On the evening of October 16, 1859, a year before Lincoln is elected and 18 months before the Civil War begins, the revolutionary John Brown leads 21 abolitionists, Black and white, to seize the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, about 50 miles up the Potomac from Washington, D.C. Their goal is to take weapons and arm enslaved people, to ignite a rebellion and overthrow slavery.

They take the armory at night, and also take hostages. By morning, a local militia lays siege to the compound, trapping the raiders.

Brown’s anticipated revolution does not materialize. Ten of the raiders are killed in skirmishes during the day.

U.S. Marines led by Colonel Robert E. Lee arrive and, predawn on the 18th, they storm the compound and capture Brown. He is quickly placed on trial and convicted of treason, murder, and slave insurrection. He is hanged on December 2, but his memory assumes hero status amongst abolitionists. Lee will become the General of the Confederate Army during the Civil War.