Showing posts with label B&O Railroad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label B&O Railroad. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

A. J. Phelps to William Prescott Smith, October 17, 1859, 7:05 a.m.

Monocacy, 7.05 A. M., October 17, 1859.        
(Rec'd Balto. 7.55 A. M.)
W. P. Smith,
        Baltimore.

Express train bound east, under my charge, was stopped this morning at Harper's Ferry by armed abolitionists. They have possession of the bridge and the arms and armory of the United States. Myself and Baggage Master have been fired at, and Hayward, the colored porter, is wounded very severely, being shot through the body, the ball entering the body below the left shoulder blade and coming out under the left side. The Doctor says he cannot survive. They are headed by a man who calls himself Anderson, and number about one hundred and fifty strong. They say they have come to free the slaves and intend to do it at all hazards.

The leader of those men requested me to say to you that this is the last train that shall pass the bridge either East or West. If it is attempted, it will be at the peril of the lives of those having them in charge. When daylight appeared we were finally permitted to pass, after being detained from half-past one o'clock to half-past six. It has been suggested you had better notify the Secretary of War at once. The telegraph wires are cut East and West of Harper's Ferry, and this is the first station that I could send a despatch from.

A. J. PHELPS.

SOURCE: B. H. Richardson, Annapolis, Maryland, Publisher, Correspondence Relating to the Insurrection at Harper's Ferry, 17th October, 1859, p. 5-6

William Prescott Smith to A. J. Phelps, October 17, 1859, 9 a.m.

Baltimore, October 17th, 1859.
9 A. M.        
A. J. Phelps,

Conductor of the Express East at Ellicott's Mills. Your despatch is evidently exaggerated and written under excitement. Why should our trains be stopped by Abolitionists, and how do you know they are such and that they number one hundred or more? What is their object? Let me know at once before we proceed to extremities.

W. P. SMITH.

SOURCE: B. H. Richardson, Annapolis, Maryland, Publisher, Correspondence Relating to the Insurrection at Harper's Ferry, 17th October, 1859, p. 5-6

A. J. Phelps to William Prescott Smith, October 17, 1859, 11 a.m.

Ellicott's Mills, March, 17th, 1859,
11 A. M.        
W. P. Smith,

My dispatch was not exaggerated, neither was it written under excitement as you suppose. I have not made it half as bad as it is. The Captain told me, that his object was to liberate all the slaves, and that he expected a reinforcement of 1500 men to assist him. Hayward, the negro porter, was shot through the body, and I suppose by this time, is dead. The Captain also said, he did not want to shed any more blood.

I will call at your office immediately on my arrival, and tell you all. One of my passengers was taken prisoner and held as such for some time. I will bring him to see you also.

A.J. PHELPS.

SOURCE: B. H. Richardson, Annapolis, Maryland, Publisher, Correspondence Relating to the Insurrection at Harper's Ferry, 17th October, 1859, p. 6