In my last blog, I left off on an ominous note about the fate of Kansas and John Brown’s role in it. I decided not to wrap up Bleeding Kansas so soon because as I realized that this event is too broad to be encompassed by two blogs.

After the Pottawatomie Massacre that Brown and his crew conducted, Pro-slavery forces decided to retaliate. Henry Clay Pate from Missouri rode into Osawatomie, the town near the Pottawatomie massacre, with around 75 sharpshooters to find and capture John Brown. They found two of Brown’s son and released them into the custody of the US Calvary.  Pate and his gang decided to raid free-state settlers’ homes and burning their cabins. Brown decided to put a stop to his and gathered around 14 men, including his sons, and met up with Captain Samuel T. Shore and twenty of his men. They found Pate’s campsite, near Black Jack Kansas, and decided to engage in a firefight with them. They were first firing from higher ground, but in the direction of Brown, they moved to a large ravine by the campsite, so Pate men had less cover. They fought for a few hours, but ammunition was running low, and it was looking to be a standstill. Captain Shore’s men retreated, leaving brown with his 14 men. Brown’s 14 men against Pates 75 or so sharpshooter — to say the least the odds were not in Brown’s favor.

But Owen Brown, John Brown’s son, rode right into the enemy camp. He shouted that they had the camp surrounded, and miraculously they raised a white flag in surrender. Brown spoke with Pate and said he would only accept unconditional surrender. Pate tried to explain he was working on behalf of the US government to arrest those responsible for the Pottawatomie Massacre, but Brown would not hear of it. Dramatically, one of Brown’s sons recounts how John Brown walked back with Pate into the camp. Pate’s men raised their weapons at John Brown, and in turn, Brown raised his Colt to Pate’s heart. Pate gave the order that they would surrender. John Brown ended up with 23 prisoners, which he released into US custody in exchange for his sons that were taken prisoner earlier [1].

Pate later wrote in an article for the St. Louis Republican (which I have to say, I find very amusing):

“Brown and his confederates were the men engaged in the Pottawattomie massacre, and whom I was authorized to arrest. In fact, as I say to my friends, I went to take Old Brown, and Old Brown took me.”

The Battle of Black Jack was a significant event in history because it was the first time that Free State and Pro-slavery forces fought each other in this manner. It also made national headlines and helped put John Brown in the national consciousness. Brown’s newfound fame also helped him raise funds for his future raid on Harper’s Ferry [2]. I will continue with Bleeding Kansas for my next few blogs to establish how critical it was in sparking the Civil war and a national conversation about the use of violence for social justice.

Sources

[1] http://www.thecivilwarmuse.com/index.php?page=battle-of-black-jack

[2] https://www.nevadadailymail.com/story/1725060.html

[3] http://signal.baldwincity.com/news/2011/jun/02/battle-black-jack-anniversary-events-scheduled-wee/