MASSACHUSETTS. 



in suppressing the insurrection. Tin's Iiad no influence witli tiie disaffected, and the rebellion 

 soon spread into the counties of Worcester, Middlesex, Bristol, and Berkshire. In Worces- 

 ter, the judges were driven from the court-house at the point of the bayonet. In Middlesex, a 

 convention gave encouragement to the rebels ; another in Berkshire produced a siniilar ellect. 

 The courts were prevented from sitting, and the jails were broken open. The government 

 called out the militia, and a body of GOO men, under General Shepard, garrisoned the court- 

 house at Springfield. On the day appointed for the session, a body of 2,000 insurgents col- 

 lected under the command of Daniel Shays, a leader whose name has always been coupled with 

 the memory of this rebellion. 



Shays had been a captain in the revolutionary army, and though a man of personal bravery, 

 was an officer without conduct or capacity. He appears to have had little idea of giving any 

 systematic movement to the rebellion, but acted merely as chance or local circumstances led 

 him onward. His direct influence over the people was very slight, and he showed no genius 

 for conducting a great enterprise. With his army at Springfield, he made a semblance of at 

 tacking the militia, whom he found in possession of the court-house, but at length filed off through 

 the streets of the town without firing a shot, and in a few days his men dispersed. In Novem- 

 ber, the session of the court at Worcester was again interrupted by the insurgents. The sheriff 

 of Middlesex, assisted by the militia, succeeded in arresting several of the leaders, and a body 

 of cavalry at the same time entered the county of Worcester, where Shays had appeared again, 

 at the head of 1,000 men. 



The alarm had now pervaded the whole State, and fears were entertained of their marching 

 upon Boston. The avenues to the capital were therefore guarded, and the people were in a 

 high state of excitement. Shays, however, after remaining in Worcester till December, re- 

 treated to Rutland. His troops were half starved, and many perished from the cold. Late in 

 Decem.ber, he appeared again at Springfield, but by this time the militia of the maritime coun- 

 ties had assembled, with a determination on the part of the government to strike at once a de- 

 cisive blow at the insurrection. The army consisted of 4,000 men, under the command of 

 General Lincoln, and marched immediately into Worcester. Another body of militia in Hamp - 

 shire had been placed under the command of General Shepard, who took post at the arsenal at 

 Springfield, with about 1,000 men. The rebels amounted, at Springfield, to 2,000 men, com- 

 manded by Shays and two other leaders. 



On the 25th of January, Shays advanced to attack the arsenal. A striking proof of his igno- 

 rance as a tactician, appears in the fact, that he led his men to the assault in a solid column. 

 Shepard, who might have cut the whole body to pieces with his artillery, was desirous, at first, 

 to avoid bloodshed, and therefore fired a few shots over their heads ; but this only quickened 

 their approach. He then poured in upon them a destructive fire, which threw them at once 

 into disorder. Shays attempted to display his column, but without effect, and the men fled 

 precipitately. The other bodies of the rebels maintained their position ; but the main army, 

 under General Lincoln, coming up, they retreated. A corps of volunteers pushed forward, 

 and captured at Middlefield a detachment of 60 rebels, with a quantity of stores. The remain- 

 der took a strong position upon the heights of Pelham, surrounded by deep snows. 



Here Lincoln sent a flag to Shays, summoning him to surrender. The insurgent leader ap 

 pears by this time to have been aware of his desperate situation, and ofiered to submit on con 

 dition of a free pardon ; but as Lincoln had no power to grant this, the summons was no further 

 heeded. A petition to the general court was at the same time despatched to Boston, from 

 Shays and other of the rebel officers, proposing to lay down their arms, on condition of a gen- 

 eral amnesty ; but the language of the petitioners not being deemed sufficiently submissive, the 

 application was rejected. The insurgent army was now 2,000 strong, and appeared so impor- 

 tant at Pelham, that another levy of 2,600 militia was made by the governor. But the affairs 

 of the rebels were now rapidly declining. Early in February, one of their leaders came over 

 to the government with a considerable body of men, and sliortly after, tlie whole army aban- 

 doned their position at Pelham, and retreated to Petersham. Lincoln pursued them through a 

 violent snow-storm, and against an intensely cold north wind. At Petersham, his advanced 

 guard surprised the whole rebel corps, drove them out of the town, and completely dispersed 

 them in the pursuit. Meantime a bodv of insurgents in Berkshire, who had assembled at West 

 Stockbridge, were attacked and routed, and their leaders, with many otiiers, were made pris- 

 oners. They afterwards rallied at Williamstown, but were again put to flight. Skirmishes 

 took pi'ace with other small parties in different quarters. On the 26th of February, a body of 



