Civil War Ghost Stories & Legends

The Man Who Won't Stay Dead

0000 Harpers FerryHarpers Ferry was an important Civil War military objective for both North and South. Located at the head ofthe Shenandoah Valley, it was considered the gateway to the South. It was the site of an arsenal, an armory, and a rifle works. Original buildings are much as they were at the time ofthe Civil War, conveying a unique, almost eerie atmosphere. The Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers meet at the foot of the town. Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is located on U.S. Route 340 at Harpers Ferry. West Virginia. 000 THE MAN WHO WON'T STAY DEAD Harpers Ferry, West Virginia His bright blue eyes watched Ed Coppoc intently, until finally he reached for the knife-tipped pike in Coppoc's hand. "This is the right way to do it," he said, holding the blade at about a ten-degree angle with his left hand and grasping the stone with his right. Almost lovingly he rhythmically stroked the blade away from him. When, on each side, he could feel the blade catch the fleshy part of his thumb, he knew that the long knife was sharpsharp as a razor's edge. Only then did he hand it back. "Think we're goin' to need this many of 'em, sir?" asked Coppoc, looking at the stack of over a thousand pikes leaning against the wall ofthe farmhouse. The two men sat side by side on the porch, legs dangling off the edge. "I had the blacksmith make a plenty of them because the Negroes will need to arm themselves." Brown's thin 79 80 Harpers Ferry, West Virginia lips were tightly compressed. "If citizens interfere, I must burn the town and have blood." It was October 16, 1859, at the Kennedy Farmhouse across the river from Harpers Ferry where John Brown and his followers had been secretly gathering. Even on this momentous day he did not deviate from his ritual. The tall bearded man read a chapter in the Bible to his followers and said a short prayer, standing while he prayed. He seldom knelt-even before God. While the men made preparations, he spent most ofhis time pacing back and forth on the long porch that stretched across the front of the house or walking out in the yard. Late that afternoon he looked at the eighteen men around him and muttered to himself, "Plenty of arms and ammunition-we're ready to go." Aloud, he added, "Men, put on your arms; we will proceed to the Ferry." With these words John Brown, self-dubbed "Commander -in-Chief," ordered his "troops" into action. Wagons filled with pikes, fagots, sledgehammers, and crowbars pulled up to the farmhouse door. The men, whom Brown himself had commissioned, were finally on their way to free the slaves. Around their shoulders the gray shawls that served them in lieu of coats had the look of shrouds. Thrusting his battle-worn old Kansas cap down on his head, Brown hoisted himself up on the wagon seat. From the first moment he had seen the town of Harpers Ferry he had seen it as a castle upon a hill-a castle that he would storm and make his. The encircling rivers were the moat. The only approaches to the town were two bridges, one across the Shenandoah, the other across the Potomac. He had chosen the Maryland bridge across 81 The Man Who Won't Stay Dead the Potomac. It was six miles to the bridge, and in the misty, gloomy night they could see little. They heard the creak of the wagon wheels and the soft, continual thud of their own feet marching. Meanwhile in Canada, Harriet Tubman, whom John Brown had asked for help, was having a dream. Dreams often guided her. When she awoke from this one she was filled with foreboding. She sympathized with his goal, but she had her own-rescuing slaves from the South and getting them safely to freedom in Canada. Her mission was already a success. Of the group of raiders, only the commander John Brown believed that the assault on the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry would accomplish his purpose. He had held this view as far back as 1854, when he was in Kansas . Yet, even as he and his men were approaching the sleeping town, this strange leader had no definite campaign plan, no well-defined purpose other than to...