of the subject of this work, 
 Captain Brown, and upon the events 
 and times in which he was the leading 
 actor. 
 
 Those were troublous times, - 
 times that indeed " tried the men s 
 souls " who experienced them. The 
 hardships were severe. Danger and 
 disease, death by ruthless hands, and 
 even death from starvation, often 
 stared us in the face. At one time 
 
Hard Lines 83 
 
 we lived six weeks solely on Indian- 
 meal mixed with water and dried 
 before the fire, and that without even 
 a condiment. This was our common 
 fare in times of scarcity. Bacon and 
 molasses, and tea without milk or 
 sugar, were our luxuries in times of 
 plenty. 
 
 For months, in the summer of 56, 
 the men in our settlement never had 
 their clothes off, day or night, unless 
 torn or worn off. On a trip early in 
 the summer mentioned, made by a 
 companion and myself to Kansas 
 City for provisions, we chanced to 
 come across John Brown and his 
 company encamped in the woods on 
 a river-bank. After we made our 
 selves known as friends we were 
 invited into their camp. A more 
 ragged set of men than we found 
 were rarely, we believe, ever seen, 
 Brown worst off of all, for he 
 
84 John Brown the Hero 
 
 would not fare better than his men. 
 They had no shirts to their backs, 
 and their outer clothing was worn 
 or torn to tatters. While in camp, 
 they were going barefoot to save the 
 remnants of their worn-out shoes for 
 emergencies. And withal, they were, 
 they said, on short rations, having 
 no bread, but only Indian-meal and 
 water. They were glad of the op 
 portunity to engage us to bring them 
 provisions on our return, but they 
 confessed they were as short of 
 money as they were of provisions, 
 which simply meant that we must 
 share ours with them. 
 
 The men of our company worked 
 hard by day to raise crops, with their 
 rifles near at hand, and slept in the 
 " bush " at night to avoid surprise 
 and capture in their cabins. Only 
 the women and children ran the risk 
 of remaining in the houses, in their 
 
Hard Lines 85 
 
 defenselessness trusting to the mercy 
 of the enemy. That border life invited 
 sickness, especially the malaria of the 
 low prairie. Our cabins were roughly 
 made, and so open that when it rained 
 it was about as wet inside of them as 
 outside. 
 
 We had not time to dig wells, and 
 in mid-summer the rivers were low 
 and the water so stagnant that we 
 had to brush the green scum from 
 the surface when we dipped the water 
 to drink or for other uses. Every 
 man, woman, and child of the settle 
 ment was ill with the " fever and 
 ague," so termed. There came near 
 being an exception to the rule. One 
 man kept so full of whiskey, contin 
 uously, that the ague didn t seem to 
 have even a fighting chance ; but at 
 length the liquor fell short, and the 
 ague then found its opportunity and 
 even made up for lost time. 
 
86 John Brown the Hero 
 
 As for fire-arms with which to 
 defend ourselves, we were not well 
 off. The famous Sharpe s rifles 
 " Beecher s Bibles," so-called, from 
 the great preacher s contribution of 
 them won Kansas to freedom in 
 large measure ; but more by their 
 terrible name than by virtue of any 
 large number of the weapons them 
 selves. The Free State men in 
 Kansas actually had few of them. 
 
 When my older brother, with whom 
 I went to the territory, and myself 
 called on Theodore Parker in Boston, 
 for one thing to ask him if those 
 going to Kansas would be helped to 
 fire-arms, he said he was sorry that 
 his previous contributions had left 
 him "nary red" which he could give 
 for the purpose, and he referred 
 us to the Aid Society. We con 
 cluded, however, to depend on our 
 own means, though slender, and so 
 
Hard Lines 87 
 
 bought, to use between us, one 
 Sharpe s rifle for twenty-five dollars. 
 We thought it might be useful to bring 
 down prairie hens and wild turkeys, 
 if not needed for more serious use. 
 
