Finally
he was arrested. Major Woods, who had been an officer in the war, was
in command of the Government forces. Shattuck was secreted at the
house of one Gregg, who lived near where the house of John Gilson now
stands. The season was winter. It was believed that Gregg betrayed
Shattuck. When Shattuck discovered his peril, he fled and made his
way toward the Nashua River, which was then frozen. His pursuers
followed, but at unequal pace. When he had crossed the river, he saw
that the three men in sight were widely separated from each other.
Shattuck turned, and for a time he became the pursuer. The first man
ran, then the second, but finally Shattuck fell on the ice, with
sword in hand. His pursuers seized him. Upon his refusal to surrender
his sword, they cut the cords of his hand, and wounded him in the leg.
He was tried, sentenced to be hanged, and confined in the jail at
Concord.
The election of 1786 turned upon the questions at issue, and especially
upon the execution of the persons under sentence. Bowdoin was the
candidate of the "Law-and-Order Party," and John Hancock was nominated
by the friends of the convicts. Hancock was elected by a vote of about
nineteen thousand against less than six thousand for Bowdoin. The
convicts were pardoned, and a stay law was passed. The demand of the
Shays men was reasonable, and the Government was guilty of a criminal
error in resisting it.
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