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LOT 214
Incredibly Historic Sharps Model 1853 Slant Breech Percussion
Carbine Inscribed as Captured During John Brown’s 1859
Harpers Ferry Raid by G.F. Jones of the “Independent Greys”
Militia Unit - Serial no. 15859, 52 cal., 21 1/2 inch round bbl., bright/
casehardened finish, walnut stock. In terms of guns with historical
significance, this Sharps Model 1853 carbine ranks highly, as one of
a very small amount likely captured from “The Kennedy Farmhouse”
by The Independent Greys militia unit during John Brown’s
immensely famous raid on Harpers Ferry Armory between October
16, 1859-October 18, 1859. The patchbox is period inscribed in fancy
script “Captured by,/The Independent Greys, at/the Insurrection at
Harper’s Ferry,/Oct. 18th 1859. G.F. Jones” in four lines. The Model
1853s were manufactured from 1854 to 1857 and are most famous
as the model used by evangelist John Brown and his band of
abolitionists in Kansas and during the famous raid on Harper’s Ferry
Armory, Virginia, in an attempt to incite a slave rebellion. These “John
Brown Sharps” Model 1853 carbines are also known as “Beecher’s
Bibles” after noted minister Henry Ward Beecher was quoted in the
“N.Y. Tribune” of February 1856 stating there was more moral power
in one Sharps carbine than 100 Bibles. While all Sharps Model 1853
carbines are desirable due to their rarity and historical connections to
the turmoil and sectional strife during the antebellum era, a Sharps
carbine such as this that has ties to John Brown and his raid on
Harpers Ferry is about as desirable as it gets.
John Brown’s small group of raiders consisted of a reported 17 white
men, 2 free black men, 3 fugitive black men, and 2 local enslaved
black men. When John Brown first raided the Harpers Ferry Armory
at around 11 PM on Sunday, October 16, 1859, his intention was
to get major support from the nearby slaves that he was sure were
ready to rebel, and he planned to arm the slaves that joined with
weapons from the armory. His plan ended up backfiring when he was
unable to properly get the word out and only a few slaves ultimately
joined his revolt, and his small band of abolitionists became
entrapped while waiting for help on the Harpers Ferry Armory, which
is located on what is essentially an island peninsula, when they
lost control of both bridges leading to it by noon the next day on
Monday, October 17, 1859. All the while they had taken a number
of Harpers Ferry employees hostage who were showing up to work
on Monday morning and barricaded themselves in the fire engine
house (later nicknamed “John Brown’s Fort”) along with employees
they believed to be the most important, with another group of
employees held hostage in a different armory building. There were
numerous engagements throughout the day between the barricaded
abolitionists and military companies from neighboring towns along
with armed citizens who had them surrounded at this point, with a
handful of casualties.
The Independent Greys were one of five companies of Baltimore
City Militia, totaling 201 men in arms, that showed up via train to
Harpers Ferry Armory around late evening that Monday, October 17,
1859, accompanied by 88 Marines from Washington, D.C., under the
command of Colonel Robert E. Lee, in order to put a stop to John
Brown’s raid.
Around 6:30 AM on Tuesday, October 18, 1859, Lee sent his second in
command Lieutenant J.E.B. Stuart under a white flag of truce to the
engine house where John Brown and his men were bunkered down,
but Brown refused the opportunity to surrender, so the Marines were
given the order to break the door down, which they unsuccessfully
attempted at first with sledgehammers, then ended up using a
ladder as a battering ram to break down the doors after which they
stormed inside under fire. Marine Lieutenant Israel Greene was the
first through the door and knocked Brown unconscious with a saber
blow that hit him in the back of the neck. Two of Brown’s raiders were
killed in the final fight, which lasted all of around three minutes, and
the rest were taken prisoner. The Marines suffered one killed and
another wounded. John Brown was found guilty of treason against
the Commonwealth of Virginia, and was hanged on December 2,
1859, becoming the first individual in U.S. history to be executed for
treason against a U.S. state.
Reports of the Independent Greys capturing Sharps rifles were
printed in multiple newspapers in October 1859. “The Charleston
Daily Courier on Oct. 22, 1859, further stated: “The Independent Grays
having captured the boxes of Sharpe’s rifles, were each presented
with one by order of Colonel Lee. They are beautiful arms, entirely
new, just as they were forwarded from the Massachusetts armory.”
“The Daily Delta” on Oct. 25, 1859, states: “During Tuesday [October
18, 1859] morning one of Col. Washington’s negroes came in and
reported that Cook was in the mountains, only three miles off. About
the same time some shots were said to have been fired from the
Maryland hills, and a rapid fusillade was returned from Harper’s
Ferry. The Independent Greys, of Baltimore, immediately started on
a scouting expedition, and in two hours returned with two wagons
loaded with arms and ammunition, found at Capt. Brown’s house.
The arms consisted of boxes filled with Sharp’s rifles, pistols, &c...Thus
proving that the expedition was well provided for; that a large party
of men were expected to be armed, and that abundant means had
been provided to meet all expenses...The Grey’s pursued Cook so
closely that they secured part of his arms, but with his more perfect
knowledge of the localities, he was enabled to evade capture. On
their arrival at the Ferry with the enemy’s spoil, they were greeted
with hearty cheers. The wagons were driven into the Armory yard
and given into the custody of the Government. As everybody else,
however, who could lay his hand on a Sharp’s rifle, considered it
legitimate spoil, why should not the Greys have a claim on their
valuable capture?”
“Capt. Brown’s House” referenced in the newspaper article is better
known as “The Kennedy Farm” or “The John Brown Raid Headquarters”
and is where John Brown originally planned his raid on Harpers Ferry,
just across the river in Maryland. He rented the house three months
prior to the raid, and stocked it full of weapons, including these
Sharps Model 1853 carbines.
John Brown