On 25 October 1786, at this spot, General David Cobb, commanding four hundred militiamen and volunteers, defeated insurgents in Shays’ Rebellion as they attempted to prevent the session of the Supreme Judicial Court in Taunton and seize its papers. This event ended the rebellion within the limits of the Old Colony. Here also, in October 1774, nearly two years before the Declaration of Independence, the citizens of Taunton raised a union flag bearing the inscription “Liberty and Union.”

Photo: Michael Herrick

Photo: Michael Herrick

Taunton, Massachusetts · USA