After months of planning, in the late evening of October 16, 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown and his followers attacked the federal armory, arsenal, and rifle factory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. From there, they had planned to arm and lead the local slaves in rebellion, but for several reasons, they were unable to spread the alarm. Instead, the insurrectionists swiftly found themselves blockaded within the armory under attack from local and federal forces. Fighting continued intermittently for the next few days with casualties on both sides. Finally, on October 18, Brown and the remaining members of his band were overwhelmed and arrested. Reports of the incident immediately aroused a heated public discourse. Even many Northerners sympathetic to Brown’s abolitionist tendencies found his methods deplorable and labeled him a madman; although others insisted on not only the sanity but the righteousness of his actions. Southerners like Governor Henry Wise insisted that Brown be treated as a cold-blooded murderer, and observers on both sides made much of the fact that no actual slaves joined in the insurrection. Brown’s eventual execution did not end the furor, as the Southern leaders insisted that the policies advocated by the new Republican Party would inevitably result in more such violence. Despite the efforts of Abraham Lincoln and others to downplay the significance of the event, Brown’s name and story became a rallying cry for the anti-slavery cause and eventually, for the Union troops in the Civil War.