They put the word out that if anyone made a space available for Neville and his office, there would be hell to pay. He placed an ad in the Pittsburgh Gazette, requesting a modest space to rent.īut the men from Mingo Creek weren’t about to let a tool of the Federal government have his way. No longer would revenuers have to scour the countryside attempting to register stills - instead, each county would need to set up an office for the Inspector of the Revenue so farmer-distillers would come to them.Īnd in Washington County, General John Neville begged on the good graces of his neighbors to offer him a tax collection office.
From a little Presbyterian church in Washington County, they had set themselves to the task of upsetting any part of Alexander Hamilton’s planned tax enforcement and there was one particular new rule they aimed at for their agitation.
This motley band of marauders would soon become known as the Mingo Creek Association. The farmers were in fear of farm seizers for not registering stills, Shawnee attacks were on the uptick, and a gang of enforcers were striking fear into revenue agents who dared collect a half-cent from a single citizen. The mood around the rest of The Forks wasn’t any better. This latest batch of deserters would meet a much more dire fate - some in front of a firing squad and some at the end of a rope. But “Mad Anthony” as he was known, wasn’t going to be so kind with his latest punishment. The threat of Indian attacks had the fort’s new soldiers on edge and several deserted on August 8th.īack in July, the fort’s first deserter had been shown leniency by the General. Meanwhile, at the newly christened Fort Lafayette in Pittsburgh, General Anthony Wayne was having trouble keeping his new troops from deserting. It must have seemed like anarchy has replaced civility. Even the sign that featured George Washington’s face swung helplessly in the wind, splintered and filled with bullet holes. It was 10 years past the war, but here today, he stood staring at his very own tavern, riddled with bullets, and thoroughly dismantled and trashed on the inside. To Captain William Faulkner, the scene had to be surreal. Transcript The First Shots Across The Bow
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