Shays's Rebellion Chapter 7

THE SHAYS REBELLION 161 

defending the Courts there. He declared, "I can apprehend no 
danger of so desperate and senseless a measure as burning towns 
or an attack on unembodied inhabitants ; and Springfield, besides 
containing stores of exceeding great consequence, is in the line 
of intelligence and perhaps of march, and has buildings to ac- 
commodate a considerable part of the men, which are to be found 
nowhere else in the country." He urged that rum and other 
spirituous liquors must be forwarded from Boston since very little 
of such supplies could be found in Hampshire County, and en- 
forced the necessity of providing them by the plea that "the men 
cannot be kept together, especially in the season, without a daily 
allowance of spirituous liquors." 

During the following week, on the 18th, he took possession of 
Springfield, and soon found how difficult, and a little later how 
desperate his situation was. With about 1100 men to provide 
for he lacked wholly or partly three essentials, money, supplies 
and equipment. No funds had been forwarded to him from Bos- 
ton out of the amount made available by the special loan of the 
merchants. As already noted he was in pressing need of liquid 
rations, and his correspondence shows that the forces under him 
were not adequately provided with arms. 

He tried in vain to secure a loan of £2000. On the day after 
taking position in Springfield he wrote to General Lincoln, "It 
will be very disagreeable to be defeated by such a wicked banditti 
when I am guarding the arms of the Union, and command for 
the purpose of supporting the dignity of the government, when I 
had no arms to defend myself even from insult." 

As the crisis approached there were five difiPerent bodies of 
combatants under arms : General Shepard had about 1200 at 
Springfield ; General Lincoln with some 3000 men was moving 
from the east toward Springfield ; Shays with some 1200 men was 
on the march from Rutland ; Eli Parsons with about 400 had 
come from Berkshire and taken possession of the north parish of 
Springfield, now Chicopee ; Luke Day with about the same number 
of well-drilled men and boys held West Springfield under martial 
law. He had the presumption to arrest, examine and imprison 
travelers and citizens of Springfield and Longmeadow, two of 
whom while resisting such outrageous treatment were severely 
wounded. Ezra Starkwether of Worthington was held in prison 
two or three days. General Warham Parks and Dr. Paul Whitney 
of Westfield were seized in their sleighs. Day was the most 

W. Mass. — 11 



162 WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS 

arrogant and offensive of the leaders at that time. On the 21st 
Shepard sent an urgent appeal to Lincoln at Worcester for a fly- 
ing column to follow in the rear of Shays to harass and hinder 
him. 

Shepard's position was truly alarming, cut off on the west by 
Day, on the north by Parsons, with Shays approaching from the 
east. A train of provisions of which he was in direct need was 
captured by Parsons, and he had but a five days' supply, with no 
chance to secure more. Lean as his own purse was, he became 
personally responsible for fuel and forage. 

Major Levi Shepard of Northampton was his commissary and 
Colonel William Smith was his quartermaster, each of whom, at 
his wits' ends, realized that his office was no enviable sinecure. 
General Shepard, having had no answer from any of five dispatches 
sent to Lincoln, sent a final one, resolute but pathetic, saying, 
"If you cannot grant me any reinforcements or relief I shall try 
to work out my own salvation before it is too late. Shays' and 
Day's forces are about two thousand strong. Before to-morrow 
morning I expect the trial will be made to force me from this 
post. It is no time for delay; your operations must be quick and 
spirited, or they will answer no purpose. That man's party is 
increasing fast." 

General Shepard could not change his position, since it was 
inexorably fixed by the arsenal which he was pledged to defend. 
He could simply stand his ground and await the hemming in of 
the three threatening forces under Shays, Day and Parsons re- 
spectively, the aggregate of which was nearly double that of his 
command. On the 23d Shays reached Palmer and held a council of 
war with his officers. Their proceedings were overheard by a 
friend of the government, and when the decision was reached to 
hasten to attack the arsenal before Lincoln could unite forces with 
Shepard, Lieut. Aaron Graves of Palmer hastened to inform Gen- 
eral Lincoln of their plans. 

