I am not an expert on John Brown, but I was and have been aware of the attempted rescue of John Brown by the Kansas partisans and of Hoyt's assessment of Brown's imprisonment and the futility of a rescue attempt. As a point of time, I am of the opinion that Harper's Ferry and Brown's incarceration and subsequent execution had more of an influence, especially enforcing already strongly minded anti-slavery positions, among the men whose lives he touched. As much as his actions re-inforced the pro-slavery position of those who were attacked.