October 11th, he wrote to his wife from Osawatomie: "... I can now see no good reason why I should not be located nearer home, as soon as I can collect the means for defraying the expenses. I still intend sending you some further help, as soon as I can. Will write you how to direct to me hereafter."[329] November 1st, he wrote to her from Moneka: "I shall write you where to direct when I know where to do so." From these letters it appears that his plans were complete except as to the date for the execution of them. December 2d, he wrote to his family as follows:[330]

His opportunity came December 16th,[331] when Montgomery, with a force of nearly one hundred men, marched upon Fort Scott, to effect the release of Mr. Benjamin Rice, who had been arrested November 16th, in violation of the by-gones-to-be-by-gones provision of the treaty of June 15th; and had not been released after the adoption of the Sugar Mound Treaty of December 6th. In this exploit a merchant of Fort Scott, Mr. J. H. Little, was killed, and his store robbed of goods amounting to about seven thousand dollars. Montgomery organized his company for this raid December 14th, and, upon invitation, Brown, Stevens, and Kagi joined in the expedition. Stevens and Kagi took part in the affair; Stevens being charged, by some writers, with having killed Little. But Brown, "with his customary dislike to serve under another," or probably, because of his higher responsibilities, took no part in the attack. He went "only as far as the rendezvous" at the Wimsett farm, where he probably received his share of the loot.

Returning on the 19th, he collected his men, and on the night of the 20th, executed his famous raid into Missouri. The party operated in two divisions—one under Brown's direction and the other under Stevens's orders. With Brown were Charles Jennison, Jeremiah Anderson, Geo. B. Gill, Kagi, and three or four others. This party was to rob the plantations of Mr. Harvey B. Hicklan and Mr. John Larue. The latter lived about three-fourths of a mile from the Hicklan home. With the Stevens party were Tidd, Hazlett, and five others. This band was to rob the places of David Cruise and Hugh Martin. Cruise, in addition to his other possessions, had a slave girl that Stevens wanted—and got—but not until after he had killed Cruise. A statement by Stevens, made at the Kennedy farm, in Maryland, furnishes all the information that exists concerning the details of the murder. He is reported as saying[332] that he went to the cabin and demanded the girl; that the old man asked him to come inside, which he thoughtlessly did, and that then the old man slipped behind him and "pulled a gun." That it then became a case of "shoot first. You might call it a case of self defense, or you might say that I had no business in there and that the old man was right."

Brown's party arrived at the Hicklan home at midnight, forced the door open, and with pointed revolvers intimidated Hicklan, and proceeded to plunder the establishment. Mr. Gill, who appears to have been in charge of the ethics of the occasion, says, that in spite of his efforts to restrain the men, they took practically everything that was in sight. "Some of our men," he said, "proved to be mere adventurers, ready to take from friend or foe as opportunity offered." This statement, by one who knew whereof he spoke, is the clearest exposition of the character of Brown's thefts that has been made. The robbery on the night of December 20, 1858, was his final transaction of that character. All of the property stolen by him during that night belonged to pro-slavery men. Therefore, Mr. Gill's knowledge that "some of their number were mere adventurers, ready to take from friend or foe as opportunity offered" could not have been derived from their conduct on this occasion. The statement is explicit evidence that Brown and his men were not moved or controlled by any sentiment relating to slavery; or by any political bias in their thefts, but that they were common thieves, operating under the protection of Free-State sentiment while they robbed and plundered Free-State men and pro-slavery men, without discrimination as opportunity offered. It may be said, in general terms, that all horses look alike to a horse thief. It is the horse, per se, that appeals to the thief, rather than the political affiliations of the owner. In the absence of competent testimony to the contrary, it would be said, promptly, of Brown, that he was an exception to this rule, as well as to all other rules, that control human actions; that he was moved by loftier motives than those which control the actions of the ordinary horse thief; that he confined his plundering to pro-slavery men, and robbed them, only, as a private duty, by and with the consent of the Almighty. But this direct evidence against him, and the men whom he controlled, is competent and quite conclusive.