On the 24th Shays sent a messenger to inform Luke Day at 
West Springfield of his intended attack on the arsenal on the 25th, 
and ordered him to co-operate with him on that day. For some 
reason the plan did not suit the captain at West Springfield, and 
he sent back a reply to the effect that he could not attack on the 
25th but would be ready on the following day. The messenger 
returning with this important document was so foolish as to suc- 
cumb to the allurement of a Springfield tavern which could supply 



THE SHAYS REBELLION 163 

him with a glass of grog and a brief shelter from the severity 
of the weather. While there he excited the suspicions of some 
young men who were in sympathy with the government. They 
hospitably plied him with liquor till they could search his clothing 
and possess themselves of his dispatch and leaving him to sleep 
off the fumes of his potations, they bore it speedily to General 
Shepard, thus furnishing him with information of the greatest 
moment to both himself and Shays. 

Copy of the reply sent by Day to Shays : 

West Springfield, Jan. 25, 1787. 
Sir — I have dispatched Capt. Walker with my resolutions. Have ordered 
Colo. Parsons to treat with Gen. Sheppard and in case Gen. Sheppard 
does not comply with the terms, shall put all the troops under my Com- 
mand in motion to support my demands precisely 4 o'clock the time is 
prefixt. But shall not expect them to Come to Action this day. 
To Capt. Shays. Luke Day. 

A later letter without date from Shays : 

To Genii. Shepherd or the Commanding Officer in Springfield: 
Sir, I Desire you to Send my Dead and Wound men by My Flagg So 
that I can Burye My Dead Men and Take Care of my Wounded if not 
my Wounded the Dead and Names of the Wounded by Lt. Williams who 
is the Bearer of this Flagg. 

I am yours, 

Daniel Shays, Capt. 

Having received no intimation of Day's decision, Shays pursued 
his plan, as he probably would not have done had he been in pos- 
session of the intercepted message. 

The crowning act of presumption of the whole insurrection was 
perpetrated by Day, who evidently aspired to play the part of 
dictator, which indeed may have been evidenced by his cavalier 
reply to Shays' message. The following ultimatum was sent to 
General Shepard : 

Head Quarters, West Springfield. 
Jan. 25, 1787. 
The body of the people assembled in arms, adhering to the first principles 
of nature, self-preservation, — do, in the most peremptory manner, demand: 
1st. That the troops in Springfield lay down their arms. 
2d. That their arms be deposited in the public stores, under the care 
of the proper officers, to be returned to the owners at the termination of 
the present contest. 

3d. That the troops return to their homes on parole. 

On the same day Shays sent a less arrogant but still presumpt- 



164 WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS 

uous document to General Lincoln wherein he proposed that the 
militia which he commanded should be disbanded at once, that 
every one who had taken any part in any act of insurgency should 
be indemnified in person and property until the Legislature should 
convene again, and be spared molestation or injury on account 
of any lawless action, and that all prisoners should be released 
without further penalty. 

The very absurdity of these conditions, in view of the adequacy 
of Lincoln's force to deal with all the recruits which the insurgents 
had been able to rally to their standard, is good evidence that 
Shays sent the communication with no other purpose in mind 
than to delay the advance of General Lincoln until the rebels could 
have a chance to capture the arsenal. But undeceived by his 
knavery, and realizing the hazardous position of General Shepard, 
General Lincoln hurried forward and sent orders to General Brooks 
to march with the Middlesex militia to Springfield with all possible 
speed. 

On the evening of the 24th Shays reached Wilbraham and 
billeted his troops upon the resentful inhabitants. A consultation 
was held by several loyal citizens, Asaph King, at that time deputy 
sheriff. Dr. Samuel F. Merrick, Deacon Noah Warriner, and Col. 
Abel King, to decide upon the best way of notifying General 
Shepard of the proximity of the enemy. 