 This was the only Sharpe s rifle 
 owned in our settlement of thirty-six 
 men and youth able to bear arms. 
 The members of our company, in 
 fact, at this early period in the 
 Kansas troubles of which we write, 
 were very slimly accoutered for war 
 fare, and the writer actually went into 
 the battle of Sugar Mound, described 
 in previous pages, with an old, worn- 
 out flint-lock rifle, being a boy put off 
 with the poorest weapon, which, with 
 the greatest care, he could not dis 
 charge more than once in a half- 
 dozen times trying. And it was the 
 only weapon he had until he made 
 prisoner a Missourian and possessed 
 himself of better arms. 
 
XIII 
 A Government Musket 
 
 WHAT does the reader suppose 
 these arms were ? The one 
 of interest was a United 
 States army musket, altered over from 
 a "flint-lock" to a modern " percussion- 
 cap," a very effective fire-arm. It 
 will be seen that we had to contend 
 not only with the Border Ruffian, but 
 with the greater ruffian at that time 
 behind him, the United States Govern 
 ment itself, which was covertly lending 
 its influence and even its arms on the 
 side of slavery. Those Government 
 guns were stored at Fort Scott, on 
 the Missouri border, and the Pro- 
 
A Government Musket 89 
 
 slavery men were allowed to help 
 themselves to them. 
 
 That Government musket I in 
 tended to keep as a souvenir of 
 Kansas times ; but later, on the 
 occasion of coming down the Mis 
 souri river, when boarding the steam 
 boat with this musket in a common 
 gun-case, I thoughtlessly, on enter 
 ing the main saloon, stood it in a 
 conspicuous corner. It was soon 
 afterward noticed, " spotted," as 
 the phrase went, and I heard some 
 one whisper, " Kansas." A rough- 
 looking passenger approached the 
 piece, removed its case in examining 
 it, and inquired in a loud voice for 
 its owner. Everybody was now all 
 interest. It was a time when the 
 Kansas excitement was at its height, 
 and passions ran wild. 
 
 The cry, " Yankee ! Yankee ! " 
 burst from the crowd. "Overboard 
 
90 John Brown the Hero 
 
 with him ! Overboard ! Overboard ! " 
 was howled, and " Yankee ! Yankee ! " 
 again rang out in hot, angry tones. 
 
 The subject of these gentle re 
 marks, it goes without saying, was 
 surely one of the most interested 
 spectators of the scene of all the 
 members of the crowd, and, as was 
 quite politic, joined in the outcries. 
 The odds seemed to be decidedly 
 against him, and dissent was surely 
 unwise. Apparently there was not 
 another Eastern man on board, and 
 this one felt as once a Western 
 man said he did when expecting to 
 be lynched by a howling mob "a 
 little lonesome." Very fortunately 
 for him, no one observed that he was 
 in any way connected with the inter 
 esting implement of warfare. Had 
 it been discovered that he was the 
 owner of that musket, well ! he 
 would probably not be here now to 
 
A Government Musket 91 
 
 tell his story. If the possessor of 
 it, on the contrary, had proved to 
 be a " Pro-slavery " from the terri 
 tory, he would immediately have 
 been lionized as a hero. 
 
 "All s well that ends well." The 
 only matter of regret to the owner 
 was that he lost sight and possession 
 forever, that troublous night, of his 
 souvenir musket. It was secretly 
 made away with by some one s hands, 
 under cover of the darkness. 
 
 An incident in the story of the 
 musket we may here relate, on ac 
 count of its probable significance, 
 not apparent at that time, but re 
 vealed at a later date. 
 
 As we were making our way 
 leisurely from the battlefield at Sugar 
 Mound, the opportunity was afforded 
 me to show Captain Brown my share 
 of the trophies of our recent victory. 
 He seemed rather indifferent as he 
 
92 John Brown the Hero 
 
 looked at the revolvers, the fine 
 powder-horn, the shot-bag, and the 
 cartridge-pouch ; but when he caught 
 sight of the musket he grasped it 
 eagerly and scrutinized it with intense 
 interest. On the gun-stock was in 
 scribed : " Made at the U. S. Armory, 
 Harper s Ferry, Va.," or words to 
 that effect. 
 
 When, three years later, occurred 
 that startling episode in our history 
 at Harper s Ferry, Brown s scrutiny 
 of the musket was recalled by me 
 and apparently found its explanation. 
 It raises the question, How long had 
 he contemplated carrying the war 
 into Africa ? 
 