It has been said that Brown made restitution to Hicklan of some of his property. But that statement belongs in the class of a long line of personal statements, that have been put forward from time to time, in palliation of the enormity of Brown's crimes, or in attempts to justify them, or in efforts to make it appear that he was engaged in an unselfish warfare against slavery. Mr. Villard swept away a lot of this rubbish by the keen logic of his exposition concerning many of the stories which were made current about the Pottawatomie matter. So this statement, about returning to Hicklan some of his property, and Mr. Gill's statement that the raid on the night of the 20th, was inspired by the "Jim Daniels story," belong in the same general class of rubbish. Mr. Hicklan stated, in 1888, that nothing that was taken was ever recovered. He said:

Along with the plunder of the Hicklan home, five slaves were taken; these are said to have belonged to the "Lawrence estate" then in Hicklan's care, as administrator. Besides the negroes, he took from the Lawrence estate two good horses, a yoke of oxen, a good wagon, harness, saddles, a considerable quantity of provisions, bacon, flour, meal, coffee, sugar, etc.; all of the bedding and clothing of the negroes, Hicklan's shot-gun, overcoat, boots, and many other articles belonging to the whites. From Larue were taken five negroes, six head of horses, harness, a wagon, a lot of bedding and clothing, provisions, and, in short, all the loot available and portable.[334] Besides killing Cruise and looting the home, Stevens took, as claimed by the family, two yoke of oxen, a wagon load of provisions, eleven mules, and two horses. A mule was also taken from the Hugh Martin home.

After the robberies the two parties united at a point theretofore agreed upon, and started on the return trip to Kansas. At daylight they secreted themselves in a deep wooded ravine, where they remained until after dark, when they continued their march, arriving at Mr. Wattles's home, two miles north of Mound City, at midnight of Wednesday the 22d. Here Brown stopped until morning, having with him the slaves, one wagon, and two or three of his men; the others pushing on northward with the swag, to get it beyond danger of recovery, and to divide it or sell it for the benefit of all concerned.

The liberation of the slaves was a cumbersome and dangerous experiment, but it was as necessary as it was dangerous. To have taken all this plunder and carried it off without the diversion of taking the slaves with him, would have been a case of such plain stealing, that Brown would have been completely discredited therefor; even the "Secret War Committee" might have joined in the general repudiation of him that would have followed. But the carrying off of the slaves to freedom, in this wholesale spectacular way, was great advertising; it distracted attention from the basic motive of the raid, and secured creditable notoriety for Brown in the North. It seems, however, that after arriving at the Wattles home with the slaves, Brown practically, or personally at least, abandoned them to their fate. The narrative states:[335]

This man, however, turned back, leaving the negroes to make their way to Osawatomie alone. They arrived, without any mishap, at the home of Mr. Adair, near Osawatomie, on Christmas Eve, where, it seems, no arrangements had been made to receive them. On the arrival of the slaves at his home, Mr. Adair says he referred the matter of sheltering them to his wife, calling her attention to the responsibility it would involve. "She considered the matter a few moments and then said: 'I cannot turn them away.' They were taken around to the back yard, and the colored people were brought into the back kitchen and kept there that night."[336] Continuing the narrative Mr. Villard says that at two a. m. of the morning after Christmas, the fugitives were finally placed in an old abandoned preËmption cabin on the south fork of the Pottawatomie, where kind neighbors brought them food and gave them encouragement.[337] In this location they remained until they were taken north. It is probable that Brown, in his selfishness, cared but little whether these negroes were returned to slavery or not. He had done his stunt in liberating them, and made no pretense of defending them or of caring for them until in January, and took care not to be near the fugitives while the pursuing bands were scouring the country in search of them.

Naturally no public accounting was ever made of the property taken by the Shubel Morgan Plunder Company, nor has any statement ever been made as to the division of the plunder, or of a division of the proceeds, among the members of it. But it is known that it was the raid and the robbery, that Brown had in view, whereby he expected to raise the money to defray the expense of the return of the party to the East. January 11, 1859, he wrote to his family that he had been unable to finish up his business as rapidly as he had hoped to when he wrote previously—December 2d—and the delay of his departure from Kansas until about January 20th, was probably due to the fact that it required that length of time to close out the company property and make distribution of the proceeds. Final settlement was probably made at or near Lawrence. Mr. Villard says on page 380:

Pending the sale of the plunder and final settlement for it, Brown remained an unwelcome prowler, in the neighborhood of Moneka, amid a storm of indignation against him that was as general as it was severe. Even his "staunch friend Wattles" severely censured him "for going into Missouri, contrary to our agreement, and getting these slaves." On January 2d, Brown wrote a formal letter to Montgomery "asking him to hold himself in readiness to call out reËnforcements at a moment's notice, to prevent a possible invasion because of a raid into Missouri." But Montgomery was not holding himself in readiness to defend Brown, or to repel the retaliatory invasion he had invited; but "was eagerly at work for peace;" seeking to prevent a retaliatory blow from falling upon the Free-State settlement. What Montgomery wrote to Brown in reply to this letter, if he answered it at all, has never been published. He denied having any complicity with Brown, and joined in the general denunciation of him, and in the condemnation of his action. It was this denunciation of him by Montgomery and the Free-State men generally that called forth Brown's personal defense of his conduct, in what he called his "Parallels"; a paper conspicuous in Brown literature.

