But the return of the party about the middle of December,
threw a damper on the enthusiasm. The demonstration at Worcester had
been indeed a brilliant success in some respects. One thousand well
armed men headed by Shays himself with a full staff of officers and a
band of music had held the town for several days in full military
occupation, overawing the militia, preventing the sitting of the
courts, and even threatening to march on Boston. But on the other hand
the temper of the population had been lukewarm and often hostile. The
soldiers had been half starved through the refusal to supply
provisions and nearly frozen. Some indeed had died. In coming back a
number of the Berkshire men had been arrested and maltreated in
Northampton. Formidable military preparations were being made by the
government, and parties of Boston cavalry were scouring the eastern
counties and had taken several insurgent leaders prisoners, who would
probably be hung. The men had been demoralized by the spread of a well
substantiated report that Shays had offered to desert to the other
side if he could be assured of pardon. In the lower counties indeed
all the talk was of pardon and terms of submission.
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