 Even more than the previous words the new words glorify the violent anti-slavery acts of the abolitionist John Brown and his followers.The third verse directly refers to the attack on the armory in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.Verse four compares John Brown to John the Baptist.He captured Harper’s Ferry, with his nineteen men so few,
And frightened "Old Virginny" till she trembled thru and thru;
They hung him for a traitor, themselves the traitor crew,
But his soul is marching on.