History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

498 HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTON. [1786.
The Mob Excited.
WliGii the iiews of the aiTGst of the insurgent
leaders reached Worcester, great ex-
citement ensued. Some were ready to give up the struggle
and return home ; others were in favor of marching to
Boston to release them. The weather was extremely cold,
the roads blocked by huge drifts of snow, and many of the
insurgents were disinclined to fight both the government
and the elements. While there was little to fear from any
movement by the mob upon Boston, precautions were taken
to secure the chief city of the Commonwealth. The militia
of Middlesex were put under marching orders, and the
chief command given to Gen. Lincoln.
Shays Retreats. Instead of advauciug, however, Shays re-
treated, and then commenced the real suf-
ferings of his part5^ With the mercury far below zero,
the snow deep and much drifted, with scarce any provisions,
and marching through a country in which they
found little sympathy, the retreat became disastrous and
disheartening in the extreme. Cold and hungry, weak and
exhausted, many of them were frozen to death, and scarce
any escaped without marks of frost upon their persons.
Notwithstanding these hardships the leaders managed to
keep their men together, and very few of them disbanded.
Shays with the largest contingent retreated to Rutland,
where he remained some time.
Northampton Greets Many of the mob, howcver, had had
the Mob. enough of winter campaigning, and set
out for home as soon as possible. A squad
of Berkshire malcontents marched through this town on
their homeward way. The reception they met with and
its results are thus reported in the Hampshire Gazette of
December 13*" —
:
" On Monday last, as a party of the Berkshire insurgents were return-
ing from Worcester, through this town, a little ludicrous jocularity
from six or eight of the unarmed inhabitants, produced abusive and
insulting language, and even a violent onset with swords, guns, bayonets
; some of each party were badly wounded in the rencountre, which
must have ended seriously, had not the speedy and timely collection of
the inhabitants, under their proper officers prevented.
'
' The affair was hapily terminated by a compromise ; although by