One might say that the insurrection really began in mid August 1791 when a number of armed men painted as Indians were reported to be lurking in some bushes between Pittsburg (now Pittsburgh) and Washington, PA, in an attempt to waylay Neville, but the first tarring and feather actually occurred a month earlier.. By the summer of 1792 Captain Faulkner was tarred and feathered for trying to open a Washington county tax office. Alexander Hamilton, in spite of the wishes of the congress, set about forcing western farmers to come to Philadelphia for trial.
A confrontation between Marshall Lennox and Gen. Neville and William Miller and some friends occurred at William Miller's home in Allegheny County. At least one shot was fired by Miller's (Allegheny County) group during the visit by Neville (serving writs) but no one was injured. Alexander Hamilton claimed that the shots missed their targets but most historians assume that no one was aimed at. This same day the Mingo Creek Militia was gathered to fulfill a request for Indian fighters. Two groups of militiamen were selected to pursue the Marshall. They went to Neville's house on the assumption that Lennox had returned there with Neville. The next morning (July 16), thirty men approach Neville's home demanding an interview. Neville apparently turned and shot and killed Oliver Miller, the nephew of William Miller, and then blew a horn upon which his slaves opened fire from their quarters at the back of the crowd. The militia suffered a number of wounded and retreated to Couche's Fort for another meeting and to recruit more men.
On July 17 1794 with James McFarlane in command, around 500 met at Couche's fort and advanced on Bower Hill (Neville's home). The attack began after women and children were permitted to leave. According to legend, a white flag was thought to be seen in a window of Nelville's home or someone from the house called out for a truce. McFarlane ordered firing stopped, in the process exposing himself. A shot from the house killed James McFarlane. The attacking troops were outraged and burned the barn, home and several outbuildings after releasing the people in the house unharmed. The militia attacking Bower Hill thought that a Abraham Kirkpatrick, in command of the eleven soldiers protecting Bower Hill, had shot and killed McFarlane.
On July 18 or 19th at a meeting at Mingo Creek Meeting house, David Bradford, a successful attorney, businessman and Deputy Attorney General assumed leadership of the rebels (some claim he did so because he was blackmailed and "forced" to take an active role). Shortly there after occurred series of meetings at Bradford's home to consider the problem of the easterners knowing what was happening almost before it happened. As a result of these meetings, the mail from Pittsburg to Philadelphia was robbed on July 26th and taken to the Blackhorse Tavern in Canonsburg to be examined.
George Washington reviewing the troops in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on October 3, 1794
Because of the knowledge gained from the mail, Bradford and his group sent a letter to the local militias requesting a gathering on Aug 1, 1794 on Braddock's field to begin a possible four day military excursion. Five to seven thousand troops gathered at Braddock's field, eight miles from Pittsburg, on the first. Brackenridge convinced leaders to warn Pittsburg to banish all obnoxious characters within eight days or face destruction The army marched through Pittsburg with no problems or damage done, in part, because the 379 residents of Pittsburg supplied the "invading army" with food and whiskey. The "army" crossed the Monongahela and torched Kirkpatrick's barn near Mt. Washington as they were leaving the city.
By August 7, 1794, George Washington began mobilizing 12,950 troops from eastern Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey under Gen. Harry Lee, the Governor of Virginia and father of Robert E. Lee.
Amnesty was offered to those involved in the various acts of defiance by a presidential commission on August 21, 1794. The required number of signatures was not obtained, in part, because that many felt that by signing they would be admitting guilt. The terms required that the leaders openly declare their submission to the laws in general, and the excise law in particular. A member of the President's commission, by the name of General William Irvine, sent a note to Washington after examining the facts in western Pennsylvania in which he stated "I do not mean now either to condemn of justify the proceedings here, but I may safely venture to say, that people on the west of the mountains labor under hardships, if not grievances that are not known, or at least not understood, in other parts of the United States, in more instances than the excise; but in this particular it can be demonstrated that they labor under particular hardships, for instance, carrying a man to Philadelphia or York to be tried for crimes, real or supposed, or on litigations respecting property, perhaps under the value or forty shillings: THIS IS INTOLERABLE."
At the urging of Hamilton, George Washington determined that troops would be needed to put down the, so called, insurrection. The troops, largely from New Jersey, arrived in Carlisle Pennsylvania in late September 1794. Washington and his troops arrived in Bedford, Pennsylvania on October 19th. By early and mid November the "Watermelon Army" began rounding up suspects in western Pennsylvania. These people, suspects and witnesses together, many of the barefoot and lacking winter clothing, were then marched to Philadelphia to stand trial. David Bradford, one of the leaders of the insurrection, escaped and fled to a location near what is today called St. Francisville, LA (about one hundred miles from New Orleans) where he built Bradford's second home and moved his family. Most of the army began the trek home on November 19th with the suspects and their guards following six days later. It is often rumored that the remaining troops spent the winter on the campus of Washington Academy, now known as Washington and Jefferson College. The school closed down during this short time, in part, because a number of the students and the trustees of the college were known sympathizers with the rebels.
Secretary of State Edmund Randolf asked by President Washington to defend himself in relation to a letter from the French Minister to the French Government which analyzed the causes of the Whiskey Rebellion. The dispatch apparently implied that Randolf was the source of the information. Because the letter refereed to the repressive means that the U.S. Government was using to put down the rebellion and the referral to Washington as a puppet of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington was noticeable upset. Randolph was offended by the accusations and immediately resigned from his position (the letter may have been fairly truthful). These factors were reasons enough for the people of Western Pennsylvania to be unhappy with the new United States government. Because of their unwillingness to submit to the federalist principles of a strong central government, we may thank the independent people west of the mountains for our present day democratic society. Thomas Jefferson resigned his post of Secretary of State in 1793, in part, in protest because George Washington was agreeing too much with Hamilton and the Federalists. He may have been a fellow member of the Virginia House of Burgess with David Bradford of Washington and it is thought that this insurrection may have been strongly influenced by Jefferson and his friends.
MAJOR GENERAL HENRY ("LIGHT HORSE HARRY") LEE
Some feel that Alexander Hamilton caused the Whiskey Rebellion purposefully. At this point in time, while there were valid the reasons for his wanting an excuse to send federal troops to western Pa, whether or not he took the actions he did for the purpose of starting an insurrection would be hard to prove.
Some people today feel that David Bradford (with his opulent Washington, Pennsylvania house), after being blackmailed and forced to get involved in the dispute, may have gotten somewhat carried away with dissent. If it were not for Bradford and the other dissenters, helping to bring the state's right's/democracy issue to the attention of the easterners and lending support to Jefferson's position, the government of today might be the aristocratic monarchy that Hamilton and the Federalists tried so hard to install. Thankfully, the rebellion failed, almost before it began. It did publicize some of the problems the settlers were having with the government, gave the newly formed government a chance to flex its muscles and, in a sense, redefined the word treason to permit disagreement with the government without being considered treasonous.
Additional Sources:
www.whiskeyrebellion.org
www.yale.edu
earlyamerica.com
www.nps.gov
www.army.mil
www.wscottsmith.com
www.ngb.army.mil
www.ukans.edu
people.bu.edu