 In Brown s view, slavery was war, 
 aggressive and in actual operation. 
 Therefore, any attack on the institu 
 tion was virtually defensive warfare, 
 legitimate and justifiable. He was 
 a worshiper, heart and soul, at lib- 
 
A Government Musket 93 
 
 erty s shrine, and to his mind no 
 sacrifice in its cause was too great or 
 costly. In that light must be inter 
 preted his hard saying : " It would 
 be better that a whole generation of 
 men, women, and children should be 
 sacrificed than have liberty perish 
 from the earth." 
 
XIV 
 An Unfailing Guide 
 
 HPS 
 
 THE youngest male member of 
 our Kansas party, hardly more 
 than a boy, was possessor of 
 a peculiar psychical faculty very 
 fortunately for us during all our 
 troublous experiences in the terri 
 tory. It was a modest gift, but an 
 exceedingly useful one to us under 
 the exceptional circumstances in 
 which we often found ourselves, and 
 this not alone to its owner, but to the 
 whole company. It cannot be better 
 designated, in brief, than as the fac 
 ulty of " finding the way," the term 
 usually employed in speaking of it. 
 
An Unfailing Guide 95 
 
 It probably will, not lessen the 
 interest of the reader in the matter 
 if he is here told that the writer of 
 this account himself was the happy 
 possessor of this useful power. From 
 a boy, a mere child, he may say, it 
 was known among his playmates 
 that he could lead them safely and 
 surely to any place or object, when 
 there was doubt about its locality, 
 and could also discover the where 
 abouts of things lost. The shyness 
 of the boy led him to keep his gift 
 in the background. 
 
 In Kansas it was as suddenly as 
 remarkably made prominent perforce. 
 It came into use the first day after 
 we set out on our journey over the 
 prairie. We had not gone far from 
 the borders of civilization, only far 
 enough for its objects to be out of 
 view, when our whole caravan of 
 travelers, their teams, horses, oxen, 
 
96 John Brown the Hero 
 
 and wagons, came to a full stop. 
 The trail over the prairie branched 
 into two, and all were in doubt which 
 was the right one to take. The 
 clouds had shut in the sun, and the 
 boundless prairie stretched out on 
 all sides, with not an object, house 
 or tree, hill, or even a rock, in view, 
 as a landmark by which we could 
 aim our course. One of the party, 
 with a little experience in traveling 
 on the prairie, warned us that an 
 error made here might mislead us a 
 whole day s journey. 
 
 The situation began to be a little 
 distressing ; whereupon the older 
 brother of the psychic boy said : 
 " Call up my brother. He will tell 
 you which trail to take/ Accord 
 ingly, the boy was summoned to the 
 front ; and to the older heads, wait 
 ing there with amused smiles on their 
 faces for the decision, he pointed 
 
An Unfailing Guide 97 
 
 out what, in his belief, was the right 
 trail. Being wholly in doubt, they, 
 with their smiles deepening to laugh 
 ter, said they might as well follow 
 the trail he indicated. It turned out 
 to be the correct one. 
 
 During the following ten or a 
 dozen days journey, as many times 
 at least the youth was summoned to 
 the front, and his psychical faculty 
 put to the test. Its possessor was 
 made happy, and his companions 
 were equally gratified, that his power 
 in no instance failed him. 
 
 These trails, mere wagon - tracks 
 across the country, ran in amost all 
 directions, crosswise, parallel, and at 
 all angles, and were enough to puzzle 
 the very elect, the elect being in 
 this instance the psychic youth. The 
 earnest wish to find the way in any 
 case and the stronger and more 
 earnest the wish the better seemed 
 
98 John Brown the Hero 
 
 to be a sort of mainspring to the 
 action of the power to insure its 
 success. 
 