Holland says : "It was at last decided that the job belonged 
to the sheriff. On the 25th Shays moved toward Springfield, 
when King mounted a splendid young horse that stood stalled in 
his barn and started him across the fields to the 'stony hill road.' 
The snow, knee-deep to his horse, was covered with a crust, and 
he was obliged in some instances not only to break a path for 
his horse but to pull down or leap fences. When he came out 
upon the road the legs of his horse were streaming with blood. 
He was far ahead of Shays, and spurring on reached the arsenal 
in forty-five minutes from the time he left Wilbraham. From him 
Shepard learned all the particulars which he had not before known, 
and ascertained that the force of Shays was on the march." 
(History of Western Massachusetts, Vol. I, pp. 263-4.) 

It was not, however, until about 4 o'clock in the afternoon that 
Shays appeared on the Boston Road. 

General Shepard was prepared for Shays with all his force 
except a detachment posted on Main Street about where the Bos- 
ton & Albany railroad now crosses it on an elevated grade, as a 



THE SHAYS REBELLION 165 

defense against any possible advance of Day or Parsons. 

One of the officers whom General Shepard sent to warn the 
approaching hordes had been an associate of Shays in the Massa- 
chusetts line. In their interview the officer claimed to be acting 
in defense of this country, to which Shays replied, "then we are 
on the same side." "We shall take very different parts, I imagine," 
retorted the messenger, to which Shays rejoined that "the part 
he should take was the hill on which the arsenal stood." To an- 
other messenger Shays boasted that he should lodge in the bar- 
racks that night. The messenger warned him that if he under- 
took it he would lodge either in heaven or hell, he did not know 
which, but he hoped it would be heaven. 

The events which immediately followed are clearly described 
in the official report made by General Shepard to Governor 
Bowdoin, which is justly characterized by James Russell Trum- 
bull as "altogether the best description of the fight that has come 
to hand." It is certainly the fullest and most accurate account 
of that decisive skirmish, showing marked ability on the part of 
the writer, whose school education had been interrupted so early 
in his life, and showing also the fine humanity and tenderness of 
heart of the man who had been a soldier through two long wars, 
which would naturally have blunted his gentler sensibilities. That 
humanity was still further exercised in the staying of his hand 
from bloodshed as soon as the decisive blow had been struck. 

Springfield, January 26, 1787. 

Sir — The unhappy time has come in which we have been obHged to 
shed blood. Shays, who was at the head of about twelve hundred men, 
marched yesterday afternoon about 4 o'clock toward the public buildings 
in battle array. He marched his men in an open column by platoons. I 
sent several times by one of my aids and two other gentlemen, Capts., 
Bufifington and Woodbridge, to him to know what he was after or what 
hf: wanted. His reply was he 'wanted barracks, barracks he would have 
and stores.' The answer was he 'must purchase them dear if he had 
them.' 

He still proceeded on his march until he approached within 250 yards 
of the arsenal. He then made a halt. I immediately sent Maj. Lyman, 
one of my aids, and Capt. Bufifiington to inform him not to march his 
troops any nearer the arsenal on his peril as I was stationed here by order 
of your excellency and the secretary-at-war for the defense of the public 
property; in case he did, I should surely fire on him and his men. A 
Mr. Wheeler who appeared to be one of Shays' aids, met Mr. Lyman 
after he had delivered my orders in the most peremptory manner and made 
answer that that was all he wanted. Shays immediately put his troops in 
motion and marched down rapidly near one hundred yards. I then ordered 



166 WESTTERN MASSACHUSETTS 

Maj. Stevens who commanded the artillery to fire upon them; he accord- 
ingly did. The two first shot he endeavored to overshoot them in the 
hope they would have taken warning without firing among them, but it had 
no effect on them. Maj. Stevens then directed his shot through the center 
of the column. The fourth or fifth shot put the column into the utmost 
confusion. Shays made an attempt to deploy his column but in vain. We 
had one howit which was loaded with grapeshot, which when fired gave 
them great uneasiness. Had I been disposed to destroy them, I might have 
charged upon their rear flank with my infantry and the two field pieces 
and could have killed the greater part of the whole army within twenty- 
five minutes. There was not a single musket on either side. 

