fate would have been, if once at their mercy, there was little doubt. The
city authorities now became alarmed, murder was imminent, and having no
police force sufficient to cope with such a formidable mob, they decided
that the city was in a state of insurrection, and called out the military.
About three o'clock, the force marched up the street, and passed quietly
through the crowd, which opened as they advanced. As they moved past, a
shower of dirt and stones followed them, accompanied with taunts, and
jeers, and mocking laughter. The whole military movement was evidently
intended only for intimidation--to show the rioters what could be done if
they resorted to violence; for the soldiers, instead of taking up their
quarters, as they should have done, in the building, having exhibited
themselves, marched away. But the mob, still retaining its position and
threatening attitude, another force, a little later, consisting of only
twelve men, was sent up. This was worse than nothing, and as the little
handful marched solemnly up, the crowd broke out into derisive laughter,
and all sorts of contemptuous epithets were heaped upon them. Instead of
waiting for them to come near, they rushed down, the street to meet them,
and swarming like bees around them, snatched away their muskets, and broke
them to pieces on the pavement. [Footnote: John Jay and Baron Steuben were
both wounded in trying to allay the mob.] The soldiers, disarmed,
scattered, and hustled about, were glad to escape with whole bodies.

This first act of open resistance excited the rioters still more--they had
passed the Rubicon, and were now ready for anything, and "to the jail! to
the jail!" arose in wild yells, and the turbulent mass poured like a
tumultuous sea around the building. They rushed against the doors, and
with united shoulders and bodies endeavored to heave them from their
hinges. But being secured with heavy bolts and bars, they resisted all
their efforts. They then smashed in the windows with stones, and attempted
to force an entrance through them; but the handful of men inside took