Existing comment:
Harpers Ferry changed hands eight times during the Civil War. On April 18, 1861, one day after Virginia seceded from the Union, US troops burned the arsenal at Harpers Ferry before abandoning the town to rebel Virginia units. In turn, Confederate forces torched the Harpers Ferry armory and the nearby railroad bridge before they evacuated the town no June 15, 1861. Upon secession, Virginians who had been loyal Americans in 1859 when they seized and executed John Brown for treason were now considered traitors to the Union. |