On the night of the first day of the session a large public meeting was held in the Courthouse over which General Thomas Craig Miller, of Adams County, presided.
The Governor then issued a proclamation which stated that “a lawless, infuriated, armed mob, from the counties of Philadelphia, Lancaster, Adams and other places, have assembled at the seat of government with the avowed object of disturbing, interrupting and overawing the Legislature of this Commonwealth and of preventing its proper organization and the peaceful and free discharge of its duties. This mob had entered the Senate Chamber and threatened the lives of the members and it still remained in the city in force, etc.”
The Governor called upon the civil authorities, the military force of the Commonwealth and the citizens to hold themselves in readiness for instant duty.
Troops Called Out in “Buck Shot War” on
December 5, 1838
Amid all the excitement of the first day of the “Buckshot” War, December 4, 1837, at the moment Governor Joseph Ritner had issued his proclamation calling upon the people to disperse the lawless element and to add further excitement, the State Arsenal was seized by friends of the Governor, where large quantities of powder and cartridges were stored. The proclamation and call for troops and the seizure of the arsenal filled the city of Harrisburg with intense alarm.
William Cochran, Sheriff of Dauphin County, issued a proclamation in which he stated that at no time had there been any riotous proceedings, nor any disturbances which rendered necessary his interposition as a civil officer to preserve peace.
The following day, December 5, the Governor made a requisition on Major General Robert Patterson, commanding the First Division Pennsylvania Militia to furnish sufficient of his command to “quell this insurrection.”
General Patterson obtained from the Frankford Arsenal a supply of the regular ammunition for infantry, which was then buckshot. About a hundred of General Patterson’s command arrived in Harrisburg, on Saturday night, December 8, and the next afternoon 800 troops arrived. They were paraded through the streets to the public grounds in front of the State Arsenal.