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[[File:HarpersF1862.jpg|thumb|left|1862 photograph of the Harpers Ferry arsenal; the "engine house", later called "[[John Brown's Fort]]", is on the left.]]
[[File:John Brown's Fort 2.jpg|thumb|left|John Brown's Fort, drawing published in 1883. Note the hill.]]
On Sunday night, October 16, 1859, at about 11 PM, Brown left three of his men behind as a rear-guard, in charge of the cache of weapons: his son [[Owen Brown (abolitionist)|Owen Brown]], [[Barclay Coppock]], and [[Francis Jackson Meriam]]. He led the rest across the bridge and into the town of Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown detached a party under John Cook, Jr., to capture Colonel [[Lewis Washington]], great-grandnephew of [[George Washington]], at his nearby [[Beall-Air]] estate, free his slaves, and seize two relics of George Washington: a sword Lewis Washington said had been presented to George Washington by [[Frederick the Great]], and two pistols given by [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Marquis de Lafayette]], which Brown considered [[talisman]]s.<ref name="nrhpinv1">{{
|access-date=March 16, 2009 |archive-date=June 4, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604121026/http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jefferson/85000767.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>▼
▲|archive-date=June 4, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604121026/http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jefferson/85000767.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
Brown's men needed to capture the Armory and then escape before word could be sent to Washington. The raid was going well for Brown's men. They cut the telegraph line twice, to prevent communication in either direction: first on the Maryland side of the bridge; slightly later on the far side of the station, preventing communication with Virginia.
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