I found three men dead on the spot, and one wounded who is since 
dead. One of our artillerymen by inattention was seriously wounded. Three 
muskets were taken up with the dead which were all deeply loaded. I 
enclose to your excellency a copy of a paper sent to me last evening. 

I have received no reinforcements yet, and expect to be attacked this 
day by their whole force combined. 

I am, sir, with great respect, your excellency's 

Most obedient, humble servant, 
Wm. Shepard. 
His excellency, James Bowdoin, Esq. 

(Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 190, p. 137.) 

The paper to which he refers in the latter part of his report 
was the impudent demand of Luke Day which has been cited 
already. 

The names of the four victims of that day's folly were Ezekiel 
Root of Gill, whose body was claimed by his brother Solomon 
on the following day; Ariel Webster of Gill, whose brother Wil- 
liam claimed the body ; John Hunter of Shelburne ; and Jabez 
Spicer of Leyden. One more man, Jeremiah McMillen of Pelham, 
was wounded and missing. 

An interesting incident of the attack on the arsenal concerned 
a small boy who afterward became a prominent citizen of Pitts- 
field. One of the commanders of the Hampshire militia was Major 
Solomon Allen of Northampton, who had important business trans- 
actions with drovers from Philadelphia. He was in that city when 
the critical condition of affairs in this region rendered it impera- 
tive for him to hasten home to attend to his military duties. His 
eight-year-old son was with him, and they reached Springfield in 
time to take part in the action against Shays. During the en- 
counter, the little lad, made conspicuous by his suit of red broad- 
cloth, sat upon a horse in the rear of the government troops. 
Greatly excited by the firing of the cannon, the youngster rose in 
his stirrups, and in his childish treble shouted out a hearty cheer, 



THE SHAYS REBELLION 167 

which so delighted the troops that they took it up with prolonged 
shouts of loyalty for their cause and admiration for their youth- 
ful ally. In mature life he was Hon. Phinehas Allen, the founder 
of The Pittsfield Sun. 

The routed insurgents pressed helter-skelter forward until they 
reached Ludlow, about ten miles distant, and on the following 
day affected a junction with the force under Eli Parsons at 
Chicopee. 

A personal impression of the aflfair at Springfield is given by Rev. 
Dr. Jeremy Belknap in a letter to Ebenezer Hazard, written at 
Boston, February 2, 1787, a week after the attack upon the arsenal: 

"Now for politicks. The interposition of divine Providence in 
favour of the Continental Arsenal at Springfield is worthy of notice. 
You will see by the papers how the force of the insurgents was 
divided. Shays had written to Day that he would make an attack 
on Shepard Thursday P. M., at 4 o'clock, on one side, and desired 
him to attack at the same moment on the opposite side. Their 
united force was superior to Shepard, and by dividing his attention 
they might have succeeded by a coup de main. Day wrote an 
answer that he should not be ready for the attack till Friday, 
but would then commence it at the same hour P. M. This letter 
of Day's was intercepted and brought to Shepard. Shays advanced 
at the time he had appointed, expecting a co-operation, but found 
the whole force of Shepard directed against him alone, and re- 
treated. 

"When Lincoln's troops were crossing Connecticut River to 
West Springfield, the sheriff read the Riot Act. Whether the 
insurgent guard on the shore heard this animating lecture, is un- 
certain, but on sight of two pieces of the ratio ultima they took 
to their heels. 

