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How Whiskey Almost Started a War
John Allen Miller
After the formation of a newly formed country, America was in the mist
of a crisis and a civil war. In the early 1790’s wars were being
fought in the western part of the country mainly in western
Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. The federal government did not
have the funds necessary to pay war depts. The war dept for the
protection of the country depended on federally funded taxes such
as the Whiskey Tax.
The thoughts on the minds of many
Emmitsburg townsmen must have been scary as a foreseen war was
going to occur. The thoughts of Indians were probably the least
on their minds. The thought of a civil war and the aftermath of
the union of this country must have been the highlights at the
dinner tables of families and at local taverns especially when the
violence erupted in Hagerstown, Maryland.
In 1791, in a little community
known as New Midway President George Washington stayed the night
at Cookerly's Tavern on his way to York. From there he passed
through the area where he gave his farewell speech to his Maryland
troops at the John Ross Key plantation called Tera Ruba. The
scenery that surrounded the president must have brought back many
memories of the days since the Revolutionary War.
With the situation in the west
the United States Armies, under Generals Harmar and St. Clair, had
suffered successive defeats to a confederation of Indian tribes.
President Washington recalled Anthony Wayne as a major general in
1792 to lead a Legion of the United States against the Indian
forces in Ohio and Indiana. General Wayne's troops defeated the
Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, Ohio in August of 1794.
During the Whiskey Rebellion President Washington came to the Emmitsburg area as he settled the crisis near Carlisle,
Pennsylvania.
The Indian Wars and the
Formation of the U.S. Army
Anthony Wayne was born at Waynesborough located in Chester County,
Pennsylvania on January 1, 1745. He was a Revolutionary War Veteran
whose military record superseded his reputation. He fought in
most of the major campaigns of the Revolutionary War. In 1776, he
was commissioned as a Colonel under General Benedict Arnold. In
1782, he served under General Nathaniel Greene forcing the British
out of Georgia and South Carolina.
During the 1790’s the British and
Indians still raided many areas west of the mountains as the
British Army illegally held military posts in American territory.
With raids continuing the United States couldn’t ignore this
problem. In retaliation the United States sent out two major
military expeditions against the eastern Indians. In 1790 General
Josiah Harmer led the first campaign that was disastrous. In
1791, General Arthur St. Clair launched the second campaign. The first
and second campaigns resulted in an Indian defeat against General St.
Clair’s Army.
On August 20th 1794, General
Anthony Wayne and the Legion of the United States preceded
northeast to the British garrison of Fort Miamis. The British
forces was comprised of elements of the Royal Regiment of Artillery
supported by the 24th Regiment and 5th Regiment of Foot with a
detachment of Royal Engineers. The Canadian Army consisted of
units of Queen's Rangers, Caldwell's Rangers and the British
Indian Department to name a few.
Combat lasted about one hour
after native warriors ambushed the recon unit of Kentucky Mounted
Militia soldiers. Although the Indians had the initial aspect of
surprise that caused confusion in the American troop formations,
they had nothing to protect themselves from the Legion's
artillery. Bayonets and cavalry sabers proved to be a
devastating blow to the Indians. The Legion of the United States
had defeated the British at Fallen Timbers and the British were
forced to withdraw from the region, giving up on any hope of claim
to the areas west of the mountains.
Shortly before the battle of
Fallen Timbers, settlers in Pennsylvania were pushing for secession
from the union. However, the American success in the west helped
reduce these concerns and diminished the threat of secession.
Many wanted to secede because of the concerns they had of the Jay
Treaty provisions, the whiskey tax and they wanted an army with
the ability to protect them from enemy raids.
In May of 1796, the Legion of the
United States was abolished and disbanded and the Army of the
United States was officially created. Many of Maryland’s sons
fought during the Indian Wars of the 1790’s producing several
regiments that were led by her officers such as these:
- James Wilkinson served
as a Brigadier General second in command at Battle of Fallen
Timbers, commanded the Right Wing
- Major Henry Gaither
served in the Maryland 3rd Sub-Legion
- Captain Leonard Covington
served in the Maryland Legion Dragoons
- Captain Henry Debutts
served in the Maryland 4th Sub-Legion
- Captain Benjamin Price
served in the Maryland 4th Sub-Legion
- Lieutenant Ebenezer Massey
served in the Maryland Legion Artillery Maryland
- Lieutenant Charles Wright
served in the Maryland 3rd Sub-Legion
- Lieutenant Campbell Smith
served in the Maryland 4th Sub-Legion Maryland
The Whiskey Tax
The word whiskey comes from the
(Irish) Gallic word of ichcabaha meaning water of life. Only a
few countries during the time of American Independence knew how to
make whiskey; Germany, Scotland, Ireland and America. This would the first uprising in America and was put down
without a single shot being fired at townsmen by President
Washington and his Army.
In order to protect the
settlements, towns, wars and America itself, the Federal
Government needed funds. In order to help pay war debts from
military action against Indians and secure the safety of the
country, the Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, placed
a 25% excise tax on all liquor sold in the United States. Many
local farmers were opposed to the tax because they relied upon
producing whiskey for their source of revenue. Transporting grain
as liquor was much easier and cost efficient than transporting
just grain. This tax mainly affected the farmers south of New York. With the new tax 21 million dollars of expected income could then
be used to support the military actions against the Indians.
