There is no doubt that an attack upon Fort Pickens was contemplated the very night these reinforcements arrived. The assaulting party was composed of five hundred picked men, two hundred and fifty of whom were from the Mississippi Ninth, to be led by C. H. Harris of the Home Guard; fifty from the Tenth Mississippi, and the others from other troops at Pensacola. All necessary preparations were made for moving about 11 o’clock at night. The storming party were led down to the Navy Yard, from whence it would probably have embarked in boats.
It is surmised that Colonel Forney would have been the leader. There was no doubt entertained of his success. Before the force arrived it was evident the fort had been reinforced, and all thought of the meditated assault was abandoned. The men picked for this special service lay on their arms all night in the Navy Yard.
BURNING OF HARPER’S FERRY ARSENAL.
April 18, 1861.
The ordinance of secession of the State of Virginia was adopted in secret session on the 17th of April, and the Governor of the State, John Letcher, immediately issued orders for the seizure of the Federal posts and property by the military of the State. A most important post to be first secured comprised the extensive and valuable arsenal, with all its workshops and machinery for the manufacture of arms, at Harper’s Ferry, a place which had been rendered familiar as a household word, from its seizure by John Brown and his party, in the autumn of 1859.
Harper’s Ferry is situated in Jefferson county, Virginia, at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, and is 173 miles distant from Richmond, 57 from Washington, and 80 from Baltimore. The population was about 5,000. The arsenal at this place contained 15,000 stand of arms, in addition to other military stores, then in charge of Lieutenant R. Jones, with a detachment of U. S. Rifles, numbering 43 men. Lieutenant Jones had received advice from Washington that his post was in imminent danger. He was directed to be prepared for any emergency that might arise. On the 17th he received information from various sources that an attack would be made on the night of the 18th. Early in the evening of that day, the little garrison commenced preparations to destroy the arsenal and its contents by fire. The windows and doors of the buildings were then thrown open, that the flames might have a full current of air. At nine o’clock authentic information reached Lieutenant Jones that 2000 men were close at hand.
The men worked bravely, cutting up planks and splitting timbers into kindling-wood, which were heaped ready for the flames. They emptied their mattresses, filled them with powder, and carried them thus into the buildings, that no suspicion might be excited among the people. The arms were then placed in the best position to be destroyed by the explosion, and the combustibles deposited in different places in the shops, that all might be ready.
When all was completed, the fires were started in the combustibles heaped in the carpenters’ shop. The trains leading to the powder were ignited, and the men were led forth.
All at once a cry of fire rang through the town. The frightened inhabitants rushed from the houses, and as Lieutenant Jones and his men entered the gateway of the bridge, an excited crowd pursued him with menaces and threats of vengeance. He wheeled his men into line, and announced his determination to fire upon the pursuers if they molested him. The people then fell back, and he escaped by the canal and took refuge in the woods.
A quarter of an hour after, when this band of valiant men were grouped in the darkness of the woods, the first thunders of the explosion echoed through the hills, and flames leaped forth from the burning buildings, illuminating the grand scenery of the place into wonderful beauty. The water, the village, and those glorious mountain passes that surround Harper’s Ferry with a grandeur which the whole world recognizes, were illuminated into all their green and crystal depths. After pausing a moment to witness the result of their own noble work, this gallant officer and his brave men turned their faces northward, and left Harper’s Ferry, saluted by fresh bursts of explosion, and lighted onward by jets of flame that leaped up from the surging clouds in which the arsenal was enveloped, till the sky glowed above them like a golden canopy.