History: PA Archives: Second Series, Vol. 4: Part 3. PAPERS RELATING TO THE WHISKEY REBELLION/WHISKEY INSURECTION, 1794.
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PAPERS RELATING TO WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE
WHISKEY INSURRECTION
IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, 1794.
Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, Vol. IV.
Reprinted under direction of Charles Warren Stone,
Secretary of the Commonwealth.
Edited by John B. Linn and Wm. H. Egle, M. D.
Harrisburg: E. K. Meyers, State Printer, 1890.
Short bios of David Bradford, Josiah Harmar,
Hugh Henry Brackenridge, Presley Neville
[95] DAVID BRADFORD* TO THE INHABITANTS OF MONONGAHELA, VIRGINIA.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 6, 1794.
GENTLEMEN:--I presume you have heard of the spirited opposition
given to the excise law in this States. Matters have been so
brought to pass here, that all are under the necessity of
bringing their minds to a final conclusion. This has been the
question amongst us some days: Shall we disapprove of the
conduct of those engaged against Neville the excise officer or
approve? Or in other words, shall we suffer them to fall a
sacrifice to Federal prosecution, or shall we support them? On
the result of this business we have fully deliberated and have
determined with head, heart, hand and voice that we will
support, the opposition to the excise law. The crisis is now
come, submission or opposition. We are determined in the
opposition. We are determined in future to act agreeably to
system, to form arrangements, guided by reason, prudence,
fortitude and spirited conduct. We have proposed a general
meeting of the four counties of Pennsylvania, and have invited
our brethern in the neighboring counties in Virginia to come
forward and join us in council and deliberation on this
important crisis, and conclude upon measures interesting to the
western counties of Pennsylvania and Virginia. A notification of
this kind may be seen
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* DAVID BRADFORD, a native of Maryland, was a prominent lawyer
of Washington county, extensively known and wielded an immense
influence. He was admitted to the bar in 1782, and the year
after was appointed District Attorney General. He was one of the
commissioners for the laying out and sale of lots at Fort
McIntosh, now Beaver, in 1792-3, and from his correspondence
seems to have been a person of great influence with the State
authorities. At the time of the adoption of the Constitution he
was a zealous Federalist. When the Convention of the four
western counties met at Pittsburgh, September 7, 1791, Mr.
Bradford was one of the three representatives from Washington
county. He was one of the Committee calling the people to
rendezvous at Braddock's Field, August 1, 1794. There, so great
was his popularity and eloquence, he was unanimously elected the
Major General to command the forces. When Government issued the
amnesty proclamation, all the citizens were included except
Bradford. No pardon was to be extended to him. He fled to Bayou
Sara, in Louisiana Territory, then in possession of Spain, and
died there. While a resident of Washington he was courted for
his genial manners and warm-hearted disposition. He erected the
first stone house at the county town, which is yet standing.
[96] in the Pittsburgh paper. Parkinson's Ferry is the place
proposed, as most central, and the 14th of August the time. We
solicit you (by all the ties that an union of interest can
suggest) to come forward to join with us in our deliberations.
The cause is common to us all; we invite you to come, even
should you differ with us in opinion; we wish you to hear our
reasons influencing our conduct.
Yours with esteem,
DAVID BRADFORD.
SECRETARY OF STATE TO GOVERNOR MIFFLIN.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Aug't 7th, 1794.
SIR:--The President of the United States has directed me to
acknowledge the Receipt of your letter of the 5th instant and to
communicate to you the following reply:
In requesting an interview with you, on the subject of the
recent disturbances in the western parts of Pennsylvania, the
President, besides the desire of manifesting a respectful
attention to the Chief Magistrate of a State immediately
affected, was influenced by the hope that a free conference,
guided by a united and comprehensive view of the Constitutions
of the United States and of Pennsylvania, and of the respective
institutions, authorities, rights and duties of the two
Governments, would have assisted him in forming more precise
Ideas of the nature of the co-operation, which could be
established between them, and a better judgment of the plan,
which it might be advisable for him to pursue, in the execution
of his trust in so important and delicate a conjuncture. This
having been his object, it is matter of some regret, that the
course which has been suggested by you, as proper to be pursued,
seems to have contemplated Pennsylvania in a light too separate
and unconnected. The propriety of that course, in most, if not
in all respects, would be susceptible of little question; if
there were no Federal Government, Federal Laws, Federal
Judiciary, or Federal Officers, if important laws of the United
States, by a series of violent, as well as of artful expedients,
had not been frustrated in their execution for more than three
years--if officers immediately charged with that execution, after
suffering much and repeated insult, abuse, personal ill
treatment, and the destruction of property, had not been
compelled for safety to fly the places of their residence, and
the scenes of their official duties, if the service of the
processes of a court of the United States, had not been
resisted, the marshal of the District made, and detained for
some [97] time prisoner and compelled for safety also to abandon
the performance of his duty, and return by a circuitous route to
the Seat of Government; if, in fine, a judge of the United
States had not, in due form of law, notified to the President,
"that in the counties of Washington and Allegheny, in
Pennsylvania, laws of the United States are opposed, and the
execution thereof obstructed, by combination too powerful to be
suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings or by
the powers vested in the marshal of that District." It is true,
your Excellency has remarked that in the plan suggested, you
have only spoken as the Executive magistrate of Pennsylvania,
charged with a general superintendence and care, that the laws
of the Commonwealth be fully executed, leaving it implicitly to
the Judgment of the President to choose, on such evidence as he
approves, the measures for discharging the analogous trust,
which is confided to him in relation to the laws of the Union.
But it is impossible not to think that the current of the
observations in your letter, especially as to the consequences
which may result from the employment of coercive measures
previous to the preliminary course which is indicated in it, may
be construed to imply a virtual disapprobation of that plan of
conduct on the part of the General Government in the actual
stage of its affairs, which you acknowledge would be proper on
the part of the government of Pennsylvania, if arrived at a
similar stage. Let it be assumed here (to be more particularly
shewn hereafter) that the Government of the United States is now
at that point, where it is admitted, if the Government of
Pennsylvania was, the employment of force, by its authority,
would be justifiable, and let the following extracts be
consulted for the truth of the inference which has been just
expressed: "Will not the resort to force, inflame and cement the
existing opposition? Will it not associate in a common
resistance those who have hitherto peaceably, as well as those
who have riotously expressed their abhorrence of the Excise?
Will it not collect and combine every latent principle of
discontent, arising from the supposed oppressive operations of
the Federal Judiciary, the obstruction of the western navigation
and a variety of other local sources? May not the magnitude of
the opposition on the part of the ill disposed, or the
dissatisfaction of a premature resort to arms, on the part of
the well disposed citizens of the State, eventually involve the
necessity of employing the Militia of other States? And the
accumulation of discontent, which the jealousy engendered by
that movement may produce, who can calculate, or who will be
able to avert?"
[98] These important questions naturally give birth to the
following serious reflections. The issues of human affairs are
in the hand of Providence. Those entrusted with them in society
have no other sure guide than the sincere and faithful discharge
of their duty, according to the best of their judgments. In
emergencies great and difficult, not to act with an energy
proportioned to their magnitude and pressure, it is as dangerous
as any other conceivable courses. In the present case, not to
exert the means, which the laws prescribe for effectuating their
own execution, would be to sacrifice those laws and with them
the Constitution, the Government, the principles of social
order, and the bulwarks of private right and security. What
worse can happen from the exertion of those means?
If, as cannot be doubted, the great Body of the Citizens of the
United States are attached to the Constitution, which they have
established for the management of their common concerns, if they
are resolved to support their own authority in that of the
constitutional Laws, against disorderly and violent combinations
of comparatively small portions of the community--if they are
determined to protect each other in the enjoyment of security to
person and property--if they are decided to preserve the
character of republican Government, by evincing that it has
adequate resources for maintaining the public order--if they are
persuaded that their safety and their welfare are materially
connected with the preservation of the Union, and consequently
of a Government adequate to its exigencies; in fine, if they are
disposed to continue that State of respectability and
prosperity, which is now deservedly the admiration of
mankind--the Enterprise to be accomplished, should a resort to
force prove inevitable, though disagreeable and painful, cannot
be arduous or alarming.
If in addition to these dispositions in the community at large,
the officers of the Governments of the respective States,
feeling it to be not only a patriotic, but a constitutional duty
(inculcated by the oath enjoined upon all the officers of a
State, legislative, Executive & Judicial) to support in their
several stations the Constitution of the United States--shall be
disposed as occasion may require (a thing as little to be
doubted as the former) with sincerity and good faith to
co-operate with the Government of the United States, to second
with all their influence and weight its legal and necessary
measures by a real and substantial concert; then the enterprise
to be accomplished can hardly ever be deemed difficult.
But if contrary to the anticipations which are entertained of
these favorable dispositions, the great Body of the people
should be found indifferent to the preservation of the
Government of the Union, or insensible to the necessity of
vigorous exertions [99] to repel the dangor which threatens
their most important interests, or if an unwillingness to
encounter partial inconveniences should interfere with the
discharge of what they owe to their permanent welfare, or if
either yielding to the suggestions of particular prejudices, or
misled by the arts which may be employed to infuse jealousy and
discontent, they should suffer their zeal for the support of
public order to be relaxed by an unfavorable opinion of the
merits and tendency of the measures which may be adopted, if
above all, it were possible, that any of the State Governments
should, instead of prompting the exertions of the Citizens,
assist directly or indirectly in damping their ardor, by giving
a wrong biass to their judgment or by disseminating
dissatisfaction with the proceedings of the General Government,
or should counteract the success of those proceedings by any
sinister influence whatever, then, indeed, no one can calculate,
or may be able to avert, the fatal evils with which such a state
of things would be pregnant. Then, indeed, the foundations of
our political happiness may be deeply shaken, if not altogether
overturned.
The President, however, can suppose none of these things. He
cherishes an unqualified confidence in the virtue and good sense
of the people, in the integrity and patriotism of the officers
of the State Governments, and he counts absolutely on the same
affectionate support which he has experienced upon all former
occasions, and which he is conscious that the goodness of his
intentions now, not less than heretofore, merits.
It has been promised to shew more particularly hereafter that
the Government of the United States is now at that point where
it is confessed if the State Government was, the employment of
force on its part would be justifiable. This promise remains to
be fulfilled.
The facts already noted establish the conclusion, but to render
it palpable, it will be of use to apply them to the positions
which your Excellency has been pleased to lay down.
You admit that as the offences committed respect the State, the
military power of the Government ought to be employed where its
judiciary authority, after a fair experiment, had proved
incompetent to enforce obedience or to punish infractions of the
law, that if the strength and audacity of a lawless combination
shall baffle and destroy the efforts of the judiciary authority,
to recover a penalty or inflict a punishment that authority may
constitutionally claim the auxiliary intervention of the
military power; that in the resort, at the requisition, and as
an auxiliary of the Civil authority the military force of the
State would be called forth. And you declare that the
circumstances [100] of the case evidently require a firm and
energetic conduct on the part both of the State and General
Government.
