James Buchanan - Harpers Ferry, VA & San Juan Island, WA

February 2014

John Brown

For 24 hours, John Brown controlled one of the mightiest arsenals in the world.  One hundred thousand guns of every type including Harpers Ferry Model 1855 muzzle loading “long guns”, breech loading Model 1819 Hall Services Rifles, muzzle loading smooth bore Harpers Ferry Model 1816 Flintlock Muskets--the most produced flintlock in American History--and Harpers Ferry Model 1805 Flintlock Pistols each with a 10 inch steel barrel.

It was October 1859 and John Brown and his band of 21 co-conspirators had seized the armory and arsenal of Harpers Ferry, situated at the convergence of the rushing waters of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers in West Virginia, directly across the Potomac from Maryland.

They were sitting on more than enough firing power to equip Brown’s phantom army of enslaved people and abolitionists.  His goal:  free the four million enslaved people of the United States.

John Brown may have been a madman. He was certainly an idealist. The thin and bearded 5-foot-10 New Englander also was a failed businessman. A husband and father who lost nine of his 20 children as well as his first wife. An anti-slavery advocate who believed that all men regardless of color should be free.  A homicidal zealot who hacked five pro-slavery citizens to death in “Bleeding Kansas” three years before.  A brilliant tactician who defeated a Border Ruffian cavalry force 10 times his group’s size in Osawatomie, Kansas.   And a rescuer of 11 enslaved Missourians. 

Dead in the crisp autumn night of Oct. 16, 1859, Brown and his team of 14 whites and five blacks snuck into Harpers Ferry.  Within minutes, they captured the key points of the town.  Ironically, the first person they killed was Hayward Shepherd an employee of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad—a free black man.  Once they had seized the armory, they stalked the streets of Harpers Ferry kidnapping from their warm homes around 40 prominent citizens—including Colonel Lewis Washington, the great grand nephew of the first President—and spirited  them to the armory as hostages.

There were no troops to speak of in the area and resistance fell on poorly organized local militias from Charlestown, Shepherdstown, Martinsburg and other nearby communities who arrived the next morning.  The men of the militias basically put on their uniforms once a year to march in a July 4 parade, have a barbecue and hit the town for drinks. So when they had to fight John Brown’s men, they fought him for a bit, took a break and had a few drinks, and then went back to fighting.

The Fire Engine House

Even so, the militias forced Brown’s men (and nine of their 40 prisoners) to withdraw from the armory and take up refuge in a nearby fire engine house. The fire engine house, which came to be known as John Brown’s fort, was a small building “perhaps thirty feet by thirty-five. In the front were two large double doors, between which was a stone abutment. Within were two old-fashioned, heavy fire-engines, with a hose-cart and reel standing between them, and just back of the abutment between the doors. They were double-battened doors, very strongly made, with heavy wrought-iron nails.” (Green, 1885)

Inevitably, word was sent to President James Buchanan in Washington, DC.  There would be no sympathy from him.

James Buchanan

Buchanan was an unimaginative pro-Southern Doughface who believed throughout his life that the four million enslaved people were well treated (Miller, 1998).  Said Buchanan, “At present he is treated with kindness and humanity. He is well fed, well clothed, and not overworked. His condition is incomparably better than that of the coolies which modern nations of high civilization have employed as a substitute for African slaves.”  (Buchanan, 1859)

Before being elected president, Buchanan had been in and out of politics since his early 20s.  He served in Congress as well as the Senate.  He was minister to Russia under Andrew Jackson and Secretary of State under James K. Polk.

President Franklin Pierce appointed him minister to Great Britain and gave him the good fortune to be out of the country when the Kansas Nebraska Act was signed.  Thus, he was untainted at the end of Pierce’s term and was nominated as the Democratic candidate.

Buchanan beat the Republican Party’s first candidate, John C. Fremont, an explorer, as well as former President Millard Fillmore, who now represented the anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic Know Nothing Party.  Buchanan became the only bachelor president, and the oldest elected president at 65 until Ronald Reagan more than 130 years later (Miller, 1998).

Just before the election, he meddled in the Supreme Court’s ruling on Dred Scott, an enslaved man suing for his freedom.  Buchanan persuaded a Northern judge to join five Southern judges to decide against Scott and to rule that any congressional action to limit slavery was unconstitutional on the basis of due process and property rights, since slaves were considered property.  (Miller, 1998)

 In 1859 Buchanan stated:  “I cordially congratulate you upon the final settlement by the Supreme Court of the United States of the question of slavery in the Territories, which had presented an aspect so truly formidable at the commencement of my Administration. The right has been established of every citizen to take his property of any kind, including slaves, into the common Territories belonging equally to all the States of the Confederacy, and to have it protected there under the Federal Constitution. Neither Congress nor a Territorial legislature nor any human power has any authority to annul or impair this vested right. The supreme judicial tribunal of the country, which is a coordinate branch of the Government, has sanctioned and affirmed these principles of constitutional law, so manifestly just in themselves and so well calculated to promote peace and harmony among the States.” (Buchanan, 1859)

Railroad into Harpers Ferry

To quell the disturbance in Harpers Ferry, President Buchanan dispatched 100 U.S. Marines, under the command of Colonel Robert E. Lee.  The owner of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, John Garrett was so disgusted with the raiders’ interference with train traffic that he offered the Marines free transportation to Harpers Ferry.  So the Marines arrived quickly.

