In 1854 Burns escaped from slavery in Virginia by stowing away on a ship to Boston. After gaining work in a clothing store he unwisely sent a letter to his brother who was still a slave. The letter was confiscated and Burn’s former owner set out to capture him.

Burns was arrested by a deputy marshal who, recalling Shadrach’s escape placed him under guard in chains in the federal courthouse. Efforts by black and white abolitionists to break into the courthouse with axes, guns, and a battering ram failed, although a deputy U.S. marshal was killed during the assault.

Black minister Leonard A. Grimes and the vigilance committee tried to purchase burn’s freedom but the U. S. attorney refused.

People who had shown no particular interest in or sympathy for fugitives or slaves were moved by the spectacle of a lone black man, escorted y hundreds of armed troops, trudging from freedom to slavery

Yet the government was unrelenting. A federal grand jury indicted seven black men and white men for riot and inciting a riot in their attempt to free Burns.

Anthony Burns

By Allie VanScyoc

http://www.virginiamemory.com/online_classroom/union_or_secession/people/anthony_burns