For more than three years, as already observed, certain laws of
the United States have been obstructed in their execution by
disorderly combinations. Not only officers, whose immediate duty
it was to carry them into effect, have suffered violent personal
outrage and injury, and destruction of property, at different
times, but similar persecution has been extended to private
citizens who have aided, countenanced or only complied with the
laws. The violences committed have been so frequent, and such in
their degree as to have been matters of general notoriety and
alarm, and it may be added that they have been abundantly within
the knowledge and under the notice of the Judges and Marshals of
Pennsylvania of superior as well as of inferior jurisdiction. If
in particular instances they have been punished by the exertions
of the magistrates, it is at least certain, that their efforts
have been in the main ineffectual. The spirit has continued and,
with some intervals of relaxation, has been progressive,
manifesting itself in re-iterated excesses. The judiciary
authority of the United States has also, prior to the attempt
which preceded the late crisis, made some fruitless efforts.
Under a former Marshal, an officer sent to execute process was
deterred from it by the manifest danger of proceeding. These
particulars serve to explain the extent, obstinacy and
inveteracy of the evil.
But the facts which immediately decide the complection of the
existing crisis are these. Numerous delinquencies existed with
regard to a compliance with the laws laying duties on spirits
distilled within the United States and upon Stills. An armed
Banditti, in disguise, had recently gone to the house of an
officer of the Revenue, in the night, attacked it, broken open
the doors, and by menaces of instant death enforced by pistols
presented at him, had compelled a surrender of his Commission
and books of office. Cotemporary acts of violence had been
perpetrated in other quarters. Processes issued out of a court
of the United States to recover the penalties incident to
non-compliance with the laws, and to bring to punishment the
violent infractors of them, in the above mentioned case, against
two of whom indictments had been found. The marshal of the
District went in person to execute these processes. In the
course of his duty he was actually fired upon on the high road
by a body of armed men. Shortly after, other bodies of armed men
(in the last instance amounting to several hundred persons)
repeatedly attacked the house of the Inspector of the Revenue
with the declared intention of compelling him to renounce his
Office and of obstructing the execution of the laws. One of
these Bodies of armed men made prisoner of the Marshal of the
District, put [101] him in jeopardy of his life and did not
release him till, for safety and to obtain his liberty, he
engaged to forbear the further execution of the processes with
which he was charged. In consequence of further requisitions and
menaces of the insurgents, the Marshal, together with the
Inspector of the Revenue, have been since under the necessity of
flying secretly and by a circuitous route from the scene of
these transactions towards the Seat of Government.
An associate Justice, pursuant to the provisions of the laws for
that purpose, has in the manner already stated officially
notified the President of the existence of combinations in two
of the counties of this State to obstruct the execution of the
Laws, too powerful to be suppressed by the Judiciary Authority
or by the Powers of the Marshal.
Thus then, is it unequivocally and in due form, ascertained in
reference to the Government of the United States. That the
Judiciary authority, after a fair and full experiment, has
proved incompetent to inforce obedience to, or to punish
infractions of the laws, that the strength and audacity of
certain lawless combinations have baffled and destroyed the
efforts of the Judiciary authority, to recover penalties or
inflict punishment, and that this authority, by a regular
notification of this state of things, has in the last resort, as
an auxiliary of the civil authority, claimed the intervention of
the Military Power of the United States. It results from these
facts, that the case exists when, according to the position
advanced by your Excellency in reference to the State
Government, the military power may, with due regard to all the
requisite cautions, be rightfully interposed. And that the
interposition of this power is called for, not only by
principles of a firm and energetic conduct, on the part of the
General Government, but by the indispensable duty, which the
Constitution and the Laws prescribe to the Executive of the
United States.
In this conclusion, your Excellency's discernment, on mature
reflection cannot, it is presumed, fail to acquiesce, nor can it
refuse its concurrence in the Opinion which the President
entertains that he may reasonably expect when called for, the
zealous cooperation of the militia of Pennsylvania, that as
citizen, friends to law and order, they may comply with the call
without anything that can be properly denominated "a passive
obedience to the mandates of Government," and that as freemen,
judging rightly of the cause and nature of the service proposed
to them, they will feel themselves under the most sacred of
obligations to accept and to perform it with alacrity. The
theory of our political institutions knows no difference between
the obligations of our citizens in such a case, whether it
relate to the Gov- [102] ernment of the Union or of a State, and
it is hoped and confided that a difference will be as little
known to their affections or opinions.
Your Excellency, it is also presumed, will as little doubt, on
the like mature reflection, that in such a case, the President
could not, without an abdication of the undoubted rights and
authorities of the United States and of his Duty, postpone the
measures for which the laws of the United Stares provide, to a
previous experiment of the plan which is delineated in your letter.
The people of the United States have established a Government
for the management of their general interests. They have
instituted Executive Organs for administering that government,
and their Representatives have established the rules by which
those organs are to act, when their authority in that of their
government is attacked by lawless combinations of the citizens
of part of a State, they could never be expected to approve that
the care of vindicating their authority, of enforcing their
laws, should be transferred from the officers of their own
government to those of a State; and this, to wait the issue of a
process so undeterminate in its duration, as that which it is
proposed to pursue; comprehending a further and full experiment
of the Judiciary authority of the State, a proclamation "to
declare the sentiments of its Government, announce a
determination to prosecute and punish offenders, and to exhort
the citizens at large to pursue a peaceable and patriotic
conduct;" the sending of commissioners "to address those who
have embarked in the present combinations, upon the lawless
nature find ruinous tendency of their proceedings, to inculcate
the necessity of an immediate return to the Duty which they owe
their country, and to promise, as far as the State is concerned,
forgiveness of their past transactions, upon receiving a
satisfactory assurance, that, in future, they will submit to the
laws;" and finally, a call of the Legislature of Pennsylvania,
"that the ultimate means of subduing the Spirit of Insurrection
and of restoring tranquility and order may be prescribed by
their wisdom und authority."
If there were no other objection to a transfer of this kind, the
very important difference which is supposed to exist in the
nature and consequences of the offences that have been committed
in the contemplation of the laws of the United States and of
those of Pennsylvania, would alone be a very serious obstacle.
The paramount considerations, which forbid an acquiescence in
this course proceeding, render it unnecessary to discuss the
probability of its success, else it might have been proper to
[103] test the considerations, which have been mentioned as a
ground of hope, by the inquiry, what was the precise extent of
the success of past experiments, and especially, whether the
execution of the Revenue Laws of Pennsylvania within the scene
in question, was truly and effectually accomplished by them, or
whether they did not rather terminate in a tacit compromise, by
which appearances only were saved.
You are already, Sir, advised that the President, yielding to
the impressions which have been stated, has determined to take
measures for calling forth the militia, and that these measures
contemplate the assembling a Body of between twelve and thirteen
thousand men, from Pennsylvania and the neighboring States of
Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey. The recourse thus early to
the militia of the neighboring States proceeds from a
probability of the insufficiency of that of Pennsylvania alone,
to accomplish the object, your Excellency having in your
conference with the President, confirmed the conclusion, which
was deducible from the known local and other circumstances of
the State, by the frank and express declaration which you made
of your conviction of that insufficiency, in reference to the
number which could be expected to be drawn forth for the purpose.
But while the President has conceived himself to be under an
indispensable obligation to prepare for that eventual resort, he
has still consulted the sentiment of regret which he expressed
to you, at the possible necessity of an appeal to arms, and to
avert it, if practicable, as well as to manifest his attention
to the principle, that "a firm and energetic conduct does not
preclude the exercise of a prudent and humane policy," he has
(as you have been also advised) concluded upon the measure of
sending, himself, Commissioners to the discontented counties, to
make one more experiment of a conciliatory appeal to the reason,
virtue and patriotism of their inhabitants, and has also
signified to you how agreeable would be to him, your
co-operation in the same expedient, which you have been pleased
to afford. It can scarcely be requisite to add, that there is
nothing he has more at heart, than that the issue of this
experiment, by establishing the authority of the laws, may
preclude the always calamitous necessity of an appeal to arms.
It would plant a Thorn in the remainder of his path through life
to have been obliged to employ force against fellow citizens,
for giving solidity and permanency to blessings, which it has
been his greatest happiness to co-operate with them in procuring
for a much loved country.
The President receives with much pleasure the assurance you have
repeated to him, that whatever requisition he may make, whatever
duty he may impose, in pursuance of his constitu- [104] tional
and legal powers, will on your part be promptly undertaken and
faithfully discharged; and acknowledging, as an earnest of this
and even more, the measures of co-operation which you are
pursuing, he assures you in return that he relies fully on the
most cordial aid and support from you in every way, which the
Constitutions of the United States & of Pennsylvania shall
authorize and present or future exigencies may require.
And he requests that you will construe, with a reference to this
assurance of his Confidence, whatever remarks may have been made
in the course of this reply to your letter; if it shall have
happened that any of them have erred through a misconception of
the sentiments and views which you may have meant to communicate.
With perfect respect,
I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your Excellency's mo. ob. serv.,
ED'W RANDOLPH, Secretary of State.
His Excellency Gov'r MIFFLIN.
SECRETARY OF WAR TO GOVERNOR MIFFLIN.
WAR DEPARTMENT, August 7th, 1794
Sir:--The President of the United States, after the most solemn
deliberation, has deemed it incumbent upon him to issue the
proclamation herein enclosed, and to take other legal measures
for causing the laws of the United States to be duly observed in
the western parts of the State of Pennsylvania according to the
purport of the said proclamation.
In pursuance of this determination, he has directed me to
request your Excellency forthwith to issue your orders for
organizing and holding in readiness to march at a moment's
warning, a Corps of the Militia of Pennsylvania, amounting to
Five thousand two hundred non-commissioned officers and
privates, with a due proportion of commissioned officers,
according to my letter of the 19 May last, armed and equipped as
completely as possible, with the articles in possession of the
State of Pennsylvania, or of the Individuals who shall compose
the Corps.
If, however, it should be impracticable to arm and equip
completely the said Corps, the deficiency will be furnished by
the United States, on information thereof being transmitted to
this office--as will, also, tents, camp kettles and other
articles, of Camp Equipage, and Musket Cartridges, Artillery,
and the Ammunition and apparatus thereunto belonging.
[105] It is desired that the Corps should consist of Four
thousand five hundred Infantry, Five hundred Cavalry and Two
hundred Artillery. This is mentioned as a general idea, but your
Excellency will regulate its composition according to the
facility with which troops of different descriptions may be
obtained.
As soon as this Corps shall be in readiness, your Excellency
will please to notify the same to this office. The time and
place of rendezvous will be hereafter designated. The President
defers naming them at present, and until the effect of certain
pacific measures, which he is about trying with the deluded
insurgents, shall be known.
An arrangement for furnishing rations and other necessary
supplies will be hereafter notified.
The force to be called out will be according to the following
Schedule:
Infantry Cavalry Artillery
New Jersey 1,500 500 100
Pennsylvania 4,500 500 200
Maryland 2,000 200 150
Virginia 3,000 300
Total 11,000 1,500 450 12,950
I have the honor to be, with great respect,
Your Excellency's obedient Servant,
H. KNOX, Sec'y of War.
His Excellency Governor Mifflin.
PROCLAMATION OF PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
By Authority, By the President of the United States of America.
A PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS, Combinations to defeat the execution of the laws laying
duties upon Spirits distilled within the United States and upon
Stills, have from the time of the commencement of those laws
existed in some of the Western parts of Pennsylvania:
And, whereas, The said combinations proceeding in the manner
subversive equally of the just authority of government, and of
the rights of individuals, have hitherto effected their
dangerous and criminal purpose, by the influence of certain
irregular meetings, whose proceedings have tended to encourage
and uphold the spirit of opposition, by misrepresentations of
the laws, cal-[106] culated to render them odious by endeavours
to deter those who might be so disposed from accepting offices
under them, through fear of public resentment and of injury to
person and property; and to compel those who had accepted such
offices, by actual violence, to surrender or to forbear the
execution of them, by circulating vindictive menaces against all
those who should otherwise directly or indirectly aid in the
execution of the said laws, or who yielding to the dictates of
conscience and to a sense of obligation should themselves comply
therewith, by actually injuring and destroying the property of
persons who were understood to have so complied, by inflicting
cruel and humiliating punishments upon private citizens for no
other cause than that of appearing to be the friends of the
laws, by intercepting the public officers on the highways,
abusing, assaulting and otherwise ill-treating them, by going to
their houses in the night, gaining admittance by force, taking
away their papers and committing outrages; employing for these
unwarrantable purposes the agency of armed banditti, disguised
in such manner, as for the most part to escape discovery:
And whereas, The endeavours of the Legislature to obviate
objections to the said laws by lowering the duties and by other
alterations conducive to the convenience of those whom they
immediately effect, (though they have given satisfaction in
other quarters,) and the endeavours of the Executive Officers to
conciliate a compliance with the laws, by explanations, by
forbearance, and even by particular accommodations founded on
the suggestion of local considerations, have been disappointed
of their effect by the machinations of persons whose industry to
excite resistance has increased with every appearance of a
disposition among the people to relax in their opposition and to
acquiesce in the laws, insomuch that many persons in the said
Western parts of Pennsylvania have at length been hardy enough
to perpetrate acts, which I am advised, amount to treason, being
overt acts of levying war against the United States; the said
persons having on the sixteenth and seventeenth of July last
past, proceeded in arms on the second day amounting to several
hundred, to the House of John Neville, Inspector of the revenue
for the fourth survey of the district of Pennsylvania, having
repeatedly attacked the said House with the persons therein,
wounding some of them; having seized David Lenox, Marshal of the
district of Pennsylvania, who previous thereto had been fired
upon while in the execution of his duty by a party of armed men,
detaining him for some time prisoner, till, for the preservation
of his life and the obtaining of his liberty, he found it
necessary to enter into stipulations to forbear the execution of
certain official duties touching processes issuing out [107] of
a Court of the United States, and having finally obliged the
said inspector of the revenue and the said Marshal from
considerations of personal safety to fly from that part of the
County, in order by a circuitous route to proceed to the seat of
Government, avowing as the motives of these outrageous
proceedings, an intention to prevent, by force of arms, the
execution of the said laws, to oblige the said inspector of the
revenue to renounce his said office to withstand by open
violence the lawful authority of the United States, and to
compel thereby an alteration in the measures of the Legislature
and a repeal of the laws aforesaid:
And whereas, By a law of the United States, intitled "An Act to
provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the laws of the
Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions," it is
enacted that whenever the laws of the United States shall be
opposed, or the execution thereof obstructed in any State by
combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary
course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the
Marshal by that act, the same being notified by an associate
Justice or a district Judge, it shall be lawful for the
President of the United States to call forth the Militia of such
State to suppress such combinations, and to cause the laws to be
duly executed. And if the Militia of a State where such
combinations may happen, shall refuse or be insufficient to
suppress the same, it shall be lawful for the President, if the
Legislature shall not be in session, to call forth and employ
such number of the Militia of any other State or States most
convenient thereto, as may be necessary; and the use of the
militia so to be called forth maybe continued, if necessary,
until the expiration of thirty days after the commencement of
the ensuing session: Provided, always, That whenever it may be
necessary, in the judgment of the President, to use the Militia
force hereby directed to be called forth, the President shall
forthwith, and previous thereto, by Proclamation, command such
insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective
abodes within a limited time:
And whereas, James Wilson, an associate justice, on the fourth
instant, by writing under his hand, did, from evidence which had
been laid before him, notify to me, that "in the counties of
Washington and Allegheny, in Pennsylvania, laws of the United
States are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed by
combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary
course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the
Marshal of the district:"
And whereas, It is, in my Judgment, necessary under the
circumstances of the case, to take measures for calling forth
the Militia in order to suppress the combinations aforesaid, and
to cause the laws to be duly executed, and I have accordingly
de- [108] termined so to do, feeling the deepest regret for the
occasion, but withal, the most solemn conviction, that the
essential interest of the Union demand it, that the very
existence of the Government and the fundamental principles of
social order are materially involved in the issue, and that the
patriotism and firmness of all good citizens are seriously
called upon as occasion may require, to aid in the suppression
of so fatal a spirit;
Wherefore, and in pursuance of the proviso above recited, I
GEORGE WASHINGTON, President of the United States, do hereby
command all persons, being insurgents, as aforesaid, and all
others whom it may concern, on or before the first day of
September next, to disperse and retire peaceably to their
respective abodes. And I do, moreover, warn all persons
whomsoever, against aiding, abetting or comforting the
perpetrators of the aforesaid treasonable acts; and do require
all officers and other citizens, according to their respective
duties and the laws of the !and, to exert their utmost endeavors
to prevent and suppress such dangerous proceedings.
In Testimony, whereof, I have caused the seal {SEAL} of the
United States of America to be affixed to these presents, and
signed the same with my Hand. Done at the City of Philadelphia
the seventh day of August, one thousand seven hundred and
ninety-four, and of the Independence of the United States of
America the Nineteenth.
GEO. WASHINGTON.
By the PRESIDENT, EDM. RANDOLPH.
PROCLAMATION OF GOVERNOR MIFFLIN.
Pennsylvania, ss:
{SEAL} In the name and by the authority of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, by THOMAS MIFFLIN, Governor of the said Commonwealth.
A PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS, Information has been received that several lawless
bodies of armed men have, at sundry times, assembled in the
county of Allegheny, within the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
and being so assembled, have committed various cruel and
aggravated acts of riot and arson; and more particularly, that
on the 17th ultimo, one of the said lawless bodies of armed men
attacked the dwelling house of John Nevill, Esq., Inspector
[109] of the Revenue for the fourth survey of the district of
Pennsylvania; and after firing upon and wounding sundry persons
employed in protecting and defending the said dwelling house,
set fire to, and totally burned and destroyed the same, together
with the furniture and effects therein, and the barns, stables,
and other buildings thereto adjoining and appurtenant:
And whereas, It appears from the Proclamation of the President
of the United States, bearing date this day, as well as from
other evidence, that the outrages and criminal proceedings
aforesaid have been undertaken and prosecuted by certain
unlawful combinations of persons, who thereby design to obstruct
and have actually obstructed the execution of the laws of the
United States; and that by reason thereof, in pursuance of the
authority in him vested, he has resolved to call forth the
militia, for the purpose of suppressing the said unlawful
combinations, and of enforcing the execution of the laws so
obstructed as aforesaid:
And whereas, Every good and enlightened citizen must perceive
how unworthy it is thus riotously to oppose the Constitution and
Laws of our country, (the Government and Laws of the State being
herein as much affected as the Government and Laws of the United
States) which were formed by the deliberate will of the People,
and which (by the same legitimate authority) can, in a regular
course, be peaceably amended or altered. How incompatible it is
with the principles of a Republican Government, and dangerous in
point of precedent, that a minority should attempt to control
the majority, or a part of the community undertake to prescribes
to the whole! how indispensable, though painful an obligation is
imposed upon the officers of government, to employ the public
force for the purpose of subduing and punishing such
unwarrantable proceedings, when the judiciary authority has
proved incompetent to the task; And how necessary it is, that
the deluded rioters aforesaid should be bro't to a just sense of
their duty, as a longer deviation from it, must inevitably be
destructive of their own happiness, as well us injurious to the
reputation and prosperity of their country:
And whereas, Entertaining a just sense of my federal
obligations,and feeling a perfect conviction of the necessity of
pursuing immediate measures to suppress the spirit of
insurrection, which has appeared as aforesaid, and to restore
tranquility and order--I have heretofore given instructions to
the proper officers of the Commonwealth, to investigate the
circumstances of the said riots, to ascertain the names of the
rioters, and to institute the regular process of the law for
bringing the offenders to justice;
Now, therefore, I have deemed it expedient, also to issue this
proclamation, hereby publicly announcing my determination, [110]
by all lawful means, to cause to be prosecuted and punished, all
persons whomsoever, that have engaged or shall engage in any of
the unlawful combinations or proceedings aforesaid: And further
declaring, That whatever requisition the President of the United
States shall make, or whatever duty he shall impose in pursuance
of his constitutional and legal powers, for the purpose of
maintaining the authority, and executing the laws of the United
States--will, on my part, be promptly undertaken and faithfully
discharged: And all judges, justices, sheriffs, coroners,
constables and other officers of the Commonwealth, according to
the duties of their respective stations, are hereby required and
enjoined to employ all lawful means for discovering,
apprehending, securing, trying and bringing to justice, each and
every person concerned in the said riots and unlawful proceedings.
Given under my Hand and the Great Seal of the State, at
Philadelphia, this seventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four, and of the
Commonwealth the Nineteenth.
THOMAS MIFFLIN.
By the Governor: A. J. DALLAS, Secretary of the Commonwealth.
GOVERNOR MIFFLIN TO GEN. HARMAR.
Philadelphia, 8th Aug., 1794
SIR.--The President of the United States having deemed it
incumbent upon him after the most solemn deliberation, to issue
his proclamation, dated the 7th inst., and to take other legal
measures for causing the laws of the United States to be duly
observed in the Western parts of the State of Pennsylvania,
according to the purport of the said proclamation, has issued
his requisition, for forthwith organizing and holding in
readiness, to march at a moment's warning, a corps of the
militia of Pennsylvania, amounting to 5,200 non-commissioned
officers and privates, with a due proportion of commissioned
officers, according to the letter of the Secretary at war, dated
the 19th of May last and communicated to you in my letter of the
21st of the same month; the corps to be armed and equipped as
completely as possible with the articles in possession of the
state of Pennsylvania or of the individuals who compose it.
You will, therefore, Sir, forthwith issue general orders for
calling into actual service, and to be held in readiness to
march at a moment's warning, the part of the militia specified
in the [111] enclosed roll, by the classes most convenient to
the citizens and best adapted to a prompt compliance with the
President's requisition; the part so called not exceeding four
classes of the militia of the respective brigades.
Should it be impracticable to arm and equip completely the said
corps, you will give me the earliest possible notice thereof,
that I may inform the President, who will direct the deficiency
to be furnished by the department of war, as well as tents,
camp-kettles and other articles of equipage, and musket
cartridges, artillery and the apparatus thereunto belonging.
The time and place of rendezvous will be hereafter designated;
and the arrangements for furnishing rations, and other necessary
supplies, will be seasonably notified.
On this occasion, sir, I must entreat the pointed attention, as
well on our part as on the part of the corps that is to be
drafted, for the purpose of manifesting a just sense of the
obedience which is due to the laws of our country, and the
patriotic zeal with which the freemen of Pennsylvania, will on
every emergency, maintain the government that they have
established. It is to be seriously lamented, that an occasion
should ever arise for arming one part of the community against
another; but if every conciliatory measure that can be devised
to rescue the inhabitants of the western counties from their
delusion should be abortive, the officers of government might
well be charged with an abandonment of their trust, if they
omitted to employ any other legitimate means for enforcing
obedience and submission to the laws. In that unhappy event, the
issue must be, whether upon the pure principles of a republican
government, the minority shall be allowed by violence to
supersede the will of the majority; to substitute the law of
arms for the law of reason, and fatally to convert the peace,
happiness and order, which we now enjoy, into a scene of war,
wretchedness & anarchy. If I am at all acquainted with the
general character and feelings of my fellow citizens, they will
not hesitate to decide this great and interesting question upon
the principles of patriotism, which in this case are likewise
the genuine principles of self-love, and should the awful
necessity of an appeal to arms be matured beyond the power of
amicable accommodation, I expect from every good citizen that
firm and active support, by which the freedom and independence
of our country were acquired and by which they must ever be
preserved.
