Beschreibung:

HAMILTON, Alexander. Letter signed ("Alexander Hamilton on behalf of the Secretary of War"), as acting Secretary of War, TO PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR THOMAS MIFFLIN (1744-1800), "War Department," [Germantown, Pennsylvania] 9 September 1794, 2½ pages, 4to, endorsement on page 4 . WASHINGTON, KNOX AND HAMILTON MOBILIZE "THE WHISKEY ARMY" TO SUPPRESS THE WHISKEY REBELLION An extremely important official letter, written on President Washington's instructions, announcing the Federal government's long anticipated military move to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion. Hamilton, former Secretary of the Treasury, was serving in the place of Henry Knox, Secretary of War; thus the unusual note after his signature "On Behalf of the Secretary of War." Washington, Hamilton and other government figures had been meeting in Philadelphia, but on August 8 relocated to Germantown to escape the summer's heat. The Whiskey Rebellion, a direct challenge to the authority of the new Federal Government and its President, began when frontier residents refused to accept an excise tax--levied solely for revenue purposes--enacted upon Hamilton's urging. Whiskey was an important home-produced commodity and mode of exchange in the frontier areas, and armed resistance swept western Pennsylvania, fanned by the anti-Federalist Democratic Societies. Tax collectors were assaulted, the mails were plundered and acts of violence ensued. There was talk of secession and armed marches upon Philadelphia. Washington's and Hamilton's worst fear was that the insurrection would spread south, into the Kentucky territories. When the rebels ignored Washington's proclamation to disband, Washington gave the command to mobilize 12,950 militiamen, the so-called "Whiskey Army." The elderly President "decided that he would himself take command. Perhaps because he no longer felt competent to handle the necessary masses of detail, he agreed to take Hamilton along. Hamilton had been his chief of staff during the Revolution, but he was now known as the father of the excise. By riding side by side with the hated Federalist, Washington committed what was to date his worst political discretion" (J.T. Flexner. Washington: The Indispensable Man , 1984, p.321). Hamilton writes: "The last intelligence from the Western Countries of this State...leaves the issue of measures for an amicable accommodation so very doubtful, and the season for military operation is wearing away so fast, that the President, with great reluctance, finds himself under a necessity of putting in motion, without further delay, all the militia which have been called for. I am therefore instructed by him to request that your Excellency will immediately cause the quota of this State to assemble. The general rendezvous appointed by the President...is Carlisle, where also the Jersey militia will be ordered to repair without further detail..." Mifflin is to designate local marshalling centers: "I was glad to understand from you, in conversation, that Philadelphia, Reading, and Lancaster, were intended." Hamilton suggests the soldiers bring their own supplies "to be compensated for them by the public." The Quartermaster will contact Mifflin about "what proportions of tents, and camp equipage ought to be sent." He closes with a rousing appeal: "The President, in making this final call entertains a full confidence that Pennsylvania will upon an occasion which so immediately affects herself, as well as the general interests, display such zeal and energy as shall maintain unsullied her character for discernment, love or order, and true patriotism. It is unnecessary to add, that the part she shall act is of peculiar consequence to the welfare and reputation of the whole nation...." In the end the Whiskey Rebellion fizzled out in the face of the army's advance. Some ringleaders were arrested and convicted, but later pardoned by Washington. The incident proved, though, an important test of the Federal government's power of enforcement.