During this time Turner hid out near his owner’s farm, until he was captured on October 30 and jailed in Jerusalem (Courtland), the town he had hoped to overthrow two months before. A section of Virginia State Route 658 remains labeled as “Blackhead Signpost Road” in reference to these events. In the 10 days that followed, these white militias killed as many as several hundred blacks, some slaves, some free, many of whom had had nothing to do with the rebellion.īlacks suspected of participating in the rebellion were beheaded by the militia and “their severed heads were mounted on poles at crossroads as a grisly form of intimidation”. There was widespread fear in the aftermath, and white militias raised from the civil population organized in retaliation to the rebels. Armed with knives, hatchets, axes, and blunt instruments, the insurrectionists traveled from house to house, freeing enslaved people and killing many of the slave owners and also appropriating their weapons.īy afternoon Turner had decided to take over the county seat, Jerusalem (now known as Courtland), but on their way there they were defeated and scattered by the state militia infantry who came with twice the manpower of the rebels, reinforced by three companies of artillery.Īfter the defeat Turner abandoned his goal and went into hiding. Ultimately he and his friends were able to enlist more than 70 enslaved and free Blacks, some of whom were on horseback.
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