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"Whereas, It is the opinion of the General Assembly that in the present interesting crisis it is necessary, that every public officer should be at his post, and that all public functionaries should possess the confidence of their constituents, and

"Whereas, It appears that John Smith, Esq., Senator in the Congress of the United States from this State, has not, from certain considerations to us unknown, attended to the duties of that important office, therefore,

"Resolved, by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That it be, and is hereby recommended to John Smith, Esq., that he resign his seat in the Senate of the United States, unless he proceed immediately to his post, and that the Governor be, and he is hereby requested to forward a copy of this resolution to the said John Smith, Esq."

To read this official narrative with its solemn messages, dignified letters and high-sounding resolution, one is led to believe that the State was in a dire crisis, and that at Marietta and Cincinnati all the "pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war" held sway. As a matter of fact the proceedings at both places approached nearly to farcical. Under command of Major General Buell of Marietta, on December 9th, the boats, stores and possessions in the Muskingum River were forcibly seized. An array of raw and undisciplined militia, composed of hardy young pioneers out more for a frolic than war, stationed themselves with cannon along the Ohio River to wait for the dread forces expected from above.

The general public refused to take the situation seriously, and many amusing tricks were played off at the expense of the militia. One night when the sentries were watching for the enemy, an empty tar barrel was placed on an old boat, fired, and set adrift to float down the river. Consternation was spread among the military, and all were sure that the expedition was moving down the stream. Shots were fired and an attack made, but only to find the movement was a hoax.

A waggish rhymester, said to be General E. W. Tupper, one of the commanding officers, wrote a mock-heroic ballad commemorating the humors and absurdities of the campaign. It was entitled "The Battle of Muskingum, or the Defeat of the Burrites," and was sung for many years afterward up and down the river.

Whatever seriousness there was to this military campaign was at Blennerhassett's Island. A few nights before the seizure of the boats on the Muskingum, Comfort Tyler, one of Burr's trusty lieutenants arrived from Pittsburg with four boats and twenty young men claiming to be settlers bound for the Washita; as Tupper's ballad said,

"A few young boys, their mother's joys,
And five men there were found, sirs,

Floating at ease each little sees

Or dreams of death and wound, sirs."

When Tyler met Blennerhassett on his arrival he found him much discouraged at the turn things had taken and almost resolved to give up the project. However, with the firm and persuasive attitude of his wife,

who had taken hold of matters with heroic enthusiasm, and the arrival of Tyler's "forces" he regained his vigor and cast his fame and fortune with Burr. It is not to the credit of the militia that Blennerhassett and Tyler escaped. It is probably explainable by a verse in the ballad:

"This band so bold, the night being cold,
And a blacksmith's shop being handy;
Around the forge they drink and gorge
On whiskey and peach brandy."

At any rate, at midnight of December 10, the four boats with their occupants, when everything was quiet, slipped into the rapid current of the Ohio and sped downward on their way to meet Aaron Burr.

The next day the Virginia militia invaded the island. A few days after a party of fourteen young men on their way to join the expedition were arrested and taken to Blennerhassett's house for trial before three justices of the peace. Mrs. Blennerhassett was at Marietta, and the commanding officer of the militia was absent. The soldiers were tired of warfare; the young men were all discharged for lack of evidence against them. With nothing to do, the soldiers turned to looting the magnificent home. They found wine and brandy in the cellar, and thereupon proceeded to convert themselves into drunken vandals. The beautiful home that had been the wonder and pride of the West, with its elegant furnishings and surrounding shrubbery and gardens, was wrecked. When Mrs. Blennerhassett returned from Marietta, she viewed the ruins with indifference. She wanted to join the expedition, and with the party of young men she ob

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