rnor's commands. It would
expose him to the charge not only of disobedience, but of open
rebellion. Bacon, however, like all that dwelt upon the frontiers, was
angered at the inadequate protection given by the government. When news
came to him that depredations had been committed upon one of his own
plantations, and that his overseer had been killed, he was eager to take
revenge.[514]

Now some of Bacon's friends, as anxious as he for an Indian expedition,
and thinking him most proper to conduct it, suggested his name to the
volunteers. The men were quite willing to accept so influential a
commander, but it was not so easy to persuade Bacon to take the
dangerous place. He consented, however, to row across the river, and
visit the soldiers in their camp. Here the men gathered around him, and
with joyous shouts of, "A Bacon! A Bacon!" proclaimed him their leader.
His friends pressed him to accept. They would, they said, accompany him
on his expedition. If the Governor ordered them to disband, they would
defy him. "They drank damnation to their souls", if they should prove
untrue to him. Touched by these proofs of confidence, and fired perhaps
with ambition, the young man yielded, and Bacon's Rebellion had
begun.[515]

From the very first the movement assumed the character of an
insurrection.[516] Amid the hearty applause of his rough followers,
Bacon spoke of the negligence, the incapacity and wickedness of the
government. Their betrayal into the hands of the savages was but one of
many grievances. The laws were unjust, the taxes oppressive. Something
must be done to redress these wrongs and to end misgovernment.[517] And
as the poor people flocked in to him, he listed their names in a huge
round-robin and bound them to him by an oath of fidelity.[518]

A message was dispatched to the Governor to request a commission
authorizing the expedition against the Indians.[519] But Bacon promised
his men that if Sir William withheld his assent, he would lead them
forth without it; and in the meanwhile, without waiting for the
Governor's reply, he crossed over into New Kent, "a county ripe for
rebellion", where he expected to strengthen his position and perhaps
attack the Pamunkeys.[520] This nation had for many years been friendly
to the English, and had more than once given them invaluable assistance
against other Indian tribes. Their present queen was the widow of
Tottopottomoi, who had been killed while fighting as the ally