 This gift was brought into play 
 many times during the two years of 
 Kansas events sketched here, and 
 served us well ; was often invaluable. 
 The fact just mentioned, that the 
 strong wish insured its effectiveness, 
 was often clearly shown. For in 
 stance, on the occasion referred to 
 in a previous chapter, of our happen 
 ing upon Captain Brown s camp in 
 an out-of-the-way spot on our trip 
 for provisions, there was a strong 
 desire on our part, excited, perhaps, 
 much by curiosity, to see Brown and 
 his men at that particular time in 
 their temporary hiding-place ; and 
 seemingly by this intense desire in 
 citing the psychic power, we were 
 led to the spot, for it had taken 
 us, as we found afterward, quite a 
 
An Unfailing Guide 99 
 
 number of miles out of our direct 
 course. 
 
 In passing, we will here digress a 
 little from our story to say that, at 
 this time of our visit, Brown was 
 being hunted down, like a criminal 
 or a wild beast, by the Government 
 military as well as by his other 
 enemies, and was all the time liable 
 to betrayal into their hands. 
 
 I remember well, in this connec 
 tion, how we found him armed that 
 day. He carried about his person 
 not less than twenty shots with 
 which to defend himself did it 
 become necessary : a Remington 
 repeater six shots ; a brace of re 
 volvers six-shooters ; and a pair 
 of pistols. He had also a long knife 
 or dirk, and his usual trusty old 
 broadsword. Most of these arms, 
 he seemed to take pains to inform 
 us, were presented to him by his 
 
ioo John Brown the Hero 
 
 friends. Particularly did the old 
 man impress me, while showing us 
 the weapons, when he quietly re 
 marked : " Our enemies would like 
 much, no doubt, to get hold of me; 
 but," he added with sternness, " I 
 will never be taken alive, and I warn 
 them I shall punish them to the 
 extent of my power if they attempt 
 my capture." 
 
 To return from this digression, it 
 was a perilous thing in those days 
 for one to venture out alone on the 
 prairie. It was perilous to life, and 
 perhaps still more dangerous to the 
 property of him who ventured, at 
 least in some ways. For one thing, 
 we did not dare to risk our horses. 
 Horses were valuable, and the enemy 
 considered them as legitimate con 
 traband of war. The luckless horse 
 man caught abroad by his foes was 
 simply ordered to dismount. His 
 
An Unfailing Guide 101 
 
 horse, saddled and bridled, was led 
 off, and the owner was left to make 
 his way on foot, no matter how far 
 the distance. When a team without 
 a load was overtaken by our oppo 
 nents, the horses were appropriated 
 and the wagon left standing on the 
 prairie. Were the wagon loaded with 
 valuables, both animals and wagon 
 were confiscated, and their owner 
 was told, very likely with rifles 
 pointed at him, to run for life till 
 out of sight. In such cases, were 
 one found with money or other val 
 uables on his person, he was sum 
 marily relieved of them. Sometimes 
 we sewed our money within the 
 lining of our clothes, for safety ; but 
 that device for concealment had its 
 risks. One was liable to be stripped, 
 and to have his clothing cut or torn 
 to shreds in the hurried search for 
 the money. 
 
XV 
 
 Hazardous Journeys 
 
 -*j 
 
 SUCH were some of the hazards 
 of travel at that time, when the 
 new territory was indeed " bleed 
 ing Kansas." 
 
 Journeys, nevertheless, had to be 
 made, and long ones, and many of 
 them from sheer necessity. We 
 were obliged to buy in a distant 
 market all the food we ate, with all 
 other necessaries of life. Shipment 
 of goods must be made by ox-teams 
 the use of horses being out of 
 the question, for the reasons men 
 tioned ; and the ox-team was rather a 
 slow means of transportation. Some 
 
Hazardous Journeys 103 
 
 ten days were necessary to make the 
 journey from our settlement to the 
 nearest good market, Kansas City, 
 and return. 
 
 There was another matter we had 
 to consider. The journeys were 
 hazardous to men as well as to 
 horses. Men were valuable and 
 scarce. Not more than two at most 
 were ever allowed to go on these 
 dangerous errands, and usually one 
 only. 
 