Still, however, I indulge an anxious hope, that the liberal
forbearance of government, and the virtuous reflections of
those, who at present oppose its legitimate measures, will avert
the storm that threatens and enable us to embrace as brethren,
those [112] who we must otherwise, for the sake of every social
blessing, but with grief and commiseration, encounter as enemies.
You will be pleased, Sir, to omit no proper step for placing the
corps in a state of readiness to march; and as soon as it is so,
you will communicate the same to me.
I am, Sir, Your most obedient servant,
THOMAS MIFFLIN.
To JOSIAH HARMAR, Esq., Adjutant General of the Militia of
Pennsylvania.
[Two tables, pp.112-113 omitted. Available in the html version as graphics.]
[114] SECOND PROCLAMATION OF GOVERNOR MIFFLIN.
Pennsylvania, ss: In the name and by the authority of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, by THOMAS MIFFLIN, Governor of the
said Commonwealth, {SEAL}
A PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS, It appears in and by a Proclamation of the President of
the United States bearing even date herewith, that certain acts
have been perpetrated in the western parts of the commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, which he is advised amount to treason, being
over acts of levying war against the United States; that James
Wilson, an Associate Justice, on the fourth instant, by writing
under his hand, did, from evidence which had been laid before
him, notify to the President that in the counties of Washington
and Allegheny, in Pennsylvania, laws of the United States are
opposed and the execution thereof obstructed by combinations too
powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial
proceedings or by the powers vested in the Marshal of the
district; and that in the judgment of the President it is
necessary, under the circumstances of the case, to take measures
for calling forth the Militia in order to suppress the
combinations aforesaid and to cause the laws to be duly executed:
And Whereas, It appears to me expedient, that on this
extraordinary occasion, the General Assembly should be convened
for the purpose of taking the premises into their serious
consideration of devising the necessary means to maintain the
peace and dignity of the commonwealth and of providing more
effectually than the existing laws provide for organizing,
arming and equipping the Militia, in order to insure a prompt
and faithful compliance with the orders of government, and of
such requisitions as the President shall make in pursuance of
his constitutional and legal powers. Therefore, and by virtue of
the authority in such case to me given, in and by the
Constitution of the Commonwealth, I have issued this
Proclamation, hereby convening the General Assembly to meet at
the State House in the City of Philadelphia on Monday the first
day of September next, and of which meeting all persons therein
concerned are required to take due notice.
Given under my Hand and the Great Seal of the said Commonwealth
at Philadelphia, this seventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four, and of the
Commonwealth the nineteenth.
THOMAS MIFFLIN.
By the Governor:
A. J. DALLAS, Secretary of the Commonwealth.
[115] ORDERS OF GEN. HARMAR.*
Philadelphia, Aug 8th, 1794.
SIR:--The Governor having issued orders for calling into actual
service, and holding in readiness to march at a moment's warning
a body of 5,200 militia, (in pursuance of the requisition of the
President of the United States, contained in a letter from the
Secretary at War, dated the 7th instant,) I have subjoined a
copy of these orders to guide your conduct in organizing the
quota consisting of 559, officers and privates included, to be
drafted from your brigade; and I entreat, in the most earnest
manner, that you will, with all possible dispatch, execute the
business committed to you upon this important occasion. If it
should be impracticable to arm and equip completely the above
quota, either with the public arms and equipments in your
custody, or with such as belong to the individuals who compose
it, you will be pleased to take the earliest opportunity of
letting me know your situation in that respect, in order that a
proper application may be made to supply the deficiency.
It is unnecessary, I am persuaded, to add to the instructions of
the Governor, either to explain the nature of the service or the
necessity of exercising all your diligence to promote it: It may
be proper to request, however, that you will be pleased to
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*JOSIAH HARMAR was born in Philadelphia 1753. He was educated
chiefly at Robert Proud's school. Made captain 1st Pennsylvania
regiment in October, 1776; was its Lieutenant-Colonel in 1777,
and until the close of the Revolution. He was in Washington's
army in the campaigns of 1778-80; served under Greene in the
South, 1781-2, and was made Brevet-Colonel First United States
regiment September 30, 1783. In 1784 he took to France the
ratification of the definitive treaty. As Indian agent of the
North-West Territory, he was present at the treaty at Fort
Stanwix, January 20, 1785. He was appointed Lieutenant Colonel
of Infantry under the Confederation, August 12, 1784; Brevet
Brigadier General by resolve of Congress, July 31, 1787, and
General-in-Chief of the army, September 29, 1789. He commanded
an expedition against the Miami Indians September 30, 1790, and
partially defeated, October 22, 1790. Resigned January 1, 1792
and appointed Adjutant General of Pennsylvania, serving in that
position during the whole of Governor Mifflin's administration.
He was active in preparing and furnishing the Pennsylvania
troops for the defence of the frontiers in 1793-4, and during
the insurrection of 1794. He died at Philadelphia, August 20, 1813.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[116] employ the most expeditious conveyance, to report when
your quota shall be in readiness to march.
I am Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
JOSIAH HARMAR, Adjutant General.
To LEWIS NICHOLA, ESQ., Brigade Inspector of the Philadelphia
City Brigade of the Militia of Pennsylvania.
APPOINTMENT OF UNITED STATES COMMISSIONERS.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, August 8, 1794.
Gentlemen:--In pursuance of instructions from the President of
the United States, you, or any one or more of you, are hereby
authorized and empowered, forthwith, to repair to the counties
on the western side of the Allegheny mountain, in the State of
Pennsylvania, there to confer with such bodies or individuals as
you may approve, concerning the commotions, which are referred
to in the proclamation of the President of the United States,
bearing date the 7th day of August instant, and whatsoever
promise or engagement you shall make in behalf of the Executive
of the United States, the same will be ratified in the most
ample manner.
Given under my hand and the seal of office of the Department of
State, the eighth day of August, one thousand seven hundred and
ninety-four. {SEAL}
EDMUND RANDOLPH, Secretary of State.
To JAMES ROSS, JASPER YEATES, WILLIAM BRADFORD.
INSTRUCTIONS TO THE UNITED STATES COMMISSIONERS.
Department of State, August 8, 1794.
Gentlemen:--The recent events in the neighborhood of Pittsburgh,
have called the attention of the President to the formation of
some plan by which the insurrection may be suppressed.
The intelligence which has been transmitted, having been laid
before Judge Wilson, he has granted a certificate, declaring
that the opposition to the laws of the United States, in the
counties of Washington and Allegheny, cannot be suppressed by
the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or the power of the
marshal.
[117] You, or any one or more of you, are, therefore, authorized
and appointed, forthwith to proceed to the scene of the
insurrection, and to confer with any bodies of men or
individuals, with whom you shall think proper to confer, in
order to quiet and extinguish it. There is reason to believe
that a collection of discontented individuals will be found at
Mingo creek, on the fourteenth instant, and, as the object of
their assembling is undoubtedly to concert measures relative to
this very subject, it is indispensably necessary that you should
press thither with the utmost expedition. It is uncertain
whether they will remain together for a long or short time;
therefore, the being on the ground on the day first named for
their meeting, is necessary to prevent a miscarriage.
These are the outlines of your communication:
1st. To state the serious impressions which their conduct has
excited in the mind of the Executive, and to dilate upon the
dangers attending every Government where laws are obstructed in
their execution.
2nd. To inform them that the evidence of the late transactions
has been submitted to a judge of the Supreme Court, and that he
has granted the above mentioned certificate, whence a power has
arisen to the President to call out the militia to suppress the
insurrection: (See the act of May 2, 1792.)
3rd. To represent to them how painful an idea it is to exercise
such a power, and that it is the earnest wish of the President
to render it unnecessary by those endeavors which humanity, a
love of peace and tranquility, and the happiness of his fellow
citizens dictate.
4th. You will then explain your appointment as commissioners, in
a language and with sentiments most conciliatory, but
reconcilable to the self-respect which this Government ought to
observe.
5th. Whether you are to proceed further, and in what manner,
must depend upon your judgment and discretion at the moment,
after an estimate of the characters with whom you are
conversing, their views, their influence, &c.
6th. Whensoever you shall come to the point at which it may be
necessary to be explicit, you are to declare that, with respect
to the excise law, the President is bound to consider it as much
among the laws which he is to see executed, as any other. That
as to the repeal of it, he cannot undertake to make any
stipulation, that being a subject consigned by the Constitution
to the Legislature, from whom alone a change of legislative
measures can be obtained. That he is willing to grant an amnesty
and perpetual oblivion for everything which has past [passed];
and cannot doubt, that any penalty to which the late
transactions may [118] have given birth, under the laws and
within the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania, may be also wiped away--
but upon the following conditions:
That satisfactory assurances be given that the laws be no longer
obstructed in their execution by any combinations, directly or
indirectly, and that the offenders against whom process shall
issue for a violation of or an opposition to the laws, shall not
be protected from the free operation. Nothing will be enforced
concerning the duties of former years, if they will fairly
comply for the present year.
7th. If they speak of the hardship of being drawn to the federal
courts at a distance, to that no other reply can be made than
this: That the inconvenience, whatsoever it may be, was the act
of their own representatives, and is continued as being still
their sense; that, however on all occasions which will permit
the State courts to be used without inconvenience to the United
States, or danger of their being frustrated in the object of the
suits and prosecutions, the State courts will be resorted to,
but the choice of jurisdictions must always depend upon the
discretion of the United States, and therefore, nothing more
specific can be said at present.
8th. Whensoever you shall choose to speak of the ulterior
measures of Government, you will say that orders have already
issued for the proper militia to hold themselves in readiness,
and that everything is prepared for their movement (as will be
seen by the proclamation) and is known to yourselves from the
communications of the Government, but that these movements will
be suspended until you return.
9th. These are said to be the outlines, you will fill them up
and modify them so as most effectually to prevent, if possible,
the last dreadful necessity which the President so much
deprecates; and you may in particular assure any individuals of
pardon who will expiate their offence by a compliance with the law.
10th. You will keep the Executive minutely and constantly
informed of all your proceedings, and will use expresses
whensoever you think proper at the public expense.
11th. You will be allowed eight dollars per day and your
expenses, and may employ a proper person to act as your clerk,
who shall be paid whatsoever you may certify him to deserve. The
sum of one thousand dollars is advanced to you on account.
12th. William Bradford is empowered to add the name of Thomas
Smith, or any other proper person, if either J. Ross or J.
Yeates shall refuse or be unable to attend.
EDMUND RANDOLPH, Secretary of State.
To James Ross, Jasper Yeates, William Bradford.
[119] GEN. WILKINS TO SECRETARY DALLAS.
PITTSBURGH, August 8th, 1794.
