three o'clock
Bullets were whistling from every street corner and every window commanding a glimpse of the Arsenal and Armory . Brown 's handful of men began to fall . The Rifle Works surrendered first and his guard of three men were all dead or wounded . By three o'clock his forces had been cut to pieces and he had taken refuge in the Engine House of the Armory . The bridges were held by the people . Owen , Cook and his guard at the old log house on the Maryland side were cut off and could not come to his rescue . The amazing news of an Abolition invasion of Virginia and the capture of the United States Arsenal and Rifle Works had shaken the nation .