It was Monday afternoon, October 17, 1859. Mary Mauzy sat down to write to her daughter in England.

Oh my dear friend such a day as this. Heaven forbid that I should ever witness such another. Last night a band of ruffians took possession of the town....

Even while I write I hear the guns in the distance. I heard they were fighting down the street. I cannot write any more. I must wait and see what the end will be.

Mary lived in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. John Brown and a group of men had taken over the town's fort. Brown planned to give the fort's weapons to local slaves so the slaves could fight for freedom.

A Doomed Raid

John Brown had always hated slavery. At first, he worked peacefully against it. One of his homes was a station on the Underground Railroad. But peaceful ways didn't work quickly enough, so Brown decided he had to use violence. First, he fought pro-slavery settlers in Kansas. Then he decided to help slaves revolt.

Slaves would need guns to fight. The fort at Harpers Ferry had a lot of guns. So on the night of October 16, 1859, Brown took over the fort. He was helped by 21 men. They included two of his sons and five African-American men.

Brown took 60 prisoners from the town. But soon, he was trapped by the local army, then by U.S. Marines. Brown's group was trapped for 28 hours. At one point, Brown sent his son out to talk with the army. The army shot the son, even though he carried a white flag.

When Brown was captured, ten of the men who had helped him were dead, including both of his sons.