The Lawrence Herald of Freedom on January 8, 1859, published a letter from a clergyman at Moneka, from which the following paragraphs are extracts:[338]

But Brown's band was the only band of thieves operating in that neighborhood after July 15, 1858. The Shubel Morgan Company, then, was the "organized body of murderers, robbers, gamblers and horse thieves" described and complained of by the Moneka clergyman—"Men who prosecute their nefarious business in the name of God and Humanity." The Herald of Freedom seems to have fallen under Brown's displeasure. He thought "all honest, sensible Free-State men in Kansas consider George Washington Brown's 'Herald of Freedom' one of the most traitorous publications in the whole country."[339]

On January 11, 1859, Governor Medary asked the Territorial Legislature, then in session, to appropriate $250 as a reward for the arrest of Montgomery, and a similar amount for the arrest of Brown. In response to this, Montgomery wrote a letter to the Lawrence Republican, saying, among other things: "For Brown's doings in Missouri, I am not responsible. I know nothing of either his plans or intentions. Brown keeps his own counsels, and acts on his own responsibility. I hear much said about Montgomery and his company. I have no company. We have had no organization since the 5th day of July."[340] Continuing, Mr. Villard says that Montgomery came to Lawrence on January 18th, and delivered himself up to Judge Elmore, who placed him in the custody of the sheriff. There being but one indictment against him, and that for robbing a post-office, he was released on bail, in the sum of $4,000. Three days later he returned home and continued his efforts in behalf of peace. He came back to Lawrence on February 2d, with six of his men, who also surrendered themselves to the Territorial officers.

About this time Brown received a visit from George A. Crawford, a Free-State Democrat residing at Fort Scott, who said some things to Brown at the request of Governor Medary. In a letter to Hon. Eli Thayer of August 4, 1879, Crawford states the substance of this conversation. Some extracts from the letter are as follows:[341]

On account of the unfriendly criticism of his conduct, Brown left the neighborhood of Moneka January 11th and went to Osawatomie, and about the 20th, in company with Gill and Kagi, convoying the slaves, set out on the journey to the North. Stevens and Tidd were with the party at Osawatomie, but they were detailed to steal "a span of horses" the day the caravan moved, which made it necessary for them to scurry out of the neighborhood as rapidly as the horses which they had stolen could travel.

Concerning this transaction Mr. Gill says,[342] that a day or two before starting he found out that a Missourian, with a span of horses, was stopping temporarily a few miles from Osawatomie; also that he had a well grounded suspicion that they had been stolen from Free-State men. At Garnett, he says, he communicated his suspicion "to Stevens and Tidd, who set out, the same evening that we did, to replevin these horses. After doing so they proceeded to Topeka to await us; Kagi also," he says, "scouted ahead for some purpose, most probably to arrange stopping-places for us, leaving Brown and myself alone with the colored folks."

With the stealing of these horses "Brown's men wound up their business in South Eastern Kansas." It was probably their last theft in the Territory. What their first one was, and what their intermediate acts were, can only be surmised. Summarizing his work in Kansas during 1858 Mr. Villard says:[343]

Brown's successful trip across the country, from Kansas to Canada, in the rigor of winter, with these colored fugitives, will always stand to the credit of his courage, his sagacity, and his perseverance. The initial drive from Osawatomie to Major Abbott's place near Lawrence, where they arrived January 24th, had its discomforts. Mr. Villard, quoting from Gill's narrative says: "Through mud, and then over frozen ground, without a dollar in their pockets, their shoes all but falling apart, Gill and Brown, resolutely drove the slow-going ox-team with its load of women and children. Gill's feet were frozen, and the 'old man's fingers, nose and ears frozen.'" From Abbott's hospitable home they sent the ox-team to Lawrence to be sold, and in its place obtained horses and wagons. On the 28th, the narrative states, they arrived at Holton "amid all the discomforts of a driving prairie snow storm." But the storm could not have been very severe, because upon their arrival next day at Spring Creek, six miles distant, that stream "was too high to ford" and they were compelled to remain there over Sunday. The storm therefore must have been a rain storm rather than a prairie blizzard.

