# A New England Tale/Note to Page 136

NOTE TO PAGE 136.
"For the news had come that Shays' men would cover their front with the captives."
The exhaustion occasioned in Massachusetts by her struggles to support the revolutionary contest, in which her efforts were, at least, equal to those of any other state, and the taxes, which, at the close of the war, were necessarily imposed upon the citizens by the state government, were the principal causes of the disturbances in 1786–7, which are now talked of by some of the older inhabitants, and particularly in the western part of the commonwealth, as the "Shays war." It was so called from Daniel Shays, one of the principal insurgents, and now (1822) a peaceable citizen and revolutionary pensioner in the western part of the state of New-York.
This rebellion is certainly a stain upon the character of Massachusetts—almost the only one. It may, nevertheless, serve to exhibit in a favourable light the humane and orderly character of her inhabitants. If there were no wrongs to be redressed, there were heavy sufferings and privations to be borne. The stimulus of the revolutionary war had not wholly subsided, and the vague and fanciful anticipations of all the blessings to be conferred by "glorious liberty," had passed away. The people found that they had liberty indeed, but it was not what they had painted to their fancies. They enjoyed a republican government, but with it came increased taxation, poverty, and toil. Their means were rather straightened than enlarged. From the embarrassment and confusion of the times, debts had multiplied and accumulated; courts were established, and the laws were enforced.
The organization of courts and the collection of debts, formed one of the principal grounds of discontent. The ​court-houses were attacked and their session sometimes prevented. The party in favour of the state government, and, of course, of the support of the laws, was commonly called the court party. An Englishman might smile at such an application of the term.
The insurrectionary spirit was very general throughout the commonwealth; and it might be said that the western counties were in the possession of the rebels against republicanism. It endured, however, but for a few months, and was chiefly put down by the voluntary and spirited exertions of the peaceable inhabitants. While it lasted, there was, of course, a considerable degree of license, and occasional pilfering, for it could hardly be called plunder; but there was little destruction of property, and no cruelty. Sometimes a few individuals of the court party, and sometimes a few Shaysites were made prisoners; and in such cases they were shut up in rooms during the stay of the conquering party, and occasionally marched off with them on their retreat.
It is probable that about fifteen or twenty individuals perished in battle during the Shays war. Not one suffered by the sentence of a civil magistrate.
The most severe engagement which occurred during the contest, took place in Sheffield, on the 27th of February, 1787. The government party was composed of militia from Sheffield and Barrington; in number about eighty men, and commanded by Colonel John Ashley, of Sheffield. This party, hearing that the rebels had appeared in force, in Stockbridge, where they had committed some depredations, and taken several prisoners, pursued them for some time without success, and did not fall in with them until their return to Sheffield, to which place the rebels had marched by a different route. The insurgents were more numerous, but possessed less confidence than the government party. This circumstance was every where observable during the contest. Upon this occasion, as the most effectual protection, they placed their prisoners in front of their line, and between themselves and their assailants. ​They probably expected a parley, and that the parties would separate without bloodshed. This had sometimes happened before, from the great reluctance which all felt to proceed to extremities against their neighbours and acquaintances. But Colonel Ashley was a man of determined spirit, and fully convinced that energetic measures had become necessary, he ordered his men to fire. They knew their friends, and remonstrated. The Colonel exclaimed, "God have marcy on their souls, but pour in your fire!" They did so, and after an engagement of about six minutes, the rebels fled. Their loss was two men killed, and about thirty, including their captain, wounded. The loss of the government party was two men killed, and one wounded. Of the former number, one was a prisoner who had been forced into the front of the rebel line.
If the remembrance of this commotion had not been preserved by the classical pen of Minot, its tradition would, probably, expire in one or two generations.
This is the only civil war which has ever been waged in our country, unless the war of the revolution can be so called.