A couple of things here:

First off, Ellsworth was Elmer Ellsworth, a young friend of Abraham Linclon's. He was shot by an enraged pro-slavery hotel owner in Baltimore weeks before Ft. Sumpter. Ellsworth became a sort of martyr for the Abolitionist cause. He was an officer, a Lieutenant I think, in a Federal volunteer militia unit.

I beg leave to disagree with Guest DjH. I do not think that the ends necessarily justify the means. The fact remains that even though John Brown's abolition sentiments were laudable, and right, he was nevertheless, a cold blooded murder, having slaughtered several unarmed pro-slavery men near modern Osowatamie, Kansas in 1856. Although there is absolutely no defence whatsoever for slavery, I also think that a jury would have been right in finding John Brown and three of his sons guilty of serial murder.
Jim