"The two armies, by the last account, were within ten miles, 
sending messages. I suspect that Lincoln is too much fettered 
by his instructions. The General Court are now coming together, 
and, if they do not increase his embarrassment, it will be well. 
They ought to declare, what everybody knows to be a fact, that a 
rebellion exists, and then to 'let loose the dogs of war,' who, from 
the animation they have already discovered, will soon seize and 
worry those ravening wolves. This expedition is supported by 
a loan to Government from the merchants of Boston and the other 
sea-ports. £5000 was subscribed here in about a week. From 
your former connexion at Jamaica Plain, I think you must know 
John Typer; he is adjutant-general under Lincoln, and led the van 



168 WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS 

at West Springfield meeting house. He advanced within pistol- 
shot of the enemy before they gave way. I hear he had made 
prize of Luke Day's sleigh and pair of horses. These insurgents 
appear to be governed by an enthusiastic frenzy. They intended 
to arm and equip themselves out of the Continental magazine, to 
subsist by plundering the country, and to pay themselves out of 
the Boston Bank. Was there ever a scheme so romantic? Is not 
their attack on the arsenal a declaration of war against the United 
States, and, ought not Congress to take them in hand, if this Gov- 
ernment should fail of its duty? They appear to be far more 
dangerous than the Ohio Indians, against whom the United States 
are sending a force. Let us have peace at home before we en- 
gage in war abroad !" (Massachusetts Historical Collections, Vol. 
II, Fifth Series, Belknap Papers, Part I, pp. 453-4.) 

In this account there will be noticed several important and in- 
teresting details not included in any other which has been cited. 

There are three muster rolls preserved at the State House of 
Captain James Taylor's company of the third regiment in the 
fourth division of militia, called out from Westfield at different 
times by General Shepard. The first was for a service of four 
days "for the support of Government at Springfield, September 
26, 1786." 

James Taylor, Captain; Moses Dewey, Lieut.; Benjamin Dewey, 
Lieut. ; Pliny Moseley, Lieut. ; Frederick Fowler, Sergt. ; Ruggles 
Winchell, Sergt. ; Moses Drake, Silas King, David Mosreley, Wil- 
liam Moseley, John Moseley, Gad Palmer, Charles Shepard, Levi 
Streeter, Jedediah Taylor, and Benjamin Winchell, Privates. 

The second includes those who were raised for the defense of 
the arsenal. They were mustered in January 18, 1787. The first 
four ofHcers on the list served 23 days, and most of the remaining 
officers and privates served 21 days. 

James Taylor, Captain ; Benjamin Dewey, Lieut. ; Pliny Mosely, 
Lieut. ; John Campbell, Lieut. ; Daniel Green, Sergt. ; Frederick 
Fowler, Sergt. ; Ruggles Winchell, Sergt. ; Simon Smith, Sergt. ; 
Ashbel Eazer, Sergt. ; Silas King, Corp. ; Noah Loomis, Corp. ; 
Daniel Lee, Corp.; Peter Harwood, Drum Major; Eli McEntire, 
Fifer; Moses Allen, Luis Attleton, Benjamin Barber, Ebenezer 
Baldwin, Enoch Bush, Edward Bush, Joshua Brooks, Stephen 
Bartlet, William Brown, Warham Cooley, Elias Dewey, William 
Day, Titus Ely, Horrace Ely, Medad Fowler, Joseph Freeland, 
Chancy Hitchcock, Elijah Harmon, Martin Holcomb, Reuben Har- 



THE SHAYS REBELLION 169 

rison, Warrin Huntly, John Ives, David Lord, Isaac Lyman, David 
Moseley, Medis Morgan, Elisha Prentice, Abraham Story, Charles 
Shepard, Isaac Smith, John Stiles, Levy Atwater, Roger Savage, 
Gideon Shepard, Simon Stiles, Solomon Stephens, Jedediah Taylor, 
Samuel Tiffany, Aaron Wharfield, and Justis Winchel, Privates. 

This was sworn to. May 22, 1787, by James Taylor, Captain, 
before David Moseley, Justice of the Peace, the whole bill thus 
rendered amounting to £86.0.5, for the fifty-four officers and 
men. The pay of a Captain was £8 per month, that of a private 
just one quarter of that amount. 

The third muster roll covers a service of three days from 
Westfield to Great Barrington, dated March 25, 1787: 

James Ta3dor, Captain; Zecariah Bush, Lieut.; John Phelps, 
Israel Ashley, Silas King, William Ashley, Russell Atwater, and 
Joseph Tinker, Privates. 

