How many men were in john brown's raid?

Answer 1

Twenty-one men participated in John Brown on the raid of Harper's Ferry: 16 white men, three free blacks, one freed slave and one fugitive slave. Twenty participated in the raid itself.

Of the raiders, five escaped alive. The bodies of four of those killed in the raid or executed for treason were used as teaching cadavers by a local medical college. Many of the raiders were subsequently relocated to a mass grave in North Elba, N.Y., alongside Brown.

The raiders:

John Henry Kagi, 24. Brown's second in command. Stationed in the U.S. Rifle Factory during the raid. Realizing he was hopelessly outnumbered, he attempted to escape across the Shenandoah River, but was shot and killed.

Lewis Leary, 24. A free African-American. Stationed in the rifle factory with Kagi and also shot while trying to escape across the Shenandoah. Died 10 hours later.

Jeremiah Anderson, 26. Fatally wounded by a Marine's bayonet during the final assault on the engine house.

Osbourne Perry Anderson, 29. A free African American. Escaped and returned to Canada on foot. Wrote a memoir of the raid and served in the Union Army before dying of tuberculosis in 1872.

Oliver Brown, 21. The youngest of John Brown's three sons to participate in the action. Wounded on the 17th, died the next day.

Watson Brown, 24. Wounded on October 17 while carrying a white flag and trying to negotiate with the responding militia, and died two days later.

Owen Brown, 34. The only one of Brown's sons to survive the raid. He later moved to California with the remaining members of the family.

John Anthony Copeland, Jr., 25, a free African American who had been a student at Oberlin College in Ohio, but joined the raiders along with his uncle Lewis Leary. Captured during the raid, he was executed on December 16.

Edwin Coppoc, 24. Shot and killed Harpers Ferry mayor Fontaine Beckham during the raid. Executed at Charles Town on December 16.

Barclay Coppoc, 20. Escaped the raid, unlike his older brother. Became a lieutenant in the 3rd Kansas Infantry. Died on September 3, 1861 when his transport train fell into the Platte River, off a bridge sabotaged by Confederates.

Shields Green, approximately 23. An escaped slave from South Carolina. Captured in the engine house and executed on December 16.

Albert Hazlett, 22. Held the armory building itself during the raid. Escaped across the Potomac when the situation worsened. Captured at Carlisle, Penn., on October 22, and tried and executed at Charles Town on March 16, 1860.

William Leeman, 20. A veteran of Brown's efforts in Kansas. Killed attempting to escape across the Potomac River on October 17.

Francis Jackson Meriam, 21. Blind in one eye, served as one of three members of Brown's rear guard, stationed in Maryland. He escaped the raid and went on to serve as a captain in the 3rd South Carolina Colored Infantry, dying in November 1865.

Dangerfield Newby, approximately 35. Born into slavery despite having a white father who was not his master. Moved to Ohio along with his mother and siblings with the permission of his owner. Joined Brown when the owner refused to allow him to buy the freedom of his wife and children. The first raider killed. His family was sold downriver to Louisiana.

Aaron Stephens, approximately 26. Wounded while carrying a flag of truce. Tried and convicted, he was hanged on March 16, 1860.

Stewart Taylor, 22. Killed defending the engine house on October 17.

Dauphin Thompson, 21. Died of a bayonet wound as the Marines stormed the engine house.

William Thompson, 26. Captured when he and others emerged carrying a flag of truce. When Mayor Fontaine Beckham was killed, a mob shot Thompson in the head and threw his body in the Shenandoah river for target practice.

Charles Plummer Tidd, 25. Returned to Maryland for more supplies during the raid. Escaped with the rest of the rear guard. Enlisted in the 21st Massachusetts but died of fever in February 1862.

John E. Cook, 30. The raid's chief quartermaster. Moved to the area well in advance of the raid, teaching school and even marrying a local woman. Did not participate in the raid itself, but reunited with the survivors as they made their way north and was captured in Pennsylvania. Executed in Charles Town on December 16.