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Daily Dispatch--Extra.

[Richmond, Virginia], October 18, 1859. Broadside on wove paper, 10” x 6.5” plus margins.

An unrecorded broadside account of events surrounding John Brown’s insurrection, as reported in Richmond on the day of Colonel Robert E. Lee’s arrival in Harper’s Ferry.

Under a collection of headlines, including: “THE VERY LATEST”; “INSURGENTS IN THE MOUNTAINS”; "GOV. WISE AND COMPANY F PASSED THE RELAY HOUSE"; “THE NOTORIOUS BROWN MORTALLY WOUNDED!” this report begins with news from Baltimore noting the “intense excitement in our city at present” and that “a body of men” was being assembled “for service in the mountains near Harper’s Ferry, where many of the insurgents have taken refuge.” The three columns of text record “Highly Important Particulars” (the count of dead, wounded, and escaped insurrectionists); “A Report from Col. Lee” (about the proposition he made “in order to save the lives of the prisoners who were then in the hands of the insurgents” which, once refused, precipitated his attack on the armory); an account given by The Baltimore Patriot “of the first stoppage of the trains by the insurgents”; several short sections that seem to have been written as events unfolded, entitled “Later” or “Still Later”; a “List of Killed”; and more detailed accounts of specific aspects of the insurrection, including “Preparations For Attack on the Armory,” “Battle to Get Possession of the Town,” and “The Armory Taken.”

Eyewitness accounts from passengers aboard a train hijacked by the insurgents, and the accompanying editorial commentary, give a vivid sense of the mood in the midst of these these dramatically unfolding events:

We are indebted to C. W. Armstrong, Esq., of New York, and W. C. Warren, Esq., of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, passengers on the train just in, who have kindly furnished us with the following information…” There follows an extended description of events aboard the train during its five hour detention at Harper’s Ferry, during which [t]he passengers, especially the ladies, were greatly alarmed, and feared the party was a gang of robbers who intended to rob the Government Treasury, which contained $15,000, and might also rob them…

It appears very strange, but our informant tells us, that these banded ruffians act with great coolness in all their movements—having countersigns, and otherwise are well disciplined…Capt. Anderson was about sixty years of age, with a heavy white beard—cool—collected, but with a determined and desperate demeanor. The whole thing is shrouded in mystery, which we trust soon will be cleared up—the desperadoes captured and dealt with as their outlawery [sic] and murderous conduct justly deserves.

Of equal interest is the paper’s account of the aftermath of Brown’s brief but violent engagement with the Marines:

Capt. Brown and son, were both shot. The latter is dead, and the former dying. He now lies in the armory enclosure, talking freely.—He says he is the last of the old Ossawattamie Browns, whose feats in Kansas have had such wide-spread notiriety [sic]. He says his whole object was to free the slave, and justifies his actions. He says that he had entire possession of the town, and could have murdered all the people, but did not, and now he is murdered in return.

Bearing an early manuscript note above the title reading “October 18th 1859,” this broadside seems to have been very carefully preserved by its original and subsequent owners. Although printed on very thin paper, it is in remarkably good condition.

Rare. Not in OCLC, nor do we find any record of it in the trade.

CONDITION: Very good, toned, short tear in lower margin, edge of lower margin browned.

Item #4119

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