It was sworn to by Captain Taylor, December 12, 1787, before 
William Shepard, Justice of the Peace. There are a few other 
Westfield names scattered among several muster rolls. Insurgency 
and loyalty thus wrestled for supremacy among the citizens of 
Westfield. 

A pay roll of the General and Staff Officers of the 4th Division 
from August, 1786, to March, 1787, shows that up to that time 
General Shepard had served 96 days, his pay being a pound a day. 
It seems most probable that he was in the field enough longer to 
make his continuous service at that time cover nearly a whole 
year. 

In a detailed account of expenses of "Military Expedition to 
Worcester in January 1787" many interesting items appear: "6 
bbls. New England rum £22. 3 bbls Brandy, £15.2.2. 9 bbls. 
Rum, £30.3.5. 20 bbls. flour, £37.10. 2800 lbs. fresh beef, £35. 
6 bbls. N. E. Rum, £18.14. David Devens bill for flanil &c 
£2.14.11. 90 bbls. Rum, £290.3.4. I Cask of Wine for General 
Lincoln's use supplied at Worcester, £9. Daniel Vose for I Rheam 
paper to make cartridges for cannon, £2.8. Jona. Edwards for 
purchasing rum to wash his wound which he rec'd at N. Hamp- 
ton, 4s.4d. Sundries supplied the General & his family £5.0.9. 
Sarah Snow for the board of Jona. Edwards & his attendant James 
Locke, £1.16.0. Major Gen. Shepard, £32.2.7. Gen. Shepard 
(for Doc. Mather), £3.15.4." 

The account runs from January 10, 1787, to March 18, 1789, the 
final settlement of claims not having been made until then. The 



170 WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS 

aggregate amount of bills paid is £8273. The Commissary's ac- 
count for January, February and March totals: "Bread, 200,432 
lbs. Beef, 235,331^ lbs. Pork, 23,509 lbs. Rum & Brandy, 6,211^ 
gals. Beans & pease, 707^ lbs. Potatoes, 648 bush. Candles, 
892 lbs. Soap, 731 lbs." 

Russell Dewey served four months, February 22 to June 24, 
1787, as Lieutenant in Captain Azariah Alvord's Company, Col. 
Ezra Bedlam's Regiment. 

What effect on Luke Day and his troops was produced by the 
booming of the cannon on the hill about a mile and a half distant 
in a straight line across the river, is not recorded. It certainly 
did not arouse him to investigate its meaning, and by the time 
reports of what had occurred reached him they must have in- 
cluded news of the precipitate retreat of Shays and his demoralized 
battalions, rendering impossible any co-operation of the two leaders 
at that juncture. 

The position of General Shepard, though for the time relieved, 
seemed to him by no means freed from peril. The aggregate of 
the insurgent forces was reduced by the loss of less than a half 
dozen men who had fallen in the skirmish, and there were ample 
grounds for the expectation that in spite of the fiasco of that 
late afternoon an attack might be made on the next day by the 
combined force of the insurgents which was still about double his 
own. General Lincoln was yet a day's march away, leaving the 
enemy ample opportunity to attempt to retrieve the disaster of 
the 25th. But for some reason that attempt was not made. Gen- 
eral Lincoln finally arrived to relieve the situation on the 27th. 
"Four regiments, three companies of artillery, a corps of horse 
and a volunteer corps appeared on that day at noon, and the 
remainder in the evening. The enemy were found posted as we 
have described, and Day had placed guards at the ferry house, 
and at the bridge over Agawam river, so that all communication 
from the north and west, by the naval routes, was cut off." 

General Lincoln felt the necessity of hasty action, and leaving 
his troops scant time for rest he ordered them forward on the same 
afternoon, four regiments with four fieldpieces crossing the river 
upon the ice while the Hampshire forces under General Shepard 
were sent up the river on the east side to prevent a junction 
between Shays on that side and Day on the other. The troop of 
light horse was sent up the river on the ice. Why the larger of 
the two bodies was ordered across the river, where the enemy had 



THE SHAYS REBELLION 171