The Whiskey Tax was viewed by
most, especially Pennsylvanias, as a right that was being imposed on by the
government. The farmers thought that this was an inherited right
that was passed down from generation to generation. Liquor from
grain was mainly used for items such as bread, beer, and also
whiskey. With many farmers unable to pay the tax, they simply
didn't pay.
The hated tax also represented a
large annoyance of federal authority at the time. Thomas Jefferson
resigned as Secretary Of Statel due to his protest against the
whiskey tax. He then went on to help form the
Democratic-Republican Party that supported the rights of States
against the federal government. The same argument was used
during the coming of the American Civil War.
Did this tax affect Emmitsburg?
Yes, Emmitsburg town residents had to pay the whiskey tax as well. A
representative of the Emmitsburg district would come to each home
and collect the person’s share of tax that was owed. This tax
would not have caused much hostility towards the tax collector in
town as it
would have collecting it from the farmers around Emmitsburg. It
is unknown in Emmitsburg’s history if the town rallied against the
Whiskey Tax.
The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794
The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794
impacted the future of the United States. The relationship between
the states and the Federal Government was new, hence, giving the
states the right to govern themselves. The Federalist Party was
dismissed and replaced with the Democratic-Republican Party in
order to keep a healthy relationship between the states and
Federal Government. One must remember that the founding of our
nations’ capital in Washington D.C was formed after the post
Revolutionary War period. The federal government agreed to pay
war debts of the states in exchange for moving the nation’s
capital from Philadelphia south to a swamp area along the Potomac
River that bordered Maryland and Virginia. This was done to keep
the southern states together so they would not secede from the new
union. The Whiskey Rebellion was also the first and only time a
president of the United States would personally lead troops to
disband a rebellion. The question of the federal government versus
the rights of states was not fully determined until after the
American Civil War in 1865.
In 1794, the Whiskey Rebellion had
broken out in western Pennsylvania as tax collectors were
consistently threatened and tarred and feathered. This made
collecting the tax of whiskey almost impossible. By June of 1794,
local authorities arrested resistors of the whiskey tax. In July the
breaking point came when James McFarlane, the commander of the
local militia, was killed by federal troops for defending the besieged
home of a tax official named John Neville. As Neville was rushed
to safety locals started burning buildings belonging to
Neville.
By August 7, 1794, when
negotiations between the federal commissioners and the rebels
failed, George Washington began mobilizing 12,950 troops from
eastern Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey under the
command of General Harry Lee (General Robert E. Lee’s Father and
Revolutionary War Hero). This force was mockingly nicknamed the
“Watermelon Army” by the western Pennsylvania whiskey tax rebels.
Washington, dressed in his
military uniform, personally led the army of over 12,000 troops
into Western Pennsylvania. Washington’s Army easily put down the
Whiskey Rebellion because the farmers, when faced with such a large
force and notable commander, quickly dispersed. The
Whiskey Rebellion marked the dominance of the federal government,
and it also made citizens of the states cautious of this power.
Violence erupts in the
Tri-State Area
Rumors circulated that the
Whiskey tax included taxing Rye, Wheat, Oats, and grain. The tax
would soon cover all agricultural products. More taxes would
increase the excise of male children to fifteen cents and female
children to 10 cents. With these rumors many townsmen had had
enough. The federal government had gone too far and townsmen of
Hagerstown drew the final line.
Reports revealed in August of
1794 that Marylanders had taken up the cause of the rebellion and
sought out to the obtain firearms. In Hagerstown, reports also
were more locally devised and aimed more clearly at overthrowing the
established institutions of authority. Soon, riots occurred all
around the Emmitsburg area near Hagerstown, Cashtown and
Carlisle. The Hagerstown riots were more hostile and ended more
brutally than those in Carlisle Pennsylvania. To secure the
frontier wide independence movement rumors of men from Hagerstown
had plans to raid Frederick’s Federal arson to secure arms.
Baltimore and Philadelphia soon heard rumors that stated that an
armed mob of several thousand was marching toward Frederick to
relieve the Federal Arson of its weapons for the use of the
rebellion. In fact, only a couple of hundred men were planning
these raids. Soon Hagerstown established a liberty pole, a sure
sign of a war coming. Also reports stated that if towns around the
Hagerstown area would not join the rebellion the towns they would be threaten.
The conflict was primarily
between rural members of lower classes, laborers, owners of very
little land and more economically successful residents of the
town. The pole-raisings were described as “invasions” and
accounts noted, “Very few persons of any character or property
were involved in the business.” Attempts to draft these men into
militia units to help suppress the western Pennsylvania insurgency
provided the occasion for the eruptions. Militiamen would beat
their officers from the field on September 1st. Liberty poles
were then raised and hoisted upon it a flag that exhibited the
words “Liberty or Death.”
