John Brown to Frederick Douglass, December 17, 1855

AFFAIRS IN KANSAS.

OSAWATAMIE, Kansas Territory,

17th Dec., 1855.

MESSRS. EDITORS:—You have, doubtless, before this learned of the late invasion of Kansas, and of its results; and are, perhaps, possessed of correct information; still I incline to send my own version of the affair, I having cognizance of some of the important facts in the case. I begin with the first news we, in this part of the Territory, had of the breaking out of the disturbance. It was that a dispute had arisen between a Free State man named Dow, and a pro-slavery man named Coleman; and that Coleman had fired on Dow while his back was turned, and killed him; that Coleman had gone, and given himself up to Gov. Shannon; that several pro-slavery men had gone before a Bogus manufactured Justice, and sworn the peace against the only Free State witness of the murder, falsely accusing him of threatening their lives, &c.; that said witness had been arrested by a Bogus Sheriff, living in Missouri, named Jones; had undergone a mock examination, and required to give bonds entirely out of his power; and, failing to do so, had been started off for jail by Bogus Sheriff Jones with fifteen armed men to guard him; that while on the way to prison, he had been rescued by a company of Free State men, and set at liberty; that Gov. Shannon had sworn he would have the man, and his rescuers; had ordered out all pro-slavery men; and called on Missouri for help to execute the Laws; and that a force of some two thousand had collected with cannon, &c., threatening the destruction of the city of Lawrence; that the Free State men had collected a similar force; and it was supposed a battle had been fought, (or if not,) that one would come off immediately. I happened to be

here when this news came, (which proves to be substantially true;) it being about ten miles from where my sons are located. As the mails were stopped, and all were in a state of suspense, I left at evening, intending to set out the next morning for Lawrence to ascertain facts. John Brown, Jr. was, however, started on horseback next morning, he being acquainted with the roads, and with several of the leading men there. Before he had gone many rods, word came by a runner, calling for immediate help. On learning this, five out of eight men (including myself, six sons, and one son-in-law) immediately commenced the preparation of a little bread, meat, blankets, &c.; loading all our guns and pistols, running bullets, and packing our extra arms, and ammunition in a one horse Waggon; and got off the same afternoon leaving three behind, too feeble in health to travel, or even to take good care of themselves. We traveled mostly on foot throughout the whole night except a short time that we halted to feed, and rest our horses, and reached Lawrence the next forenoon in about 24 hours after getting the call. The night was dark, and the roads were so blind we could scarcely keep them; the distance from thirty to forty miles. On the way, about three miles from Lawrence, an incident occurred rather calculated to illustrate the true character of the invaders. Our way led over a bridge in the hands of the enemy, who were in a log house, and at the door, near one end of the bridge, to the number of from 15 to 25 armed (human beings) as variously reported. We had means of counting them. Each of us five had a gun, two large revolvers, suspended by a belt, and one small revolver in our pockets, all loaded, so that we could give from ninety-five to one hundred shots without reloading. On our approach a small boy ran to the log house and gave the notice. We moved directly on to

the bridge without any halt; and our chivalric friends silently allowed us to pass without any interruption except being looked at rather queerly. The same was repeated with five more of a volunteer company I had the honor to command on the same day (a few hours after) with like generous treatment from our noble adversaries. The day before some fifteen or twenty of them attacked some three or four men mostly without any arms at all; and killed a valuable man (wholly without arms) named Barber, said to be from Ohio.— His dead body was brought in; and lay, for a a day or two, in a room occupied by a part of my company, as their quarters. It appears that our Southern friends are, after all, rather partial towards persons who go handsomely equipped. Those who rescued the witnesses from Bogus Sheriff Jones, and fifteen braves, all armed, were but eight armed men, as I informed, and I doubt not correctly, too. That is another illustration of the fact that even MISSOURIANS are sometimes a little taken with trinkets. The quarters of a large portion of the volunteers, (eleven companies in all,) were rooms in a large hotel built of stone; and the presence in their midst of the body of the murdered man, together with the heart-rending scene on bringing in his wife, and other friends, was calculated to exasperate the men to the highest degree. I will not attempt a description, for my power of language is inadequate. When we first arrived in Lawrence, we learned that a meeting of Gov. Shannon with some of the prominent men in the place, was hourly expected; that he had before sent in his demands, for the delivery of the rescued man, and his rescuers, together with the Sharp's rifles, the demolition of the fortifications of the place, by

hands of the inhabitants, and also certain buildings, and printing presses; also the giving up of sundry individuals, very offensive to the Missourians, or pro-slavery men; and a general submission of the citizens to the enactments of the Bogus Legislature. I do not mean to say that I understood that Gov. Shannon made all these, and other demands, upon the inhabitants in an official, or formal way, as conditions of peace; but that such demands emanated from his camp, and that some of them were officially made. I also understood that he had repeatedly sent in a call for some of the principal inhabitants to go and see him at his camp; and that word had as often been sent to him, that, if he had any business with persons in Lawrence, to come there, and attend to it. Be that as it may; we learned that he had signified to the inhabitants his desire to go to Lawrence, and that an escort had been sent to conduct him into the town. He soon came in; and when with some of the leading men of the place they "found him out." His anxiety on account of his awkward situation, into which he had got himself, his fear of the result of an engagement, his weakness, folly, and disposition to drink, were soon manifest, and who by getting him drunk, as well as outwitting, and deceiving him, succeeded in getting such a treaty as they chose: The signing it, and carrying it out on his part at once. He, moreover, empowered them by written orders to call out at their descretion the volunteer companies, then under their command, for the protection of Lawrence, and of Kansas Territory. It is said that Gov. Shannon made a call on the government troops to aid him in enforcing the Laws, and that the officers in command declined to respond to that call. That I believe to be true; and as to the transaction between Gov.

Shannon and the men of Lawrence, I know that to be true. It is reported that before negotiating at Lawrence, Gov. Shannon had been tellegraphing the "White House" at Washington, and had got for answer to maintain the Peace at all events; and, if needful, to call out the regulars, (very convenient form of instruction just then, if such were sent;) and that, as soon as this word came, the Missourians tore down the telegraph wires to cut off all further communication. How this may be I do not know. When we reached Lawrence, the volunteers under Gen. Robinson, and Col. Lane, were with the inhabitants of the town and vicinity engaged in throwing up embankments and circular earth works, at which, they continued to work night and day, so that they were in a good degree perfected while the negotiations were pending; and here I will say a word about those volunteers as a whole, as I was in the midst of them night and day, until they were disbanded. They were for the most part strong, able-bodied farmers, and mechanics, very plain, but many of them quite intelligent; and such men as think and act for themselves on all subjects that interest themselves or the human family. They were for the most very quiet and orderly, and, during the whole time I was with them, I did not witness but a single case of intoxication amongst the volunteers. I can say further, that while I have always before, when amongst men expecting an engagement either sooner or later, seen many evidences of cowardice, and fearful apprehension, I could not detect in a single instance the least sign of fear, or want of self-possession in any man of those volunteers.—In short, they were sober, earnest men, as tho' they were collected from some good country neighborhood at a raising. A great part of