SIR:--I received a few lines from you, Directed to A. Tannehill &
myself, Requesting that we Would Exart ourselves In Bringing to
Justice those who were concerned in Burning Gener'l Nevel's
Buildings. I can, at present, say no more than that Our Laws,
Property & all suffers the moment the Smalest attempt is made In
Bringing forward any one person who Opposes the Excise Law. The
people in this Part of the united States Seem determined. I hope
mild Measures, by the heads of government, may be adopted; if
otherwise, God alone knows the Event. I Supose you will, through
Sundry Chanals, hear such Reports as may convince you & His
Excellency the Governor, that it is not in our power to put your
orders into Execution.
I'm, with Esteem, your
Most obedient Hum. Ser't,
JNO. WILKINS.
To A. J. Dallas, ESQ., Sec'y, Philadelphia.
H. H. BRACKENRIDGE * TO TENCH COXE.
PITTSBURGH, August 8th, 1794.
SIR:--Have received no papers from you; your letter by the post
is the first I have heard from you. I take the opportunity
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*HUGH HENRY BRACKENRIDGE, was a native of Campbelton, Scotland,
where he was born, in 1748. At the age of five he came with his
father to Pennsylvania. He became a tutor at Princeton, having
graduated at that College in 1771, and was master of an academy
in Maryland when the Revolution broke out. He removed to
Philadelphia and having studied divinity became a chaplain in
the army. Relinquishing the pulpit for the bar, he edited for a
time, the U. S. Magazine. In 1781 he settled at Pittsburgh. In
1786 was sent to the Legislature to attain the establishment of
the county of Allegheny. Was made a judge in 1789, and from
1799, until his death, was judge of the Supreme Court of the
State. The part he took in the Insurrection made him prominent.
His course, in that affair, he vindicated in his "History of the
Whiskey Insurrection," published the year after. Washington,
Hamilton and Mifflin well understood his position. He published
a poem on the "Rising Glory of America," 1774; "Eulogium of the
Brave who fell in the contest with Great Britain, delivered at
Philadelphia, July 4, 1779;" "Modern Chivalry, or the Adventures
of Capt. Farrago," 1796, an admirable satire; "Oration, July 4,
1793;" "Gazette Publications collected," 1806. He died at
Carlisle on the 25th of June, 1816.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
120] to give you, in return, a summary of the present state of
this Country, with respect to the opposition that exists to the
Excise law. It has its Origin, not in any Anti-Federal spirit, I
assure you. It is chiefly the principles and operations of the
Law itself that renders it obnoxious. Be this as it may, the
facts are these:
The opposition which, for some time, showed itself in resolves
of Committees, in representations to Government, in Masked
attacks on Insignificant Deputy Excise Officers--for only such
would accept the Appointment--did at length, on the appearance of
the Marshal, in this County, to serve process, break out in an
open and direct attack on the Inspector of the Revenue himself,
General Neville. These circumstances you will, by this time,
have heard from the General himself, and from the Marshal, Major
Lenox. Subsequent to their departure from the country, notice
was given of a meeting on the Monongahela River, about 18 miles
from the Town of Pittsburgh. Six delegates, of whom I was one,
were sent from this Town. Nothing material was done at this
meeting, but the measure agreed upon of a more general meeting,
on the 14th August, near the same place, to take into view the
present State of affairs of the Country.
Subsequent to this the Mail was intercepted. Characters in
Pittsburgh became Obnoxious by letters found in which sentiments
constructed to evince a bias in favour of the Excise Law were
discovered. In consequence of this it was thought necessary to
demand of the Town that those persons should be delivered up or
expelled or any other obnoxious character that might reside
there; also, that the Excise Office, still kept in Pittsburgh,
or said to be kept there, should be pulled down; the House of
Abraham Kirkpatrick burnt or pulled down, other Houses also that
were the property of persons unfavourable to the cause. For this
purpose, Circular letters were sent to the Battalions of the
Counties, detachments from which met on Braddock's Field to the
amount of at least five thousand Men on the second of the month.
It was dreaded, on the part of the Town, that from the rage of
the people involving the town in the general odium of abetting
the excise law, it would be laid in Ashes. And I aver that it
would have been the case, had it not been for the prompt and
decisive resolutions of the Town to march out and meet them as
Brethern, and comply with all demands. This had the effect, and
the Battalion marched into Town on the third, and during their
delay there and Cantonment in the neighbourhood, with a trifling
exception of a Slight damage done to the property of Abraham
Kirkpatrick, in the possession of his Tenant, which was
afterward compensated, behaved with all the regularity and order
of the French or [121] American Armies in their March through a
Town during their Revolution with Great Britain.
The Town of Pittsburgh will send delegates to the meeting of the
14th instant. What the result will be I know not. I flatter
myself nothing more than to send Commissioners to the President
with an address, proposing that he shall delay any attempt to
Suppress this Insurrection, as it will be stiled, untill the
meeting of Congress. This will be the object, simply and alone,
with all that labor to avert a Civil War.
On the part of the Government, I wou'd earnestly pray a delay,
untill such address and Commissioners may come forward. This is
my object in writing to you this letter, which I desire you to
communicate, either by the Gazette or otherwise.
It will be said, this insurrection can be easily suppressed. It
is but that of a part of four Counties. Be assured, it is that
of the greater part, and I am induced to believe, the three
Virginia counties this side the Mountain will fall in. The first
measure, then, will be the Organization of a New Government,
comprehending the three Virginia Counties and those of
Pennsylvania to the Westward, to what extent I know not. This
event, which I contemplate with great pain, will be the result
of the necessity of self defense. For this reason, I earnestly
and anxiously wish that delay on the part of the government may
give time to bring about, if practicable, good Order and
Subordination. By the time the Congress meets, there may be a
favourable issue to the Negotiation with regard to the
Navigation of the Mississippi, the Western posts, &c. A
suspension of the excise law during the Indian War, a measure I
proposed in a publication three years ago in Philadelphia, may
perhaps suffice. Being then on an equal footing with other parts
of the Union, if they submitted to the law, this Country might also.
I anticipate all that can be said with regard to the example,
&c. I may be mistaken, but I am decisive in opinion that the
United States cannot effect the operation of the Law in this
Country. It is universally odious in the Neighbouring parts of
all the Neighbouring States, and the militia, under the Law in
the hands of the President, cannot be called out to reduce an
opposition. The Midland Counties, I am persuaded, will not even
suffer the militia of more distant parts of the Union to pass
through them.
But the Excise Law is a branch of the Funding System, detested
and abhorred by all the Philosophic Men & the yeomanry of
America, those that hold certificates excepted. There is a
growling, lurking discontent at this system, that is ready to
burst out and discover itself everywhere. I candidly and
decidedly tell you, the Chariot of Government has been driven
Jehu-like, as to the [122] finances; like that of Phaeton, it
has descended from the middle path, and is like to Burn up the
American Earth.
Should an attempt be made to suppress these people, I am afraid
the question will not be, whether you will March to Pittsburgh,
but whether they will March to Philadelphia? accumulating in
their course and swelling over the banks of the Susquehanna like
a torrent, irresistible and devouring in its progress. There can
be no equality of Contest between the rage of a Forrest and the
abundance, indolence and opulence of a City. If the President
has evinced a prudent and approved delay in the ease of the
British Spoilations, in the Case of the Indian Tribes, much more
humane and politic will it be to consult the internal peace of
the Government, by avoiding force, until every means of
accommodation are found unavailing. I deplore my personal
situation. I deplore the situation of this Country, should a
Civil War ensue.
An application to the British is spoken of, which may God avert.
But what will not despair produce?
Your most obed't h'ble serv't, &c,
H. H. BRACKENRIDGE.
TENCH COXE, ESQ., Philadelphia.
CONFERENCE AT THE PRESIDENT'S.
Saturday, the 9th [2d?] August, 1794.
PRESENT: The President, The Governor, The Secretary of State,
The Chief Justice, The Secretary of the Treasury, The Attorney
General of the U. S., The Secretary at War, The Attorney General
of the State, The Secretary of the Commonwealth.
The President opened the business by stating that it was hardly
necessary to prepare the subject of the conference, as it was
generally understood, and the circumstances which accompanied it
were such as to strike at the root of all law & order; that he
was clearly of opinion that the most spirited & firm measures
were necessary to rescue the States as well as the general
government from impending danger, for if such proceedings were
tolerated there was an end to our Constitutions & laws. He then
observed that there were some papers besides those already
communicated to the Gov'r which would throw additional light on
the subject, and he presented them to the Secretary of State who
read them aloud.
[123] The papers consisted of letters from Gen'l Nevil, Presley
Nevil, Maj. Lenox and Capt. Butler, a Deposition of Col. Menges
and a deposition of the Post Rider whose mail had been stopped.
In some of the letters were inclosed sundry extracts from the
Pittsburgh Gazette which had been published in the papers of Phila.
The President declared his determination to go every length that
the Constitution and Laws would permit, but no further; he
expressed a wish for the co-operation of the State Government,
and he enquired whether the Governor could not adopt some
preliminary measures under the State Laws, as the measures of
the Gen'l Gov't would be slow, and depended on the certificate
of Judge Wilson, to whom the documents had been delivered for
his consideration.
The Secretary of State read the act of Congress under which the
Gen'l Gov't were proceeding and repeated the enquiries, whether
some more expeditious, preliminary course, could not be pursued,
referring to a particular act of the state.
The officers of the State Government remaining silent for some
time, the Att'y Gen'l of the U. S. turned to the act of the 22d
Sept., '83, authorizing calls of the Militia on sudden
emergencies, but the Secretary of the Comm'th referred him to a
note in the index, sub-joined to title militia, and suggested
his opinion that the law referred to was repealed, whereupon the
Att'y Gen'l of the U. S. asked the Sec'y of the Com'th, what was
his opinion respecting the power of the Governor to call out the
Militia on such occasions, to which the secretary replied, that
as an individual he had no objection to give a private
opinion--that independent of the law referred to, or any other
special law, the executive Magistrate was charged with the care
of seeing the laws faithfully executed, and that upon the
requisition of the civil authority declaiming it incompetent to
the task, the very nature of the Executive Magistrate's duty and
obligations, required that he should aid the civil authority by
an exertion of the military force of the Government.
The intention of proceeding against the Rioters in Allegheny co.
being declared by the President, the Chief Justice expressed it
as his positive opinion, that the judiciary power was equal to
the task of quelling and punishing the riots, and that the
employment of a military force, at this period, would be as bad
as anything that the Rioters had done--equally unconstitutional
and illegal.
The opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury was introduced by
argument upon the general necessity of maintaining the
Government in its regular authority. He referred to the various
co-operating sources of opposition to the Constitution and laws
of the U. S., (The Judiciary, excise, Mississippi navigation,
[124] erecting a new State, &c., &c.,) and insisted upon the
propriety of an immediate resort to Military force. He said that
it would not be sufficient to quell the existing riot to restore
us to the state in which we were a few weeks back; for, before
the present outrages, there was equal opposition to the laws of
the U. S., though not expressed in the same manner; but that now
the crisis was arrived when it must be determined whether the
Government can maintain itself, and that the exertion must be
made, not only to quell the rioters, but to protect the officers
of the Union in executing their offices, and in compelling
obedience to the laws.
The Secretary of the Com'th stated, as information, that in a
conversation with Judge Addison, the Judge had declared it, as
his opinion that if the business was left to the courts, the
rioters might be prosecuted and punished, and the matter
peaceably terminated; but that a resort to military force, would
unite in the resistance, the peaceable as well as the riotous
opponents of the excise, upon the Idea that the military was
intended to dragoon them equally into submission. He also stated
that similar riots against the excise had been punished in the
State courts.
