sword and pistol
Don’t let me de-emphasize the role of looniness in this affair. The first thing Brown did was send a detachment of six men to take George Washington’s grand-nephew hostage and steal his sword, which had been given to the great General himself by Frederick the Great. They brought the sword back to him (after ceremonially forcing Colonel Washington to surrender it to a black guy, which the Colonel hated), and he wore it on his side through the whole battle.
The sword actually saved his life. Not because he swung it at anybody, but because somebody tried to stab Brown and their sword ran into the buckle on the sheath of Washington’s sword and saved Brown’s life.
Seriously. John Brown had a magic sword.