Mopping Up
Lincoln's march marked the end of large-scale organized resistance. Ringleaders who eluded capture fled to neighboring states, and pockets of local resistance continued. Some rebel leaders approached Lord Dorchester, the British governor of Quebec for assistance, who was reported to promise assistance in the form of Mohawk warriors led by Joseph Brant. (Dorchester's proposal was vetoed in London, and no assistance came to the rebels.)
The same day that Lincoln arrived at Petersham, the state legislature passed bills authorizing a state of martial law, giving the governor broad powers to act against the rebels. It also authorized state payments to reimburse Lincoln and the merchants who had funded the army, and authorized the recruitment of additional militia. On February 12 the legislature passed the Disqualification Act, seeking to prevent a legislative response by rebel sympathizers. This bill expressly forbade any acknowledged rebels from holding a variety of elected and appointed offices.
Most of Lincoln's army melted away in late February as enlistments expired; by the end of the month he commanded but thirty men at a base in Pittsfield. In the meantime some 120 rebels had regrouped in New Lebanon, New York, and on February 27 they crossed the border. Marching first on Stockbridge, a major market town in the southwestern corner of the state, they raided the shops of merchants and the homes of merchants and local professionals. This came to the attention of Brigadier John Ashley, who mustered a force of some 80 men, and caught up with the rebels in nearby Sheffield late in the day. In the bloodiest encounter of the rebellion, 30 rebels were wounded (one mortally), at least one government soldier was killed, and many were wounded. Ashley, who was further reinforced after the encounter, reported taking 150 prisoners.
Read more about this topic: Shays' Rebellion