The day was spent at Harpers Ferry National Park, which was
literally just around the corner from the campground. Jim Prentice, a volunteer at the park, led a
walking tour that described the geographical layout of the park and provided an
explanation of the founding of Harpers Ferry.
The presentation described the community’s development as a U.S. armory
and the effect the Civil War had on the area.
Finally, Jim recounted the tale of John Brown before, during, and after
his raid on the Harpers Ferry armory.
Jim literally grew up in Harpers Ferry. His father was one of the superintendents of
the Harpers Ferry National Park. Jim
recounted living in some of the buildings that were often mistaken as part of
the tour of the historic community.
Jim explained that Mr. Robert Harper, a European immigrant,
obtained a patent for the land that is now Harpers Ferry from the Virginia
legislature in 1751. (Note that current
day West Virginia was part of the Commonwealth of Virginia until the Civil
War.) The town was originally known as
Shenandoah Falls at Mr. Harper's Ferry due to the ferry business Robert Harper
managed and operated.
President George Washington recommended that Harpers Ferry
be one of two sites established as a U.S. armory to build weapons for the new
country based its availability of waterpower to operate machinery and distance
away from the Atlantic seaboard.
Washington was familiar with this section of Virginia from his days as a
surveyor.
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| St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia occupies a prominent location on the heights above Harpers Ferry |
In 1862, Major General Stonewall Jackson led an attack to retake
the arsenal. Jackson's assault on the Federal forces there, during the Battle
of Harpers Ferry led to the surrender of 12,500 Union troops, which was the
largest number of Union prisoners taken at one time during the war.
Finally, Jim recounted the tale of John Brown and his attack
on the arsenal. Although this story is
out of sequence in the timeline of events, Jim saves it for last because he
feels that any discussion after the John Brown story gets lost. John Brown was an America abolitionist who
believed that armed conflict was the only way to rid the country of
slavery. Unlike most other Northerners,
who advocated peaceful resistance to the pro-slavery faction, Brown believed
that peaceful resistance was shown to be ineffective and that the only way to
defeat the oppressive system of slavery was through violent insurrection. In 1856, Brown and a group of supporters,
killed pro-slavery supporters in Kansas.
In 1859, John Brown led a raid on the federal armory at
Harpers Ferry. His goal was to capture
the weapons in the arsenal and hand them over to slaves that Brown wanted to turn
against their owners. The uprising of
slaves never materialized and within 36 hours of the attack, Brown's men had
fled or been killed or captured by local pro-slavery farmers, militiamen, and
U.S. Marines led by Robert E. Lee.
Many Southerners feared that Brown’s attack was just the
first of many future uprisings that threatened southern slavery. The attack on Harpers Ferry had a significant
role in starting the Civil War.
As a result of the failed raid, Brown was arrested and charged
with murdering four whites and a black, with conspiring with slaves to rebel,
and with treason against Virginia. Brown
was found guilty of all charges and hanged on December 2, 1859.
After Jim’s stirring presentation, the group walked into
town to have lunch at a local grill.
The remainder of the afternoon and evening was free.
