Shays' Rebellion: Assault on the Armory

On January 25, 1787, approximately 1,500 rebels led by Daniel Shays marched on the Springfield Armory, hoping to seize weapons to strengthen their rebellion against the Massachusetts government. General William Shepard, commanding a militia force defending the armory, ordered artillery fire that killed four attackers and wounded twenty.

The rebel force scattered, and Shays' army never recovered. The assault's failure marked the beginning of the end for the rebellion, though sporadic resistance continued for months. The ease with which the armory's defenders repulsed the attack demonstrated the importance of organized military capability — the same lesson the Revolution itself had taught.

Shays' Rebellion shocked the nation's leaders. It demonstrated that the Articles of Confederation could not maintain domestic order, and it accelerated the movement toward the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia later that year.