imposing one, such, if practicable, as will deter from opposition, save
the effusion of the blood of the citizens, and serve the object to be
accomplished." He proposed a force of twelve thousand men, of whom three
thousand were to be cavalry, and he advised that, in addition to the
Pennsylvania militia, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia should each
contribute a quota.

All the members of the Cabinet except Randolph concurred in Hamilton's
opinion. The practical execution of the measures was entrusted to
Hamilton, who acted with great sagacity. Some appearance of timidity and
inertia in Pennsylvania state authority was indirectly but effectually
counteracted by measures which showed that the military expedition would
move even if Pennsylvania held back. Although some troops were to gather
at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, others were to meet at Cumberland Fort,
Virginia. The business was so shrewdly managed that Pennsylvania state
authority fell obediently into line, and the insurgents were so cowed by
the determined action of the Government that they submitted without a
struggle. Washington thought that this event would react upon the clubs
and "effectuate their annihilation sooner than it might otherwise have
happened." A general collapse among them certainly followed, and they
disappeared from the political scene.

It is in the nature of precaution that the more successful it is the less
necessary it appears to have been, and thus the complete success of
Hamilton's management furnished his enemies with a new argument against
him of which they afterwards made great use. The costly military
expedition that had no fighting to do was continually held up to public
ridicule. That the expense was trifling in comparison with the objects
achieved must deeply impress any one who examines the records of the
times. A mistake might have been fatal to the existence of the Government.