About this time Brown's movements were discovered and his location had become known; also the Territorial authorities became active in an effort to arrest him. On Saturday, as the story goes, a volunteer posse from Atchison, under Mr. A. P. Wood, arrived upon the scene, and took up a position on the north side of Spring Creek, barring Brown's further progress northward. It looked as though the "chase was trapped"; and Governor Medary with evident satisfaction announced the fact to President Buchanan. The Governor also sent a special messenger—Deputy Marshal Colby—to Colonel Sumner, commanding at Fort Leavenworth, informing that officer as to the situation, and requesting that troops be sent to capture him. But Brown, in anticipation of hostilities, had sent to Topeka for assistance, and Colonel John Ritchie, with about twenty men, responded to his call, arriving at his camp about noon on Monday. Upon the arrival of these reËnforcements, Brown promptly moved toward the crossing of the creek, and quite as promptly the Atchison party abandoned its position. The engagement that followed seems to have been a contest for speed, and was appropriately named "The Battle of the Spurs."[344] The Leavenworth Times had this to say about the battle:[345]

February 10th, Brown was at Tabor, Iowa. From there he wrote to his wife:[346]

Brown's reception by the people of Tabor was a disappointment. He arrived on Saturday and hoped to receive an ovation at the church next day; and that a "collection" would be taken up for his benefit. To bring this about he prepared the following notice, which he handed to the Rev. John Todd, as the latter entered his church Sunday morning, which he desired should be read to the congregation:[347]

But there was objection and the note was not read. The fame of Browns actions, or the infamy of them, had preceded him at Tabor, which was probably confirmed by the swaggering and boasting of his men. At any rate, after conferring with Dr. H. D. King, who occupied the pulpit with Mr. Todd, the latter declined to read the note, or to take up the collection.[348] Dr. King is reported to have said:

Brown was equally unfortunate at a public meeting which he called for Monday. It resolved that "we have no Sympathy with those who go to Slave States to entice away Slaves, & take property or life when necessary to attain that end."[350]

At Grinnell Brown held two night meetings, with full houses, at which he and Kagi spoke. Both were loudly cheered. The collections, too, were satisfactory: "$26.50 and whole party and teams kept for Two days without cost. Sundry articles of clothing given to captives. Bread, Meat, Cakes, Pies, etc., prepared for our journey."[351]

In justification of his Missouri raid, Brown, in March, wrote to Mr. John Teesdale of the Des Moines Register:[352]

The last clause of the latter statement would move Jennison's ghost to smile if it were read to it.[353]

The caravan arrived at Springdale February 25th, and remained there until March 10th, when the colored people and their traps were loaded into a box car, at West Liberty, and taken by an express train to Chicago. The use of a box car, and the transportation of the fugitives to Chicago, was quietly arranged by Mr. Grinnell with Superintendent Tracey, of the railroad. The latter refused to accept payment for the service, saying: "We might be held for the value of every one of those niggers."

Arriving at Chicago, March 11th, at 4:40 a. m., Brown reported his case to Allen Pinkerton, who took charge of the party. Pinkerton also raised a fund of about six hundred dollars for Brown; and arranged with General Superintendent Hammond, of the Michigan Central Railway, for a car and transportation for the outfit to Detroit. Kagi had charge of the party from Chicago to Detroit where they arrived March 12th, at 10 o'clock a. m., Brown having preceded them on an earlier train to arrange for their reception at Windsor, Canada. He met them on the ferry boat and escorted them across the river to freedom.[354]

The liberation of these slaves in Missouri, and the safe delivery of them in Canada was a capable performance. But it is not believable that the department of justice at any time contemplated any interference with Brown, or that it made any attempt to arrest him, or had any desire to effect his arrest. That it had him under surveillance, and had reports of his movements, from the time he arrived at Holton until he disembarked the fugitives at Windsor, there can be no reasonable doubt; and that it had the power to arrest him, if it desired to do so, will not be denied. But the fugitive slave law, at this time, had become a grievous thorn in the political flesh of the northern Democracy. The Administration had troubles enough, already, in the distracted condition of the country, without further antagonizing Northern public sentiment, and turning loose upon itself the tempest of criticism and censure that would surely follow if Brown were arrested, and a heartless judge should remand back to slavery and punishment these timid, shrinking, friendless women and children.

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