Springfield 1636-1886, History of Town and City, by Mason A. Green ...

SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886. 321
thousand five hundred was collected in short order, and General
Lincoln prepared for his long march.
To show how some of the towns felt the strain, it may be said that
the remote town of Rowe, December 4, 1786, " being Repeatedly
Requested to Join in the Dispute between the Court and those called
the Regulating party," but not being able to get at the merits of the
controversy, recommended that as many as " can conveniently
march " should repair to Springfield, and after hearing the particu-
lars " join that party as they shall Judge to be in the right of the
cause, they acting entirely for themselves in that matter."
Governor Bowdoiu in his letter of instructions to General Lincoln
said, " You are to consider yourself in all your military offensive
operations constantly as under the direction of the civil officer, saving
where any armed force shall appear and oppose your marching to
execute these orders." General Lincoln protested against these
instructions, being placed as he was under the orders of the local
civil authorities wherever he might be ;
sulting the council, wrote :
and the governor, after con-
" As you are accompanied by Gentlemen
of the Law, who are also Justices of the Peace, and as you can
have a number of Deputy Sheriffs to attend you by applying to the
High Sheriff to depute some of your own Corps or others as you
shall judge proper, the Council apprehend there is scarcely a sup-
posable case, to which your powers, as expressed in my orders, do
not extend."
Lincoln turned up with his battalions at Worcester, January 22,
and protected the courts with little difficulty ; Daniel Shays, after
sending to the governor a pacific message intending to mislead the
authorities, essayed the difficult feat of capturing the federal arsenal
at Springfield. He made a dash from Rutland with over one thousand
men, indifferently armed with guns, but thoroughly equipped with an
incendiary vocabulary. He reached Wilbraham on the 24th, and the
women and children of that terrified community were transferred to
Longmeadow for safety. General Lincoln was two days' march in