The secretary of the Treasury observed, that the Judge alluded
was among those who had most promoted the opposition in an
insidious manner, that perhaps it would lead to a disagreeable
animadversion to point out the particulars of the Judge's
conduct; but that they were stated at large in a report to the
President, which the President said was the case.
[Here the minutes of the conference suddenly terminate]
GEN. GIBSON TO GOVERNOR MIFFLIN.
BRUSH CREEK, 7 MILES WEST OF GREENSBURG,,
Aug. 9th, 1794.
SIR:--I make no doubt, Before your Excellency receives this, you
will have rece'd from J. Bryson, Esq'r, a particular account of
the disasters of our County. I am now so far on my way to
Philadelphia, under a Guard of the Committee, who are to Escort
me to the Town of Greensburg, where I shall, I hope, have the
honour of Waiting on you in person.
I am with Respect, your Excellency's very humble Serv't,
JNO. GIBSON.
THOS. MIFFLIN, Esqr., Governor of Penn'a, Philadelphia.
[125] GOVERNOR MIFFLIN TO PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
PHILADELPHIA, 9th August, 1794.
SIR:--I have the honor to inclose, for your information, a copy
of the instructions which have been issued, in compliance with
your requisition (communicated to me in a letter from the
Secretary at War, dated the 7th instant) for organizing and
holding in readiness to march, at a moment's warning, a corps of
the Militia of Pennsylvania, amounting to Five thousand and two
hundred non-commissioned officers and privates, with a due
proportion of commissioned officers.
I am, with perfect respect, Sir,
Your Excellency's
Most Obed't H'ble Serv't
THOMAS MIFFLIN.
To the President of the United States.
GOVERNOR MIFFLIN TO PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
PHILADELPHIA, 12th August, 1794.
SIR:--The Secretary of State has transmitted to me, in a letter
dated the 7th of August, (but only received yesterday,) your
Reply to my letter of the 5th instant.
For a variety of reasons it might be desirable, at this time, to
avoid an extension of our correspondence upon the subject to
which those letters particularly relate, but the nature of the
remarks contained in your reply, and the sincerity of my desire
to merit, on the clearest principles, the confidence, which you
are pleased to repose in me, will justify, even under the
present circumstances of the case, an attempt to explain any
ambiguity, or to remove any prejudice that may have arisen,
either from an inaccurate expression or an accidental
misconception of the sentiments and views, which I meant to
communicate.
That the course which I have suggested as proper to be pursued
in relation to the recent disturbances in the Western parts of
Pennsylvania, contemplates the state, in a light too separate
and unconnected, is a position that I certainly did not intend
to sanction, in any degree, that could wound your mind with a
sentiment of regret. In submitting the construction of the
facts, which must regulate the operation of the General
Government, implicitly to your judgment; in cautiously avoiding
any reference to the nature of the evidence from which those
facts are [126] collected or to the conduct which the Government
of the United States might pursue; in declaring that I spoke
only as the Executive Magistrate of the State, charged with a
general superintendence and care, that its laws be faithfully
executed; and above all, in giving a full and unequivocal
assurance, that whatever requisition you may make; whatever duty
you may impose, in pursuance of your constitutional and legal
powers, would, on my part, be promptly undertaken and faithfully
discharged. I thought that I had manifested the strongest sense
of my Federal obligations, and that, so far from regarding the
State in a separate and unconnected light, I had expressly
recognized the subjection of her individual authority to the
national jurisdiction of the Union.
It is true, however, Sir, that I have only spoken as the
executive Magistrate of the State; but, in that character it is
a high gratification to find that, according to your opinion,
likewise, "the propriety of the course which I suggested, would,
in most, if not in all respects, be susceptible of little
question." Permit me, then, to ask, in what other character
could I have spoken, or what other language did the occasion
require to be employed? If the co-operation of the Government of
Pennsylvania was the object of our conference, your
constitutional requisition as the Executive of the Union, and my
official compliance as the Executive of the State, would
indubitably ensure it; but, if a preliminary, a separate, an
unconnected conduct was expected to be pursued by the Executive
Magistrate of Pennsylvania, his separate and unconnected power
and discretion must furnish the rule of proceeding; and, by that
rule, agreeable to the admission which I have cited, "the
propriety of my course would, in most, if not in all respects,
be susceptible of little question." It must, therefore, in
justice, be remembered, that a principal point in our
conference, related to the expediency of my adopting,
independent of the General Government, a preliminary measure (as
it was then termed) under the authority of an act of the
Legislature of Pennsylvania, which was passed on the 22d of
September, 1783, and which the Attorney General of the United
States thought to be in force; but which had, in fact, been
repealed on the 11th of April, 1793.
Upon the strictest idea of co-operative measures, however, I do
not conceive, Sir, that any other plan could have been suggested
consistently with the powers of the Executive Magistrate of
Pennsylvania, or with a reasonable attention, on my part, to a
systematic and energetic course of proceeding. The complicated
nature of the outrage which was committed upon the public peace,
gave a jurisdiction to both Governments, but in the mode of
prosecuting, or in the degree of punishing the offenders that
[127] circumstance could not, I apprehend, alter or enlarge the
powers of either. The State (as I observed in my last letter)
could only exert itself in executing the laws or maintaining the
authority of the Union, by the same means which she employed to
execute and maintain her more peculiarly municipal laws and
authority, and hence I inferred, and still venture to infer,
that, if the course which I have suggested is the same that
would have been pursued, had the Riot been unconnected with the
system of Federal policy, its propriety cannot be rendered
questionable, merely by taking into our view (what I have never
ceased to contemplate) the existence of a Federal Government,
Federal laws, Federal Judiciary and Federal officers. But would
it have been thought more consonant with the principles of
co-operation had I issued orders for an immediate, a separate
and an unconnected call o[f] the Militia, under the special
authority which was supposed to be given by a law or under the
general authority which may be presumed to result from the
Constitution? Let it be considered that you had already
determined to exercise your legal powers in drafting a competent
force of the Militia, and it will be allowed, that if I had
undertaken, not only to comply promptly with your requisition,
but to embody a distinct corps for the same service, an useless
expense would have been incurred by the State, an unnecessary
burthen would have been imposed on the citizens, and
embarrassment and confusion would, probably, have been
introduced instead of system and co-operation. Regarding it in
this point of light, indeed it may be natural to think, that in
the Judiciary, as well as the Military Department, the subject
should be left entirely to the management, either of the State
or of the General Government; for "the very important difference
which is supposed to exist in the nature and consequences of the
offences that have been committed in the contemplation of the
laws of the United States and of those of Pennsylvania," must,
otherwise, destroy that uniformity in the distinction of crimes
and the apportionment of punishments which has always been
deemed essential to a due administration of justice.
But let me not, Sir, be again misunderstood. I do not mean, by
these observations, to intimate an opinion or to express a wish,
that "the care of vindicating the authority or of enforcing the
laws of the Union, should be transferred from the officers of
the General Government to those of the State;" nor, after
expressly avowing that I had cautiously avoided any reference to
the conduct which the Government of the United States might
pursue on this important occasion, did I think an opportunity
could be found to infer, that I was desirous of imposing a
suspension of your proceedings, for the purpose of waiting the
issue of the process, which I designed to pursue. If, indeed
"the [128] Government of the United States was at that point,
where, it was admitted, if the Government of Pennsylvania was,
the employment of force by its authority would be justifiable,"
I am pursuaded, that, on mature consideration, you will do me
the justice to suppose that I meant to condemn or to prevent the
adoption of those measures on the part of the General
Government, which, in the same circumstances, I would have
approved and promoted on the part of Pennsylvania. The extracts
that are introduced into the letter of the Secretary of State,
in order to support that inference, can only be justly applied
to the case which was immediately in contemplation, the case of
the State of Pennsylvania, whose Judiciary authority had not
then, in my opinion, been sufficiently tried; they ought not,
surely, to be applied to a case which I had cautiously excluded
from my view, the case of the United States, whose Judiciary
authority had, in your opinion, proved inadequate to the
execution of the laws and the preservation of order. And if they
shall be thus limited to their proper object, the justice and
force of the argument which flows from them, can never be
successfully controverted or denied. While you, Sir, were
treading in the plain path designated by a positive law, with no
other care than to preserve the forms which the Legislature had
prescribed, and relieved from the weight of responsibility, by
the legal operation of a Judge's certificate, I was called upon
to act, not in conformity to a positive law, but in compliance
with the duty which is supposed to result from the nature and
constitution of the Executive Office.
The Legislature had prescribed no forms to regulate my course;
no certificate to inform my judgment; every step must be
dictated by my own discretion, and every error of construction
or conduct, would be charged on my own character. Hence, arose
an essential difference in our situations, and, I am confident
that, on this ground alone, you will perceive a sufficient
motive for my considering the objection, in point of law, to
forbear the use of Military force, till the Judiciary authority
has been tried, as well as the probable effects, in point of
policy, which that awful appeal might produce.
For, Sir, it is certain, that at the time of our conference,
there was no satisfactory evidence of the incompetency of the
Judicial authority of Pennsylvania, to vindicate the violated
laws. I, therefore, could not, as Executive Magistrate, proceed
upon a Military plan; but, actuated by the genuine spirit of
co-operation, not by a desire to sully the dignity or to
alienate the powers of the General Government, I still hoped and
expected to be able on this, as on former occasions, to support
the laws of the Union, or to punish the violaters of them by an
exertion [129] of the civil authority of the State Government,
the State Judiciary and the State officers. This hope prompted
the conciliatory course, which I determined to pursue, and
which, so far as respects the appointment of Commissioners, you
have been pleased to incorporate with your plan. And if, after
all, the purposes of justice could be attained, obedience to the
laws could be restored, and the horrors of a civil war could be
averted, by the auxiliary intervention of the State Government,
I am persuaded, you will join me in thinking, that the idea of
placing the State in a separate and unconnected point of view,
and the idea of making a transfer of the powers of the General
Government, are not sufficiently clear or cogent to supersede
such momentous considerations.
Having thus, generally, explained the principles contained in my
letter of the 5th instant, permit me (without adverting to the
material change that has since occurred in the State, of our
information relatively to the Riots, and which is calculated to
produce a corresponding change of sentiment and conduct,) to
remark, that many of the facts that are mentioned by the
Secretary of State, in order to shew that the Judiciary
authority of the Union, after a fair and full experiment, had
proved incompetent to enforce obedience or to punish infractions
of the laws were, before that communication, totally unknown to
me. But still, if it shall not be deemed a deviation from the
restriction that I have determined to impose upon my
correspondence, I would offer some doubts which in that respect
occurred to my mind, on the evidence, as it appeared at the time
of our conference. When I found that the Marshal had, without
molestation, executed his office in the county of Fayette, that
he was never insulted or opposed, till he acted in company with
Gen'l Nevill, and that the virulence of the Rioters was directly
manifested against the person and property of the latter
gentleman, and only incidentally against the person of the
former, I thought there was ground yet to suppose (and as long
as it was reasonable, I wished to suppose) that a spirit of
opposition to the officers employed under the Excise law, and
not a spirit of opposition to the officers employed in the
adminstration of justice was the immediate source of the
outrages which we deprecate. It is true that these sources of
opposition are equally reprehensible, and that their effects are
alike unlawful, but on a question respecting the power of the
judiciary authority to enforce obedience or to punish
infractions of the law, it seems to be material to discriminate
between the cases alluded to and to ascertain, with precision,
the motives and the object of the Rioters.