They took command of the situation, using a long ladder to break down the door to the fire engine house.  They made the decision to unload their firearms to protect  the prisoners also occupying the small space, and depended on bayonets and sabers. 

Leaping into the jagged  tear formed by the ladder, the leader of the attack team, Lt. Israel Green, darted between the two fire engines and came upon the kidnapped Col. Washington, who pointed to a dark figure and whispered, "This is Ossawatomie"  -- meaning the man who led the Ossawatomie massacre in Kansas. Green flung himself at Brown and pierced his neck with his saber.  Brown collapsed.  However, Green’s follow-up thrust with his sword did not penetrate Brown’s clothes. Brown remained alive — a costly mistake for the South.  The entire action was over in minutes. Ten of Brown’s men were killed and five were captured.  The rest escaped.

 In his after-action report, Robert E. Lee downplayed the significance of Brown’s raid, writing,  “the plan was the attempt of a fanatic or mad­man, who could only end in failure; and its temporary success, was owing to the panic and confusion he succeeded in creating by magnify­ing his numbers.”(Lee, 1859).

Harpers Ferry

Cathy and Dottie

Joined by our friend, Dottie, we visited Harpers Ferry to understand this precursor battle to the Civil War. It was a relatively mild February day – especially after the single-digit arctic air we have been dealing with for the last month – but the wind was biting.

Most of the historic sites in Harpers Ferry are run by the National Park Service.  To avoid the crush of summer traffic, the NPS has established an offsite visitor parking area with a small visitor center.  A full-size bus shuttled us and a couple of other visitors to the center of town. An audio presentation on the way offered tidbits of information.

Harpers Ferry

The town is now about 30 percent of its former size, mainly because frequent flooding by both the Potomac and the Shenandoah has wiped many of the buildings. With about two or three main streets dotted with quaint restaurants and shops, in historic buildings, there were few tourists – the advantage of visiting during the winter.  

We started at the visitor center located along Shenandoah Street, the main drag.  While chatting with one of the park rangers we peered out the window and saw a Civil War re-enactor marching down the street with a period rifle on his shoulder.  The ranger was quick to tell us that the “union soldier” marching down the street was not an official reanacter but a “youngster that comes here.”  I asked if the gun was real.  She glanced out the window again with a look of concern, “No, but the bayonet is real.”  I said that the bayonet looked like it was encapsulated in tape.  She replied, “He has it taped up?  I don’t think that stops it from being a bayonet.”  He continued down the street but we never saw him again. 

Our next stop was the John Brown Museum a little ways down the street.  The museum is configured into several rooms that chronologically present videos and exhibits chronicling Brown’s life, his battle in Harpers Ferry, and his subsequent trial.  Then we headed back to the Visitor Center to hear a lecture by National Park Service ranger, Jeff. While Jeff discussed John Brown’s raid, he focused on the importance of the arsenal at Harpers Ferry – because of its prime location, it would be critical for both North and South during the war. 

And finally we gazed at the Fire Engine House, the site of the final battle.

Aftermath of the Raid

Robert E. Lee’s biggest mistake was capturing Brown alive.  A live prisoner meant a trial.  A trial meant publicity.  And the publicity from the case was not kind to the South. 

Brown was tried under Virginia rather than federal law.  The trial was short and Brown was sentenced to death. 

President Buchanan stayed away from the trial. He let the Virginia state courts handle it, which people saw as avoidance.  Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Abraham Lincoln agreed Brown should get the death penalty because he was too violent.

While he awaited execution, Brown wrote letters — more than 100 of them — and much of what he wrote was being published. “Everybody is reading about this in both the North and the South,” Park Ranger Jeff told us. 

And on the morning of Dec. 2, 1859, John Brown rolled to his execution on a wagon, sitting atop his own coffin.  Earlier that morning he had composed a note that read:  “I, John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land:  will never be purged away; but with Blood.  I had as I now think:  vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed; it might be done” (Cox, 1997). 

Buchanan recognized that the United States was trending toward a violent confrontation.  But at the same time he saw cause for hope and said later that month, “I firmly believe that the events at Harpers Ferry, by causing the people to pause and reflect upon the possible peril to their cherished institutions, will be the means under Providence of allaying the existing excitement and preventing further outbreaks of a similar character” (Buchanan, 1859).

Buchanan could (or would) do nothing to stop the coming Civil War.  But he was able to stop the Pig War. 

The Pig War

The Camps on San Juan Island

The same year that John Brown raided Harpers Ferry, an American settler on an obscure island in the Pacific Northwest shot a pig … and almost ignited a war between the United States and England. 

