We'll go now, if you want, Abner."
The rebels had not left Stockbridge a moment too soon. Captain
Stoddard was rallying his company before they had got out of the
village, and messengers had been sent to Lee, Lenox, Pittsfield, Great
Barrington, Egremont and Sheffield, to rouse the people. Within an
hour or two after the rebels had marched south, the Stockbridge and
Lenox companies were in pursuit. Among the messengers to Great
Barrington, was Peleg Bidwell. For Peleg, since he had bought his
safety by such a shameful surrender, was embittered above all against
those of his former comrades who had been too brave to yield. And
having brought word to Great Barrington, he took his place in the
ranks of the militia of that town, and though the men among whom he
stood, eyed him askance, knowing his record, not one of them was
really so eager to empty his gun into the bosom of the rebel band as
Peleg Bidwell.
As previously stated, the Great Barrington company, in which Peleg
carried a musket, had retired toward Sheffield, when the rebels
entered the former town. At Sheffield they were joined by the large
company of that populous settlement, and Colonel Ashley of the same
village, taking command of the combined forces, ordered a march on
Great Barrington, to meet the rebels.
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