 It is not strange, as will readily 
 be understood, that the boy who 
 could " find his way " was for that 
 reason chosen to make these trips, 
 and he generally went alone. An 
 other reason for this choice was that 
 the settlers would not run the risk 
 of sacrificing their mature, strong 
 male members in this service, could 
 it be avoided. This youth -- be 
 cause a youth, with no one, wife or 
 
iO4 John Brown the Hero 
 
 children, dependent upon him - 
 would not be so great a loss to the 
 community if capture, imprisonment, 
 or death befell him ! He was, how 
 ever, inspired by, and felt not a little 
 pride because of, the confidence re 
 posed in his ability to perform the 
 difficult and dangerous task assigned 
 him. 
 
 Quite a number of these trips I 
 made alone, and in not one did I 
 lose my way. On one occasion the 
 guiding faculty was put to a severe 
 test. At the end of a day s travel 
 the oxen were freed as usual from 
 the wagon for two or three hours, 
 in order that they might graze. 
 Meanwhile, strict watch of them 
 was necessary, lest they should 
 wander away. That night, through 
 much exhaustion and lack of rest, it 
 was my misfortune to fall asleep. 
 When I awoke, long past midnight, 
 
Hazardous Journeys 105 
 
 the cattle were gone. The full 
 moon shone brightly overhead, light 
 ing up the horizon far away on all 
 sides ; but, far and wide as the eye 
 could reach, no sight or sign of the 
 animals was visible on that prairie 
 ocean. 
 
 A serious state of things this ap 
 peared to be, at first thought, and 
 it awakened serious apprehensions. 
 Far from home, I was left with my 
 valuables on the prairie, bereft of all 
 means of taking them to their des 
 tination. But upon second thought, 
 often the better, I calmly fell back, 
 for rescue, on my humble psychic 
 faculty. Humble and inconsequen 
 tial I had held it, but, if it served 
 me true this time, it never again 
 should be lightly valued. 
 
 It proved as true as the needle 
 to the pole. 
 
 It seemed to me that the cattle 
 
106 John Brown the Hero 
 
 had gone in a certain direction ; and 
 in that direction I went, in a straight 
 line over the prairie, three or four 
 miles, directly to them. There they 
 were, quietly feeding, close to a 
 stream at which they had evidently 
 quenched their thirst. They were 
 led, doubtless, to find this water, in 
 their need that night, by an instinct 
 similar to, and equally as unerring 
 as, that possessed by their owner 
 which he had used to find them. 
 
 Whether the same instinct that 
 " found the way " in the instances 
 related served to secure successful 
 avoidance of the enemy on these 
 journeys will not be asserted ; but 
 this interesting fact can be affirmed, 
 namely, that, happily for the lone 
 teamster and for the settlers whose 
 property, whether money or pur 
 chases, was intrusted to his care, 
 not once were dangerous foes en- 
 
Hazardous Journeys 107 
 
 countered on these trips, and only 
 in one instance was there a near 
 approach to it. 
 
 One day three horsemen appeared 
 on the horizon in the rear, bearing 
 down upon me. When we have not 
 strength sufficient, we are prone to 
 resort to strategy for protection or 
 to extricate ourselves from difficulty. 
 On board my wagon, the usual large 
 "prairie-schooner," covered with can 
 vas, was a box of firearms which, 
 with foolhardiness, I had undertaken 
 to deliver in Osawatomie. For one 
 to transport arms was to invite the 
 services of the executioner. 
 
 I had reason that day, however, 
 to thank my foolhardiness. At first 
 sight of the approaching horsemen I 
 sprang into the cart, forced off the 
 box-cover, and stuck several of the 
 gun-muzzles out under the sides of 
 the wagon-canopy. 
 
io8 John Brown the Hero 
 
 And another reason I had for 
 thankfulness that day. It had been 
 my good fortune that summer, while 
 lying ill of the ague, to learn a little 
 of the ventriloquist s art from a half- 
 breed Indian. The accomplishment 
 served me well now. As the strange 
 horsemen closely approached, I was 
 busy carrying on a conversation, 
 ventriloquist-wise, with my imaginary 
 companions inside the covered wagon. 
 
 " Lie still and make up your sleep. 
 Lie still. No danger." 
 
 " Who is it ? " (from the wagon.) 
 
 " They are travelers," was an 
 swered ; "friendly, no doubt. Lie 
 still and get your sleep." 
 
 (From inside the wagon) " Whistle 
 if you want us." 
 
