Edwin Coppoc (Ohio State Historical and Archaeological Society)

At last on Sunday night, October 16, nineteen men fully armed marched from the Kennedy Farm. Edwin Coppoc was among the number. Barclay remained behind with Merriam and Owen Brown to guard arms and stores.

Onward in silence under the shades of night the resolute little band marched into Harper's Ferry. In accordance with previous plans, carefully laid, Albert Hazlett and Edwin Coppoc took charge of the United States armory as soon as the guards there were overpowered and made prisoners. Long before dawn of the next day Harper's Ferry, the United States arsenal, the rifle works, the engine house and the approaches to the town were in the hands of the invaders. As the startled inhabitants awoke they realized that they were captives in the hands of an unknown military force.