[130] Again: As the Associate Judge had not, at that time,
issued his certificate, it was proper to scrutinize, with strict
attention, the nature of evidence on which an act of Government
was to be founded. The constitution of the Union, as well as of
the State, had cautiously provided, even in the case of an
individual, that "no warrant should issue but upon probable
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly
describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things
to be seized." And a much higher degree of caution might
reasonably be exercised in a case that involved a numerous body
of citizens in the imputation of Treason or Felony, and required
a substitution of the Military for the Judicial instruments of
coercion. The only affidavits that I recollect to have appeared
at the time of our conference, were those containing the hearsay
of Colo. Menges and the vague narrative of the Post Rider. The
letters that had been received from a variety of respectable
citizens, not being written under the sanction of an oath or
affirmation could not acquire the legal force and validity of
evidence from a mere authentication of the signatures of the
respective writers. Under such circumstances doubts arose, not
whether the means which the laws prescribe for effectuating
their own execution should be exerted, but whether the existence
of a specific case to which specific means of redress were
appropriated by the laws, had been legally established; not
whether the laws, the Constitution, the Government, the
principles of social order, and the bulwarks of private right
and security, should be sacrificed, but whether the plan
proposed, was the best calculated to preserve those inestimable
blessings: and recollecting a declaration, which was made in
your presence, "that it would not be enough for a Military force
to disperse the insurgents, and to restore matters to the
situation in which they were two or three weeks before the Riots
were committed, but that the force must be continued for the
purpose of protecting the Officers of the Revenue, and securing
a perfect acquiescence in the obnoxious law." I confess, Sir,
the motives to caution and deliberation strike my mind with
accumulated force. I hope, however, that it will never seriously
be contended, that a military force ought now to be raised with
any other view but to suppress the Rioters; or that, if raised
with that view, it ought to be employed for any other. The
dispersion of the Insurgents is, indeed, obviously the sole
object for which the Act of Congress has authorized, the use of
the Military force on occasions like the present; for, with a
generous and laudable precaution, it expressly provides that
even before that force may be called forth, a proclamation shall
be issued commanding the Insurgents to disperse, and retire
peaceably to their respective abodes, within a limited time.
[131] But the force of these topics I again refer implicitly to
your decision, convinced, Sir, that the Goodness of your
intentions now, not less than heretofore, merits an affectionate
support from every description of your Fellow Citizens. For my
own part, I derive a confidence from the heartfelt integrity of
my views, the sincerity of my professions, which renders me
invulnerable by any insinuation of practising a sinister or
deceitful policy.
I pretend not to infallibility in the exercise of my private
judgment or in the discharge of my public functions, but in the
ardor of my attachment and in the fidelity of my services to our
common country, I feel no limitation, and your Excellency,
therefore, may justly be assured that in every way which the
constitution of the United States and of Pennsylvania shall
authorize, and present or future exigencies may require, you
will receive my most cordial aid and support.
I am, with great respect, Sir,
Your Excellency's Most obed. Serv.,
THOMAS MIFFLIN.
To the President of the United States.
ORDERS OF GOV. THOMAS S. LEE OF MARYLAND.
By the Commander-in-Chief of the militia of the State of Maryland:
GENERAL ORDERS.
Whereas, By a proclamation issued by the president of the United
States, and dated at Philadelphia on the 7th day of August,
1794, it appears that combinations to defeat the execution of
certain revenue laws of the United States, have, for some time
past, existed in some of the western parts of the State of
Pennsylvania, which combinations, proceeding at length to open
insurrection, have produced several acts of outrage and
violence, not only against the officers charged with the
execution of those laws, but also against such other persons as,
under the dictates of conscience, or a sense of obligation, have
either aided in the execution or acquiesced in the operation of
the said laws:
And whereas, By the second section of a law of congress, recited
in the aforesaid proclamation, the President of the United
States is authorized in certain cases and under certain
restrictions, to call forth the militia to execute the laws of
the Union and suppress insurrections; and the president having,
as it appears by the said proclamation, determined to employ the
means so [132] intrusted to him for enforcing obedience to the
said laws; and having, through the secretary for the department
of war, issued his requisition for organizing and holding in
readiness to march at a moment's warning, a corps of the militia
of this State, amounting to two thousand three hundred and fifty
non-commissioned officers and privates, with a due proportion of
commissioned officers, which requisition, made to me in quality
of commander-in-chief of the militia of Maryland, it is
incumbent on me to comply with and to bring to effect. I have,
therefore, thought proper to issue the following orders:
The commanding officers of the several regiments and those of
the extra battalions of militia shall, immediately on receipt of
these orders, proceed to enroll, from each regiment, two
sergeants, two corporals, and forty-one privates; and from each
extra battalion, one sergeant, one corporal, and twenty
privates, to be held in constant readiness for marching at a
moment's warning to the places of rendezvous hereafter to be
prescribed; the said enrollments to be made in the first place
of such as may voluntarily offer their services, and completed
(if any shall be still wanting) by a draught, to be made by lot
from among the whole remaining number belonging to the regiment
or battalion in which are comprehended, not only those persons
who shall actually have attached themselves to particular
companies, but likewise all who, by the prescriptions of the law
for regulating and disciplining the militia of this State, are
liable to be enrolled, and those who, although enrolled in corps
of cavalry or artillery, shall not voluntarily offer themselves
as dragoons or artillerists for the present service:
And whereas, A certain proportion of the body of militia so
required is, by direction of the president, signified as
aforesaid through the secretary of war, to be composed of
cavalry and artillery, neither of which necessarily attached to
the regiments of infantry, the several brigadier generals of the
militia shall, on the receipt of these orders, call on the
persons commanding troops of cavalry, and companies of
artillery, within their districts, to make return to them,
without delay, of their respective commands, in point of number
and equipment, distinguishing such as shall voluntarily desire
to be enrolled for this service, and the commanders of such
corps in the districts for which there are hitherto no
brigadiers commissioned, shall make similar returns to the
lieutenant colonel commandant of infantry most convenient to
them; and the several commanders of regiments shall, under the
direction of their brigadiers, be active in ascertaining the
number and names of such persons not hitherto enrolled in
cavalry or artillery, as may be disposed to serve in either.
[133] Difficult as the task may be of making so sudden a draught
from a militia so recently, and as yet so incompletely,
organized, I expect, from the zeal and patriotism of the
gentlemen who have accepted of commands in it, that the
difficulties that may occur will in no instance prevent this
requisition from being substantially complied with. Copies of
the enrollments of infantry, by the field officers, and of
cavalry and artillery, by the brigadiers, or superior officers
of districts, are hereby strictly ordered to be made to me in
the city of Annapolis, on or before the sixth day of September next.
Given at the city of Annapolis, this fourteenth day of August, 1794.
THOMAS S. LEE.
GEN. GIBSON TO GOVERNOR MIFFLIN.
CARLISLE, August 14th, 1794.
I arrived here last night, having met on my way down to this
place Judge Yeates and Mr. Bradford ten miles east of Bedford on
Tuesday last, in the morning, and judge McKean and Gen'l Irwin
near to Littleton, the same day in the evening. On my arrival at
Greensburg I found a number of people assembled to Choose
delegates to attend the General Meeting to be held this day. On
my allighting at a tavern they surrounded the house and ordered
me to quit the town in half an hour or I must abide the
consequences. I then came to Gen'l Jack's and remained the
remainder of the day with him. I am much afraid, from the
present disposition of the people, nothing Good will result from
the present meeting. Gen'l Jack assures me, in the County of
Westmoreland the people have made choice of the most violent men
to represent them at the Gen'l Meeting, and that nothing less
than the repeal of the Excise Law will Satisfy them. I wish they
may even treat the commissioners with common decency. I shall
remain here until the return of the next post from pitsburg, as
I have left Mrs. Gibson and the family there Should any Violent
measures be adopted by the Gen'l Meeting she will leave that
place, and I shall return to meet her. Inclosed is the Resolves
of the Committee and their passport to me.
Should any thing offer in which I can serve my Country, at the
Risque of my Life or Fortune, I hope your Excellency will
command me.
I have honour to be your Excellency's most obedient humble serv't,
JNO. GIBSON.
[134] RESOLVES OF THE COMMITTEE OF PITTSBURGH, RESPECTING GEN.
GIBSON AND COL. NEVILLE.
At a meeting of the Committee (of twenty-one) of the Town of
Pittsburgh, on Monday morning, 4th Augu't, 1794, Report was made
to them by the Committee of four, who were a part of the
committee of Battallions on Braddock's fields, the 2d Inst.,
Vizt: That in Committee on Braddock's fields, it was stated on
the part of the Committee of four, that the three prescribed
persons of the Town of Pittsburgh, Vizt: Abraham Kirkpatrick,
James Brison and Edward Day were expelled the Town and had
disappeared.
It was then taken into view what other persons were obnoxious as
being suspected of being friendly to the Excise Law, as might
appear from letters by them written or otherwise; and on certain
letters being read which had been intercepted in the Mail from
Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, vizt: one from Colo. Presly Neville*
to his father, containing in a certain paragraph, words
unfavorable to the opposers of the Excise Law, tho' no persons
in particular were named; but this being considered a sufficient
evidence of his enmity to the cause, it was resolved that he
should be expelled the Country within ten Days.
Also one letter from Gen'l John Gibson to the Governor of
Pennsylvania, which in certain Paragraph evinc'd a like
disposition, by a mistatement made by him in information, which
information was thought not to be exact, and which he had too
hastily credited; it was resolved that he should be subject to
the like sentence, and that the committee of Pittsburgh should
carry into effect these measures, necessary for the public safety.
Resolved, therefore, That notice of their respective sentences
be forthwith given to these persons, and that they depart
accordingly, and that a Guard be ordered for each of them to
conduct them to a proper distance.
Resolved also, That a copy of this minute be given to each of
those persons as a passport from the country.
In behalf of the committee,
JAMES CLOW, Chairman.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Presley Neville, son Gen. John Neville, was born September 6,
1775 [sic was 1755], at Winchester, Va. He was educated at the
University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1775. He
served in the Revolution as aid to Gen. Lafayette, and at the
capture of Charleston, was made prisoner. He was afterward
Brigade Inspector of the Militia for Allegheny county. He was a
member of the Assembly. Col. Neville married a daughter of Gen.
Daniel Morgan. Was a prominent merchant of Pittsburgh for
twenty-five years. He died in Clermont county, Ohio, on the
first of December, 1818.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[135] PASSPORT TO GEN. GIBSON BY THE PITTSBURGH COMMITTEE.
PITTSBURGH, August 4, 1794.
This is to certify to all whom it may concern, That the bearer
hereof, Gen'l John Gibson, has been directed to depart the
country, by order of the Committee of the Battalions of
Washington, Fayette, Westmoreland & Allegany counties, assembled
on Braddock's fields the 2d Inst.--which sentence the Committee
to Pittsburgh were to carry into effect, & to furnish him with a
guard to a proper distance. Let him therefore pass in safety aid
without molestation.
By order of the Committee of Pittsburgh,
JAMES CLOW, Chairman.
MEETING AT PARKINSON'S FERRY.
August 14, 1794.
At a meeting of delegates duly elected by the respective
counties of Westmoreland, Fayette, Allegheny, Washington and
that, part of Bedford county lying west of the Allegheny
mountain, in Pennsylvania, and by the county of Ohio in
Virginia, convened at Parkinson's Ferry on Monongahela river, in
order to take into consideration the situation of the Western
Country.
