Shays's Rebellion Chapter 7

 

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