 Answer : " O yes, I will. Lie still. 
 No danger, they re friends." 
 
 By this time the troopers were 
 alongside. They looked hard at me, 
 
Hazardous Journeys 109 
 
 but harder at the gun-muzzles, made 
 the usual " good-day " greeting, asked 
 a few questions, and rode on. My 
 little artifice had worked like a 
 charm. My visitors, I felt little 
 doubt, had planned and meant mis 
 chief ; had probably been in search 
 of my team, possibly for days, incited 
 by hope of rich plunder. 
 
 This record of personal experi 
 ences will serve the main purpose 
 for which it is written if it lays bare 
 to the reader in some degree the 
 difficulties and dangers, the trials 
 and sacrifices, of the Free State 
 settlers whom John Brown led at 
 last to victory in the Kansas struggle 
 for freedom. 
 
 In closing this chapter, I will give 
 my readers the only explanation I 
 am able to proffer of the strange 
 faculty of localization which has been 
 mentioned. No voice is heard, noth- 
 
1 1 o John Brown the Hero 
 
 ing like an impression is felt, there 
 is no experience of any occult power 
 of vision. Indeed, I have already 
 stated all that I am conscious of, in 
 the words, " it seems to me " that 
 the object of quest, or the locality 
 sought, lies in a certain direction 
 or place, whenever this faculty is 
 brought into play to find it. 
 
XVI 
 The Osawatomie Battle 
 
 THE engagement at Sugar Mound 
 (also called Middle Creek) took 
 place on Monday, the 25th of 
 August. Five days later, on Satur 
 day, August 3Oth, was fought the 
 really famous battle of Osawatomie, 
 the Bunker Hill of the Kansas 
 struggle. 
 
 In the early dawn of that day 
 some four hundred of the enemy, 
 well mounted and equipped, with 
 their bayonets glistening in the morn 
 ing sun, bore down upon the de 
 voted town and its stanch defenders. 
 There, in that day s notable battle, 
 
ii2 John Brown the Hero 
 
 John Brown showed that he pos 
 sessed real military talent. In this 
 case he was acting on the defensive, 
 and manifested coolness and caution 
 equal in effectiveness to the dash and 
 daring displayed on other occasions. 
 
 To our settlement on the South 
 Pottawatomie, the same thing oc 
 curred on this memorable occasion 
 as on the earlier one already de 
 scribed. A rider came up the creek 
 twenty miles, asking for our aid, 
 
 This time the messenger was sent 
 by Brown himself, and there was a 
 similar ready and willing response to 
 the call, even though we had so lately 
 arrived home. There was the same 
 eager hurrying to and fro to get our 
 force together, the same quick prep 
 arations, hasty leave-taking, setting 
 out at dusk, and the like night-march. 
 We made all possible haste to the 
 rescue. 
 
The O saw atomic Battle 113 
 
 Before midnight, however, when 
 we had covered only half the dis 
 tance to our friends in distress, a 
 scout met us with unwelcome news, 
 which, to our dismay, ran : " Battle 
 at Osawatomie, John Brown killed, 
 Free State men defeated, and the 
 town burned to ashes." Moreover, 
 our informant thought it probable 
 that the victors were on their way 
 to lay waste our settlement. 
 
 The only thing now to be done 
 was to return to our homes, and to 
 make ready, if the need came, to 
 defend them. One prior thing it 
 was decided it would surely be well 
 to do, namely : dispatch two scouts 
 to our friends at the scene of disaster 
 and get accurate information of their 
 fate or fortune. 
 
 The choice fell upon the two 
 brothers, the writer and his older 
 brother, and for the reason (comfort- 
 
ii4 John Brown the Hero 
 
 ing to them) that, being the youngest 
 men, with none dependent upon them, 
 their loss, were they killed, would be 
 less to the community than the loss 
 of older men. And besides, one of 
 them was good at " finding the way " 
 and the other had won a reputation 
 for extra courage and trustiness in 
 emergencies. We were assigned, to 
 say the least, a rather delicate and 
 hazardous duty, and probably there 
 were few men in the company that 
 night anxious or willing to under 
 take it. 
 