The island was the San Juan Island off the coast of the Washington Territory and British North America.  According to the Oregon Treaty signed during the administration of James K. Polk in 1846, the line of demarcation between English Vancouver Island and the United States was established down the middle of the “channel.”  However, it occurred to no one at the time that there were two channels, the Haro Strait and the Rosario Strait, and San Juan Island was smack dab in the middle.  The island was thus inhabited by a handful of Americans and English who mostly didn’t acknowledge one another. 

Many of the English were employees of the Hudson’s Bay Company, which raised sheep on the island.  Some of them raised their own livestock, notably pigs. 

The pigs, of course, did not have allegiances to one side or the other and roamed freely about the windswept, prairie-like island.  The American settlers did not appreciate the English pork tromping about their vegetable gardens. Finally, Lyman Cutlar, one of the incensed American settlers, took issue with one of the wayward pigs that he witnessed merrily chomping on his potatoes. 

He shot it dead.

As you might expect, the killing did not go over well with the Hudson’s Bay Company, which complained to the English authorities.  The English authorities confronted Cutlar and demanded that he pay a hefty sum for the pig.  Cutler naturally refused and announced he would shoot anyone who tried to take him into custody.   Tensions escalated. 

First, the Americans sent some 60 troops to protect the Americans.  Then the English sent the British sloop of war, Satellite, followed quickly by several other warships.  In response, the U.S. landed nearly 600 additional troops with eight large naval guns.  

Things were looking nasty.

Word arrived at the White House, and President Buchanan swung into action.  He dispatched Lt. General Winfield Scott (ole’ “Fuss and Feathers” of the Mexican War) to mediate the crisis.  Since the general lived in the Eastern U.S., it took him six arduous weeks — including a land crossing through the vaporous jungle of the Panama Isthmus — to arrive in the West. 

In the meantime, both the English and the Americans established camps on opposite sides of the raw, sodden island:  the Americans on the exposed south and the English in a protected cove in the north. 

San Juan Island

On the Ferry

On an overcast windy February day, we found ourselves on a car ferry plowing through the gray, foamy water toward San Juan Island.  The one-hour trip ($42 per car, plus $12 per extra passenger) from Anacortes, Wash., wove through the San Juan Islands.  Tom spent most of the ride on deck, binoculars glued to his face in a futile search for a glimpse of a whale or orca — but all he spied were loons bouncing on the pitching water, occasionally disappearing into the froth in search of fish.

“The Pig War is not big deal, it’s the only deal,” said Cady Mountain Sieler, our perky 30ish brunette waitress when we asked about the war.  “But no one died.”  We were dining in the Blue Water Bar and Grill in Friday Harbor, San Juan’s only real town, a delightful seaside downtown full of cute shops and tasty restaurants — and peppering her with questions.  She told us she was named after the highest mountain (really a hill) on San Juan Island, Cady Mountain.  Cady also told us about the island and the people.  Her main message was that in spite of the soggy, bitter weather, the 6,000 people of San Juan Island have a strong sense of community.  “Nobody gets forgotten,” she told us.

When General Scott arrived on San Juan Island, he was able to negotiate a truce. The two countries agreed to co-habitate the island with troops remaining in their respective camps.  As reported by President Buchanan to Congress during his Third Annual Message in 1859, Scott’s mission “successfully accomplished its objectives, and there is no longer any good reason to apprehend a collision between the forces of the two countries during the pendency of the existing negotiations.”

The Desolate American Camp

We visited both camps and found them starkly different.  The American Camp, barren and isolated, sits on the high ground overlooking the Salish Sea.  It has a fantastic view of the rugged, snowcapped Olympic Range across the water.  But the lack of trees and the starkness of the prairie landscape lend a sense of monotony to the scene.  Indeed, we discovered that two soldiers who manned the post committed suicide. 

The Sheltered English Camp

The English Camp, on the other side of the island, is planted in a natural cove, protected from the wind by the high ground above it.  It is a wooded, mossy, green enclave -- calm, peaceful, and serene.  The camp looks out over the protected Garrison Bay, where the English could safely moor their ships.

Aftermath

James Buchanan left the White House on March 4, 1861.  The Civil War began one month later. 

The Pig War was fully settled with the help of arbitrator, Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany.  On October 21, 1872, he awarded San Juan Island to the United States and the English withdrew.

Harpers Ferry is located approximately 1.5 hours from Washington, DC.  Detailed directions and other information may be found at:  http://www.nps.gov/hafe/index.htm

San Juan Island can be reached only by Ferry.  The trip ($42 per car, plus $12 per extra passenger) from Anacortes, Wash., takes a little over one hour.

REFERENCES

Buchanan, J.  1859.  Third Annual Message. December 19, 1859.

Cox, Clinton.  1997.  Fiery Vision:  The Life and Death of John Brown.  Scholastic Press.  New York, New York.

Green, Israel.  1885.  The Capture of John Brown.  North American Review. http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/jbrown/igreen.html

Lee, R.E.  1859.  Col. Robert E. Lee's Report Concerning the Attack at Harper's Ferry,

October 19, 1859.  http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTRIALS/johnbrown/leereport.html