John Brown's Position

Brown had to prevent his men from rushing off and attacking Pate’s men the day before as soon as they knew where they were. He persuaded them to wait and attempt to get in position while it was still dark. He wanted the element of surprise as the pro-slavery forces would have been expecting an attack after the skirmish in Priairie City. 

Kerry Atlenbernd, the president of the board of trustees for the Blackjack Battlefield believes that Washington’s crossing of the Delaware influenced Brown as he made a similarly treacherous crossing across a pitch-Black prairie of rolling hills. The terrain slowed them down, so they arrived at the site later than they had hoped. Brown was flexible and amended his plans. Before their arrival, one of Pate’s sentries saw them and warned the others. One of Brown’s men was August Bondi, a Jewish immigrant from Austria. He described their approach “We walked with bent backs, nearly crawled, that the tall dead grass of the year before might somewhat hide us from the Border Ruffian marksmen, yet the bullets kept whistling... “ Bondi remained committed to the abolitionist cause and joined the Kansas Cavalry as a First Sergeant when the Civil war began. Brown lost the element of surprise, so he quickly led his men into the western creek bank. It was a fortunate spot as it was slightly lower than the battlefield, so many of Pate’s bullets went over them. They quickly injured five of the pro-slavery forces forcing Pate to switch positions. Brown and his men were armed with Sharps rifles often called “Beecher’s Bibles” as they had been sent to Kansas by abolitionist groups in the east.

Brown and his men shot across the field towards Pate’s men and continued for about three hours. Pate had sent for reinforcements and Brown had been joined by Samuel T. Shore and some of his men. Several of the opposing men were injured, and some very seriously. Their relatively protected positions could have allowed the battle to continue for quite a long time in almost a stalemate. Once Pate was down in the creek, their injuries were reduced. Brown knew the situation had to change.

Altenbernd, Kerry. Interview. Conducted by Amy Lukert. 2 November 2022.

Feldberg, M. (n.d.). August Bondi. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/august-bondi