Edward Cook was placed in the chair, Albert Gallatin appointed
Secretary of the Meeting.
The transactions relative to the excise law that lately took
place in the western country were stated; Whereupon, the
following resolutions were, after having been debated and
amended, adopted by the meeting:
1. Resolved, That taking citizens of the United States from
their respective vicinage, to be tried for real or supposed
offenses, is a violation of the rights of the citizens, is a
forced and dangerous construction of the Constitution, and ought
not under any pretense whatever, to be exercised by the judicial
authority.
2. That a standing committee, to consist of one member from each
township, be appointed for the purposes hereinafter mentioned,
viz : To draft a remonstrance to Congress praying a repeal of
the excise law, at the same time requesting that a more equal
and less odious tax may be laid, and giving assurance to the
representatives of the people that such tax will be cheerfully
paid by the people of these counties.
[136] To make and publish a statement of the transactions which
have lately taken place in this country relative to the excise
law & of the causes which gave rise thereto, and to make a
representation to the President on the subject.
To have power to call together a meeting either of a new
representation of the people, or of the deputies here convened
for the purpose of taking such further measures as the future
situation of affairs may require, and in case of any sudden
emergency to take such temporary measures as they may think
necessary.
3. That we will exert ourselves, and that it be earnestly
recommended to our fellow citizens to exert themselves in
support of the municipal laws of the respective States, and
especially in preventing any violence or outrage against the
property and person of any individual.
4. That a committee, to consist of three members from each
county, be appointed to meet any commissioners that have been,
or may be appointed by the government, and report the result of
this conference to the standing committee.
COMMITTEE OF CONFERENCE.
Westmoreland County--John Kirkpatrick, George Smith and John Powers.
Allegheny County--Hugh H. Brackenridge, Thomas Moreton and Mr. Lucas.
Washington--David Bradford, James Marshall, James Edgar.
Fayette--Albert Gallatin, Edward Cook, James Lang.
Bedford County--Herman Husbands.
Ohio County, Virginia--William Sutherland.
Ohio and Bedford counties not fully represented at the meeting.
GENERAL ORDERS OF GOV. LEE OF VIRGINIA.
GENERAL ORDERS.
RICHMOND, August 16, 1794.
The President of the United States having required, for
immediate service, a second detachment of militia from this
commonwealth, amounting to three thousand infantry and three
hundred cavalry, exclusive of commissioned officers, The
Commander-in-Chief directs the same to be forthwith appointed.
The several divisions will furnish this corps in conformity to
the detail to be transmitted from the Adjutant General's office,
which will be regulated by the contiguity of the divisions to
the [137] point of service by regard to the protection of the
frontiers from the Indian enemy, and by attention to the safety
of the seaboard in case of sudden war.
Major General Morgan will command the detachment, which is to be
divided into two brigades, the first to be conducted by
Brigadier Darke, the second by Brigadier Mathews.
The Commander-in-Chief anticipates the most honorable testimony
in favor of the Virginian name, from the promptitude and zeal
which he assures himself will be displayed by his brother
soldiers on this deeply interesting occasion, and flatters
himself that the detachment will be distinguished throughout
their tour of duty, as well by their order in camp, as by their
gallantry in the field. The time and places of rendezvous will
be communicated in due season to the commanding officer, and the
troops will be fully supplied with arms, camp equipage, and all
necessary apparatus.
The principles which determine the rank of the general officers
being established, their application will take place as soon as
the requisite information is received, and the result will be
immediately published in general orders.
In the meantime, to complete the settlement of rank, the
Commander-in-Chief directs that a Board of General Officers
consisting of Major Gen. Clark, and the Brigadiers Meade, Young,
Marshal and Guerrant, assemble in the city of Richmond on the
26th instant, to ascertain the rank of the field officers, on
which day the Adjutant General is directed to attend for the
purpose of presenting every document and information in his
possession relating to the subject.
The report of this board will be considered definite, and filed
in the Adjutant General's office.
The Major Generals and Brigadiers are requested to appoint the
Aid-de-Camps and Brigade Majors to which they are respectively
entitled, and make communication thereof to the Adjutant
General, who is required to report the same to the
Commander-in-Chief without delay.
It is very important to the community that the cavalry,
artillery and light companies be completed immediately, and
always held complete. The Major Generals will be pleased never
to lose sight of this object, for which purpose they are to
require from their respective Brigades quarterly returns of the
condition of the troops above mentioned, and are authorized to
pursue any other measures in their judgment calculated to
preserve the same in full strength and capacity.
By order of
HENRY LEE, Commander-in- Chief.
[138] SECRETARY OF STATE TO GOVERNOR MIFFLIN.
August 28th, 1794.
The Secretary of State presents his Compliments to Governor
Mifflin, and has the honor to send him herein enclosed copy of a
Letter from Messrs. Ross, Yeates& Bradford, dated at Pittsburgh,
the 17 instant, which has already been communicated to him verbally.
THE UNITED STATES COMMISSIONERS TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
PITTSBURGH, 17th August, 1794
SIR:--We think it of importance to take the earliest opportunity
of stating to you the present situation of the Western part of
Pennsylvania, & to request some eventual instructions on certain
points which are likely to arise in the prosecution of our mission.
The meeting which assembled at Parkinson's Ferry, on the 14th
instant, is said to have been composed of near 200 Members. The
following is the best account of its proceedings that we have
been able to collect:
All the Townships in the four Counties were represented, except
four. Herman Husbands & one Philson attended as Deputies from
Berlin, in Bedford County, but whether they were really &
generally elected for that purpose is not ascertained. There was
a feeble and partial deputation from Ohio County, in Virginia.
On the first day there assembled at the same place a
considerable Body of men besides the Deputies, amounting to
about 200 from different parts, but principally from Washington.
After the verification of their authorities and the choice of
their Officers, the meeting was opened by a speech made by David
Bradford, who entered into a detail of the late disturbances,
giving high encomiums to the conduct of those who destroyed
Genl. Neville's house, and producing and reading the letters
which had been intercepted when the Post was robbed of the
Pittsburgh Mail. Some resolutions were then suggested, but these
were superseded by others offered by James Marshall, of
Washington, one of which proposed the erecting a Committee of
Safety, for the purpose of organizing and calling forth the
strength of the Country in order to resist hostilities, if
necessary. The phrase- [139] ology of this resolution was
softened down by some observations made by Mr. Gallatin, who
observed that the word hostilities was wholly improper, & that
it was not right to exhibit a determination to resort to force
unless in their own defence. The resolve was therefore, modelled
into the form in which it stands in the copy already transmitted
to you, but its substance we apprehend to be the same, being
intended to have in being a body invested with the popular
authority of the Country.
The meeting having been informed of the appointment of
Commissioners, elected a Committee of 12 to confer with them,
and report to the Standing Committee which was adjourned to meet
on the first Tuesday in September, at Redstone. Some were
earnest for an immediate decision & some for an adjournment to
an early day. But Mr. Gallatin observed, that it was plain, the
Executive could give them no relief--that the President could not
repeal or even suspend the excise acts, & that their policy was
to gain time and protract the business until the meeting of
Congress, and then endeavour to obtain a repeal of the acts.
After the resolves were agreed on, the Proclamations of the
President & of the Governor were mentioned, and it was proposed
that the Secretary should read them, which was accordingly done.
Some pause ensued, when a member rose and said that
Proclamations could kill nobody, & as their business was done he
thought it best to go home.
This was accordingly agreed to, & the meeting broke up on the 15
about 2 o'Clock. The Committee of conference agreed to meet the
commissioners at this place on Wednesday next.
From the information we could collect there appears to us to
have been three parties at that meeting, One which was at that
time disposed to renounce all connection with the Government, &
to maintain the present opposition by violence, without further
appeals to Congress. This was not very numerous nor open; but
one John Corbly, a baptist Preacher, openly declared to the
meeting that it was too humiliating to offer any further
petitions or remonstrances to Congress, & objected to the
resolve on that subject. A second party are disposed to remain a
part of the union, but at the same time to resist at all hazards
the execution of the excise acts. These were numerous and
violent, & evidently overawed the third or moderate party, which
consisted of men of property, who, whatever might be their
opinions of the excise, are disposed to submit to the national
will rather than hazard the convulsions of a civil contest. The
threats which have been expressed against all who countenance
the excise, the banishment of some reputable citizens on that
account, & the destruction of property, have produced an
apparent unanimity of sentiment. We know, with certainty, that
[140] many reputable citizens have been obliged to turn
hypocrites, & even to appear as the leaders of these enragees.
The Civil authority affords them no protection, as they dare not
trust each other they have no point where they can rally in
their own defence. Although a real majority (as we believe) of
the meeting consisted of this Class of men, they did not dare to
exert their influence, nor even venture to move for the recall
of those whom the violent party had banished, altho' this was a
matter they had much at heart. One of them had prepared a
remonstrance demanding a repeal of the excise act, an act of
oblivion, & a suspension of all measures of coercion until the
sense of Congress was known, as the most moderate measure that
could have been carried. The coming of the Commissioners
prevented this from being offered.
We have some reason to believe that a majority of the Committee
of 12 consist of men of this description. They will not,
therefore, dare to express their real opinions, & we think they
will not give any opinion to us, alledging that all they have to
do is to hear & report. It is possible that even the Standing
Committee may treat it in the same way, & refer the
determination to a general meeting to be called in October or
November. Mr. Gallatin's opinion, already mentioned, points to
this policy. We shall endeavour to press on the Committee of
conference, in the most solemn manner, the necessity of an
immediate decision, & that they must call on the Standing
Committee instantly, if they will not decide themselves.
We have great doubts whether we ought to stay in this country
after the 1st September, or confer with any bodies assembled in,
in this manner, after that day. But at the same time if the
Committee should deny their power to call the body, or refuse to
do it, we wish to be instructed whether we ought to wait the
meeting on the 2d September.
We have it in contemplation to declare to the Committee that if
they will not decide we will call county meetings & take the
collective sense of the people for ourselves. We can hold our
resolution of leaving the Country in suspense until the 1st
September, before which day an Express may reach us. We consider
our movement under these circumstances as an important &
delicate one, & beg clear & definite instructions.
Our opinion at present is, that it is not possible to procure,
by any conciliatory means, a determination to acquiesce in the
execution of the excise acts; and that in the present
disposition of the people nothing short of the repeal of them,
accompanied by a general amnesty & act of oblivion, will satisfy
them. We see not any prospect of inforcing the execution of the
laws but by the physical strength of the nation. But no possible
exer- [141] tions on our parts to prevent the calamity of a
civil contest shall be spared.
The Proclamations seemed to excite neither indignation nor
surprise. The insurgents had contemplated the measure, as a
thing of course; and even so early as the meeting at Braddock's
field conversed on the subject, and ventured to predict that
Gen'l Morgan would command the militia that should be sent. It
is very probable that it will be every day more & more necessary
to have the means of a speedy & safe communication with the seat
of Government. We, therefore, take the liberty of suggesting the
propriety of keeping relay horses--one at this place, one at
Bedford, one at Carlisle & one in the City of Philadelphia.
Under these impressions we have directed the purchase of a horse
at Bedford, which we will either sell on our return or dispose
of to the Quarter Master.
We beg that the public prints may be transmitted to us by the
Post, or other safe conveyance, and have the honor to be, Sir,
Your Obed't & hum. Servants,
JAMES ROSS,
J. YEATES,
WM. BRADFORD.