israel green's capture of john brown?

Question

how did mr. green and his men break into the arsenal?

why should you put more trust in mr greens account of the events rather than someone else who was outside at the time?

Answer 1

Israel Green was ordered by Robert E. Lee to knock down the door of the arsenal (actually the engine house of the arsenal). During the arrest, Green wounded Brown with his sword. Since Green was doing all the work, his account would be better than a bystander outside.

Answer 2

On Sunday, October 16, 1859, between the hours of 1O:OO and 11:00 P.M., John Brown, of Kansas notoriety, entered the town of Harpers Ferry, Virginia, with eighteen men, took hostage some of its prominent citizens, and captured the federal arsenal. His intention, as he later made clear, was to liberate the slaves in the surrounding territory and form them into an army which would then free the Negroes throughout the South. Without an efective and detailed plan of action, Brown's "army" was surrounded on the afternoon of October 17 by local militia. After a brief skirmish, it was captured on the morning of October I 8 by marines under the command of Colonel Robert E. Lee, of the United States Army. Though Brown and some of his followers fought courageously, the raid, for all practical purposes, was a fiasco resulting in the death or capture of the insurgents, but its long-range effect on both northern and southern emotions far exceeded the wildest dreams of those who planned it. Accounts of the raid and the subsequent trial and execution of John Brown attracted national attention, nd the event became a symbol to both sides in the Civil War.[1]

Recently, a graphic eyewitness account of the raid has come to light. It is contained in a letter written several weeks after the affair by Charles White, minister of the Presbyterian Church at Berryville, Virginia, to his brother- in-law John Felt, of Salem, Massachusetts.[2] The Reverend Mr. White also served the Presbyterian congregation in Harpers Ferry, where on the Sunday evening of October 16 he had preached his regular biweekly sermon and then spent the night. In the early morning hours of October 17 he was awakened by his host, A. H. Herr, and informed of the disturbance in the town. Shortly thereafter he went out to investigate the report, and from that time until the capture of John Brown early on the morning of October 18, White was a minor participant and eyewitness to much that happened. In his letter he describes in detail what he saw and did. Unfortunately, a section of four pages is missing, but the eight pages and maps remaining contain valuable information concerning the raid.

Answer 3

Got a better theory? And you have too salute the irony of Green capturing Brown. Was Red and Black not availible?
Green's account reads as well as any. Sledgehammers and then ladder as a battering ram makes as much sense as accounts simply stating that 'marines' battered down the door. However I will concede that their could have been a traitor inside who opened the door. Since that would sound less heroic than battering down the door, it is plausible. But unless you cite a conradictory account then I and others would be stumped since the only two versions are either Mr Green's or sources that merely say the door was battered down and do not say who did the deed.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/brown/peopleevents/pande09.html
""Twice Brown tried to exchange the several hostages he had collected for the freedom of the raiders, but his offer wasn't accepted. Finally, on Tuesday morning, October 18, the U.S. Marines broke down the door to the engine house, and one of the officers, Lieutenant Green, beat Brown to the ground, senseless""

http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/jbrown/igreen.html

Pax---------------

Answer 4

if you would like to read an off the charts politically incorrect but fascinatingly true to history account, go dig up George McDonald Frasier's "Flashman and the Angel of the Lord"..the whole Flashman series is scandalous, ribald, ironic and dead on accurate....in between being outraged and laughing yourself silly, you'll learn a lot of history....