Fort Brown

“ This short narrative of Brown's operations in stealing horses and cattle, at Osawatomie, discloses the secret motive that prompted his return to Kansas from Nebraska. It gives reasonable grounds for the assumption, that when his "whereabouts were unknown," from August 10th to the 16th, inclusive, he was working out the details of the new venture; financing it; purchasing the necessary outfit; and making plans for handling the loot after it would be rounded up. It furnishes a reason why he refused to join General Lane and his associates, in the attack on Fort Saunders, and on Fort Titus ”

“ The conflict had lasted five hours, with a loss to the Americans of 7 killed and 37 wounded, and to the Mexicans of at least 250 killed and wounded.
In the evening, a council of war was held upon the propriety of persisting to advance upon Fort Brown in spite of the vastly superior force of the enemy. Of the thirteen officers present some were for retreating to Point Isabel, others for intrenching upon the spot, and only four for pushing ahead. The general, after hearing all opinions, settled the question by the laconic declaration, "I will be at Fort Brown before to-morrow night if I live." ”

“ On that day and the 18th Sir John Johnson laid waste the whole of Stone Arabia district after burning Caughnawaga.
Brown's defeat in the morning of October 19 did not, however, involve Fort Paris, which was held by Major Root. Although immediate relief of the fort and pursuit of Johnson were essential, Van Rensselaer did not cross the Mohawk until afternoon, crossing at Fort Plain. The enemy was entrenched on the north side of the river, about St. Johnsville, near a stockade or block-house at Klock's. ”

“ Wander where you will in this valley the Blue Ridge mountains are always in sight wearing those misty blue veils on their graceful forest crowned ridges.
Harper's Ferry was not only of great strategic importance as a gateway for the armies but it will ever be associated with the memory of John Brown, that impulsive but noble soul for whom Freedom was a passion. What matter though he was hanged, the nation shall ever honor his memory. There is a monument marking the site of the old John Brown fort near the railroad station which may he seen from the high-way intersecting the valley. ”

“ As the sun set the town filled with troops, and it was evident that the men in the fort would have to surrender. They kept up their firing, however, from the port-holes, and were answered with a rain of bullets aimed at the doors and windows. Both sides lost a number of men. Two of John Brown's sons had been shot during the day. Finally the leader asked if one of his prisoners would volunteer to go out among the citizens and induce them to cease firing [247] on the fort, as they were endangering the lives of their friends, the other captives. ”

“ The rebels charged with great boldness dawn the declivity, and faced, without blanching, a murderous fire from the guns and small-arms of the fort, and crowded into the ravine; where they were sheltered from fire by the steep bank, which had been thus left by some unaccountable neglect or ignorance. Here the rebels organized for a final charge upon the fort, after sending a flag of truce with a demand for surrender, which was refused. ”

“ The armament of the steamer is a thirty-two pounder, on pivot, and a fine twenty-four-pound howitzer. She has, besides, on her deck, four other guns, one seven-inch, rifled, which were to be taken on the following morning to a new fort on the middle ground. One of the four belonged! to Fort Sumter, and had been struck, in the rebel attack, on the muzzle. Robert Small, the intelligent slave; and pilot of the boat, who performed this bold feat so skilfully, is a superior man to any who have come into our lines; intelligent as many of them have been. ”

“ A fort called Messasauga was built after the campaign of 1813 by the British as a defense to Fort George, and being re-enforced by General Riall, he moved to Burlington Heights on Lake Ontario. It was General Brown's intention to capture these forts before beginning further or more extended operations. ”

“ The enginehouse itself (now called “John Brown’s Fort”) stands nearby on the old arsenal grounds, and is little changed from its 63 appearance at the time of the raid. Here also can be seen the excavated remains of the small U.S. arsenal and some of the partially exposed burned muskets destroyed when the building was gutted by Federal troops in April 1861.
In February 1862 Federal soldiers burned the Point area of Harpers Ferry to keep Confederate sharpshooters from using the buildings. ”

“ Both his company and Cline's bivouacked in the town that night. The next morning, (August 29) early, they divided their plunder and cattle, and Brown moved his camp to the high ground north of Osawatomie, where now stands the State Insane Asylum. An ordinary commander would have allowed all his men to rest. But not John Brown. He was in the saddle all day, riding with James H. Holmes, and others of his men, along Pottawatomie Creek, whence he crossed to Sugar Creek, returning to Osawatomie with more captured cattle, by way of the Fort Scott trail. ”

“ Land between Point Abino and Erie in the night; assail the Fort by land and water; push forward a corps to seize the bridge at Chippawa; and be governed by circumstances in either stopping there or going farther. Boats may follow and feed you. If the enemy concentrates his whole force on this line, as I think he will, it will not exceed two thousand men.”
Brown had left Sackett’s Harbor, and was at Buffalo when these orders reached him. He took immediate measures to carry them out. Besides his regular [34] force, he called for volunteers to be commanded by Peter B. Porter ”

“ At that movement the Indians started for the big gate, and as there was quite a number of warriors inside the fort I called my men out with their guns, for the Indians seemed determined on bloodshed. They rushed outside, and the white men followed them to where a young chief sat on his horse, just outside of the gate. There must have been a signal given to the camp above, for the warriors came running with their rifles in hand, until seventy-five to one hundred warriors were on the ground, while there were only about forty white men. ”

“ The Indians were then told that they could enter the fort and pass directly into the blockhouse, but would not be permitted to wander around in the fort.
About this time the agent's wagons rolled up and were hastily unloaded. Then a friendly smoke took place, and a short council, in which the Indians agreed that they would withdraw in peace and go to their hunting grounds, and would not molest us any more. ”

