The eleven prisoners who were with Brown in the engine-house were profoundly impressed with the courage, the bearing, and the self-restraint of the leader and his men.

Colonel Washington describes Brown as holding a carbine in one hand, with one dead son by his side, while feeling the pulse of another son, who had received a mortal wound, all the time watching every movement for the defense and forbidding his men to fire upon any one who was unarmed.

The testimony is uniform that Brown exercised special care to prevent his men from shooting unarmed citizens, and this conduct was undoubtedly influential in securing generous treatment for him and his men after the surrender.
For six weeks afterwards, until his execution on the 2d of December, John Brown remained a conspicuous figure.

He won universal admiration for courage, coolness, and deliberation, and for his skill in parrying all attempts to incriminate others.

Probably less than a hundred people knew beforehand anything about the enterprise, and less than a dozen of these rendered aid and encouragement.