 Bidding our comrades adieu, we 
 mounted two of our best horses and 
 proceeded on through the night. 
 Being obliged, for safety, to avoid 
 both the "open" and the main road, 
 we could make our way but slowly, 
 and so did not reach the vicinity of 
 Osawatomie till daylight. We kept 
 in hiding during the day, spying 
 
The Osawatomie Battle 115 
 
 around the city of desolation and 
 trying to learn of the presence of 
 foes or if any of our friends were 
 still alive. After nightfall we cau 
 tiously approached the log-cabin on 
 the outskirts of the town, where, if 
 anywhere, we knew we should most 
 likely find friends. It was the home 
 of the Adairs, relatives of John Brown. 
 
 There we learned from them the 
 story of recent events. Captain 
 Brown had not been killed, as was 
 reported, though he was wounded ; 
 but there in that humble cottage, 
 folded in the embrace of death, lay 
 one of his sons, the tall, handsome 
 Frederick Brown, as noble-looking as 
 he was noble of soul, the fourth of 
 that now historic band of six hero- 
 sons, worthy scions of their hero- 
 father. 
 
 As the Pro-slavery invaders were 
 marching into Osawatomie, two of 
 
n6 John Brown the Hero 
 
 their scouts, at some distance from 
 the town, met this son of Brown 
 with a companion named Garrison, 
 and in cold blood, without provoca 
 tion, shot down the unarmed men. 
 Their whole force of four hundred 
 or more horsemen then trampled 
 over the bodies, leaving them to lie 
 there all day in the hot August sun. 
 Late that same night, Sunday even 
 ing, as we lingered in conversation 
 with the family, the old father, hav 
 ing learned of the death of his son, 
 returned to take a last look at his 
 remains. Here again, surely, was a 
 scene for a painter, in that lowly cabin 
 that night. If a picture of it, as those 
 bright young eyes saw it in all its 
 realistic setting and color, could have 
 been faithfully depicted on the artist s 
 canvas, and thus preserved for us 
 to-day, it could not fail to be of more 
 than common historic interest. 
 
1 1 8 John Brown the Hero 
 
 and representing him sitting in his 
 accustomed chair in the main room 
 of the house, the room where lay 
 the body of Brown s son, Frederick, 
 and where the father sadly viewed it. 
 
 The battle of Osawatomie was 
 surely a remarkable engagement. 
 Brown, with a handful of men has 
 tily gathered together and placed in 
 position, kept long at bay more than 
 ten times their number. The stand 
 was made in the edge of the timber, 
 on the near bank of the river. 
 "There," said Brown modestly in 
 his account of the battle, "we had 
 exceptional opportunity to annoy the 
 enemy." 
 
 The first onslaught of their foes, 
 who marched gaily as if to sure vic 
 tory, was met by a steady, deter 
 mined fire from Brown and his men, 
 so destructive as to make the ranks 
 
The Osawatomie Battle 119 
 
 of their assailants reel, break, and 
 then hastily retreat. Again and yet 
 again they re-formed their broken 
 lines, and renewed the attack, suffer 
 ing terrible punishment each time, 
 till their leaders could rally them no 
 longer. 
 
 At that time the gallant little 
 band of defenders, out of ammunition 
 and with their ranks sadly thinned, 
 thought it wise to retire across the 
 river. Their foes, crippled and shat 
 tered, had no heart to follow, and 
 the battle ended. It only remained 
 for spite and revenge to find vent 
 in the burning of the town. 
 
 We need not recite details here ; 
 they are matters of history. And 
 yet some uncertainty has hung over 
 that engagement. The invaders, in 
 the chagrin and shame of their more 
 than failure, proceeded to conceal or 
 falsify the facts. And never was 
 
I2O John Brown the Hero 
 
 there greater temptation to falsifica 
 tion. The certainty of Brown s anni 
 hilation at their hands they had loudly 
 trumpeted beforehand, but their own 
 defeat had occurred instead. 
 
 The account of the battle written 
 soon after by Brown to his family 
 was near to the truth, and is borne 
 out by all reliable testimony. About 
 thirty of the assailants were killed, 
 and the usual ratio of wounded would 
 be some seventy-five or eighty. 
 