“ At Niagara, Brown never could induce more than a thousand volunteers to support him in his utmost straits. Porter’s efforts failed to create a brigade respectable in numbers, and at Chippawa his Indians outnumbered his whites. Four days after the repulse of Drummond’s assault on Fort Erie, at the most anxious moment of the Niagara campaign, Major-General Brown wrote to Secretary Armstrong, [323] —
“I very much doubt if a parallel can be found for the state of things existing on this frontier. ”

“ We arrived at Fort Supply on the 17th, having had a pleasant trip. We found seven Elders planting the crop. On the 18th we joined them in the work of plowing and seeding, and repairing the stockade and fences. On the 29th, eight of us fitted up a four-horse team and wagon and six saddle horses and started for the Shoshone camps, which we had heard were on the headwaters of either the Green or the Snake River. On June 1st we came to a tributary of the Green River, called the Fontenelle. There we rested one day, then moved camp up to the mouth of the canyon. ”

“ It provided that "by-gones should be by-gones" as far as possible; that the Federal troops at Fort Scott should be removed; that militia should be stationed along the border, to prevent further invasions from Missouri; and that all other armed companies should withdraw from the field. "This compact was religiously adhered to during the summer and fall." [316]
Brown found upon his arrival in the recently distracted district that the Free-State settlers desired peace, and had so publicly declared, and that in response to their wishes Montgomery had disbanded his band of raiders. ”

“ Assault and Capture of the Fort.—“No Quarter.”—Rebel Atrocities.—Gens. Forrest and Chalmers.—Firing upon Flags of Truce.—Murder of Men, Women, and Children.—Night after the Assault.—Buried Alive.—Morning after the Massacre.
Nothing in the history of the Rebellion has equalled in inhumanity and atrocity the horrid butchery at Fort Pillow, Ky., on the 13th of April, 1864. In no other school than slavery could human beings have been trained to such readiness for cruelties like these. ”

“ As everybody seems to have negro on the brain in the army, I may be pardoned for again alluding to the colored troops in this letter. A single day’s work has wiped out a mountain of prejudice, and fairly turned the popular current of feeling in this army in favor of the down-trodden race; and every one who has been with them on the field has some story to relate of their gallant conduct in action, or their humanity and social qualities. The capture of the fort before referred to is related, among other things, in evidence of their manhood and gallantry ”

“ Major Moore had one of the fastest animals in the county; he ordered me to "take her and beat the boy into camp, or run her to death. Don't spare horseflesh. Call out the citizens and disarm every Indian you find."
I obeyed the order, and found a small party of Indians camped in the center of what was called Bingham Fort. Just as the Indian boy reached the camp, I entered the east gate of the square, and rode to the west gate, shouting to the people, "To arms! To arms! Turn out, every man, and help to disarm the Indians!" Men turned out quickly and surrounded the camp. ”

“ Away up above the well and the cottages, is the old burying-ground, with restful benches here as well. Here, one can look across the little harbor to old Fort Sewall, and here, just at the base of the fort, so says Mr. Bynner, is the probable site of the home of Agnes Surriage.
A walk to the old fort is full of interest. Many shady spots are there, in which to rest, and watch the waves breaking on the rocks below. From this point it is but a step to the terminus of the electric cars, at the foot of Circle Street. ”

“ From the best information to be had, the white soldiers were, to a very considerable extent, treated in the same way. H. W. Harrison, one of the Thirteenth Tennessee on board, says, that, after the surrender, he was below the bluff, and one of the rebels presented a pistol to shoot him. He told him he had surrendered, and requested him not to fire. He spared him, and directed him to go up the bluff to the fort. Harrison asked him to go before him, or he would be shot by others; but he told him to go along. He started, and had not proceeded far before he met a rebel, who presented his pistol. ”

“ Soon the agent's wagons were in sight, and some of his party came up and told the Indians they would have to give up their arms before they could enter the fort, for the captain was determined not to allow them in with their arms. At last they submitted, and the gate was opened just wide enough for one man to pass through. I stepped outside, the Indians handed their arms to me, I passed them to the other men, and they placed them on a part of a wagon sheet. ”

“ Of the battle two days before that in which he fell, and in which his regiment, by their bravery, won the right to lead the attack on Fort Wagner, he said, “I wanted my men to fight by the side of whites, and they have done it;” thinking of others, not of himself ”

“ Once when the men charged on the enemy, they rushed forth with the cry, Remember Fort Pillow.’ The rebs called back, and said, ‘Lee’s men killed no prisoners.’
“One man in a charge threw his antagonist to the ground, and pinned him fast; and, as he attempted to withdraw his bayonet, it came off his gun, and, as he was very busy just then, he left him transfixed to mother-earth.
“One man killed a rebel by striking him with the butt of his gun, which he broke ”

“ Accustomed to brutality and bestiality all their lives, it was easy for them to perpetrate the atrocities which will startle the civilized foreign world, as they have awakened the indignation of our own people.
We have gleaned the facts of the fight from authentic sources, and they may be relied upon as truthful. The rebels, under Forrest, appeared, and drove in the pickets about sunrise on Tuesday morning. The garrison of the fort consisted of about two hundred of the Thirteenth Tennessee Volunteers, and four hundred negro artillery, all under command of Major Booth: the gunboat “No. ”

“ Lane was there, and Sanborn says that Brown was there: [181] "Returning about the 10th of August," he says, "with General Lane, he proceeded with him to Lawrence and to Franklin where there was some skirmishing." "On the 15th the Free-State men assailed Fort Saunders, a strong log house on Washington Creek, about twelve miles southwest of Lawrence. After the customary fusillade, the pro-slavery men retreated without blood shed on either side." [182] Still, no Brown. The following appeal, by General Lane, was sent to him, from Topeka, on August 12th:
Mr. ”