They found the fugitives, along with two dozen armed black men vowing to resist capture. Two Quakers appeared and advised the slave hunters to retreat for their own good. The owner refused, declaring that “I will have my property, or go to hell.” Shooting broke out. When it was over the slaveowner lay dead and his son seriously wounded (two other whites and two blacks were lightly wounded). The blacks disappeared into the countryside; their three leaders sped on the underground railroad to Canada.12 The “Battle of Christiana” became a national event. “Civil War—The First Blow Struck,”
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