XVII 
 Conclusion 
 
 IN concluding these reminiscences 
 it only remains to be said, of the 
 subject of them, that in the writer s 
 opinion John Brown was a great man ; 
 and he believes that this will be the 
 verdict of the future upon him when 
 misconceptions and prejudice are 
 blown to the winds. John Brown is 
 one of the most unique characters 
 in all our history. In a way, he 
 stands almost alone, and deserves, if 
 only for that reason, a place in the 
 Hall of Fame far more than many 
 a one who has been given a niche 
 therein. 
 
122 John Brown the Hero 
 
 John Brown was a hero. Our 
 country has brought forth no greater 
 one. He was of the very substance 
 and essence of self-sacrifice. What 
 higher can be said of any one of 
 our humankind ? Everything, posses 
 sions, reputation, life, he was ready 
 to throw into the scales against 
 wrong and for the cause of human 
 liberty, human rights, and justice, 
 which were to him as sacred, as 
 divine, as the God he worshiped. 
 Love of them was the consuming 
 passion of his soul, and to fight for 
 them, to live and die for them, was 
 to him the highest duty of man. 
 
 The ablest minds have been the 
 most appreciative of the high qualities 
 of John Brown, for example, Ralph 
 Waldo Emerson, of our own country, 
 and Victor Hugo, of France. It is 
 Edward Everett Hale who has pro- 
 
Conclusion 123 
 
 nounced him " our great American 
 martyr." Nothing could be finer than 
 Thomas Wentworth Higginson s trib 
 ute : "It must be conceded that John 
 Brown was the most eloquent of all 
 our great Abolitionists, for his was 
 the eloquence of a life." 
 
 Let not our readers conclude that 
 we are attempting to glorify Brown s 
 militant course, or that we would 
 inspire the spirit of war. We cele 
 brate the great soul. 
 
 John A. Andrew said : " Whatever 
 might be thought of John Brown s 
 acts, John Brown himself was right." 
 That sentiment so touched the pop 
 ular heart at the time that it went 
 far to make Andrew governor. 
 
 We may accept fully and wholly 
 the man, though we approve not his 
 methods. Brown derived his ideal, 
 in its spirit, so to speak, from the 
 
124 Jehn Brown the Hero 
 
 New Testament ; but his ideal of 
 action was rooted in the Old Dis 
 pensation. The one is wholly worthy 
 our following, the other is not. 
 
 One can allow that this is true, 
 though he hold that the old or past 
 was inevitable, and that Brown did 
 the best possible at the time and 
 under the circumstances. That is no 
 reason why we should go on imitat 
 ing his example ; but we cannot be 
 enough filled with his spirit. 
 
 The truth, we think, may be told 
 in a word : John Brown belonged to 
 the " old order," which is passing 
 away. Heaven speed its end ! He 
 was a man of war, whatever else he 
 might be ; though it seems surely to 
 be shown that he was much besides. 
 While we would do him full justice, 
 while we glorify the spirit he was of, 
 we must turn to our higher ideal, 
 
Conclusion 125 
 
 those of the " new order," the men of 
 peace. The spirit of both may be the 
 same, their methods are as opposite 
 as the poles. 
 
 Tolstoi has given us the key that 
 opens to us the coming ideal : " It 
 is better to suffer wrong, even with 
 out limit, than to do wrong even in 
 the least." 
 
 This represents the meaning of 
 Tolstoi, though it may not be ex 
 pressed in just his words. That ideal 
 is far in advance of mankind in gen 
 eral to-day, but the world is moving 
 surely if slowly toward it. The spirit 
 that actuated John Brown that of 
 self-sacrifice for what he believed to 
 be the good and true, and his entire 
 devotion to liberty and right is to 
 be more and more alive, and more 
 truly than ever " marching on." 
 
 The North will more and more 
 
126 John Brown the Hero 
 
 appreciate and honor John Brown, 
 as time goes on ; and we shall not 
 wonder very much if even the South 
 some day builds a monument to his 
 memory. For it is simple justice, and 
 not flattery, to say that no men ever 
 lived who possessed higher courage 
 or had a finer sense of what is heroic 
 than the true Southerner. 
 
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