Hagerstown had formed ranks to
the amount of three to four hundred men to beat down any who refused
to join them by means of threats to march, threatened
town-dwellers, denounced the draft, the excise and the federal
government. They also sought the enlistments for the march on the
Frederick arsenal. Middletown and Funkstown felt the hostility of
the men from Hagerstown when they established two liberty poles at
those places.
The next morning, after the crowd
had dispersed, magistrates and “some of the better disposed part
of the inhabitants” chopped the pole down. Enraged by this assault
on their labors and principles, “the mob gave the alarm in the
country adjacent to the town and were joined by a number of the
country people, who assisted in putting up a second pole, and
swore they would kill any person who should attempt to take it
down." The Hagerstown rioters then guarded the second pole for
several nights.
A witness believed that
recruitment efforts by the rural rabble “would have collected 1000
men had not the Frederick people got notice of their intentions
and armed themselves to the number of 500.” For several days the
mob reigned over Hagerstown, enjoying what one account described
as a “complete ascendancy” that local officials were powerless to
resist.”
The residents of Frederick were
prepared to meet the rioters and shattered the rioters numbers
to about ninety men. Those who left
the Hagerstown rebels dispersed and returned home fearing that a raid
on Frederick was impossible. Hagerstown officials were then able
destroy the “poles of anarchy” and sent out a posse to arrest the
leaders. They rounded up twenty rural folks and returned to the
town where the liberty poles were ceremoniously committed to
flames under the pillory, the prisoners were jailed.
In the interim, Maryland Governor,
Thomas Simm Lee, ordered 8oo militiamen, a company of artillery
and mounted troops to put down the revolt. When the Baltimore
Light Dragoons swept through Washington County during the third
week of September they accumulated around twenty-two prisoners.
Over the next few days they brought in over one hundred more making
the
total of prisoners roughly around 150.
President Washington visits
the towns of the Tri-State Area
After George Washington took
command of the Water Melon Army, he traveled to various towns in
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. He listened to the various
ceremonies about the government versus the state. From
Philadelphia to Cumberland, President Washington took notice of
all the improvements of roads, houses, cultivation, and the towns
themselves.
In this event of a rebellion for
a president and a leader of an army to notice how the land he
helped give its independence and how it was taken care of. He saw
the pride of the layout of the land and towns. He must have felt
a great deal of pride himself for him to continuously write about
the appearance of the land he saw. These rebels were not the sort
who hated the government for the deal of pride they had in their
lands, but a misunderstanding of the government itself. For the
people of this land to see the president and his army must have
felt the terror, yet relieved to see that he took time to come out
and listen to the arguments that the Americans had. For the first
time many citizens seen how the president cared for the well being
not only the Federal Government but also the States themselves and
the people who occupied the lands.
On October 13th, President
Washington wrote in his journal several entries such as this
describing some of the scenery he saw along his way “Having now
passed thro' the States of Pennsylvania & Maryland, Williamsport
being on the Banks of the Potomac, at the Mouth of Conogocheaque;
I shall summarily notice the kind of land, & State of
improvements, along the Road I have come.”
“From the City of Philadelphia,
or rather from Norris Town to Reading the road passes over a
reddish, & slaty, or shelly kind of land, through a very open and
hilly Country, tolerably well cultivated by the farmers. The
farmhouses are good, and their Barns above mediocrity--The former
chiefly of Stone. The whole Road indeed from Philadelphia to
Reading goes over Hilly & broken grounds--but very pleasant
notwithstanding.”
Conclusion
To pay for the military campaigns
against the Indians and to cover the cost of supplies it was
decided to put an additional tariff on the sale of whiskey at the
source. This was the source that started the imminent of a
rebellion. The Whiskey rebellion marked the test of the Federal
Government, the rights of the state and the will of the people.
The rights of the state would not
be fully resolved, but the understanding that for a federal
government to work, it needed funding to operate. The people
found out that if they would rebel against the government their
rebellion cause would be disbanded with the use of military
force.
The Federal Government founded
many frontier states and territories that formed the country that
we know today. With the Whiskey Rebellion and the Indian Wars,
the United States grew claiming much of the territory that the
British and Indians still held. General Wayne’s Treaty to
the Indians opened more land to be settled by Americans and
emigrants and would generate more money for the Federal Government
to support its efforts of military campaigns against Indians, as
well as,
any other threat that may come to this land.
The history
of the Whiskey Rebellion is a small footnote in American History.
Today, you can still see traces of the places President George
Washington stayed during his tour of the Tri-State area.
Widespread rumors have generated into pages of history and signs
announcing, “George Washington stayed here.” One way a visitor
can tell if George Washington had really stayed or visited a house
or tavern is to look for a star made of brass or iron hanging at
the entrance of the house or tavern. In New Midway, Maryland the
Cookery House stands as a reminder of the importance of this
country’s founding. President Washington also stayed in a tavern
located near Biglerville. In Cashtown, Pennsylvania, traces of
Old Route 30 (Hill Top Road) still can remind those who travel how
a president cared for his people and the well being of this
country.
Read other articles on the Revolutionary War
Read
other articles by John Miller
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