nOn March 6th, 1817,
Johnson told the marchers: 'If your leaders
could get you as far as Birmingham, the whole would be done, for I have no doubt you would be 100,000-strong. Then, gentlemen, it would amount to an impossibility to bring anything to resist you.'
nAs they planned to
sleep rough, the marchers were to carry
rolled up blankets or overcoats on their shoulders, to keep them warm at night. They were quickly dubbed "The Blanketeers."
nThe protest was
mainly peaceful carried out in a legal fashion in defiance of the new government
legislation.
nDrummond urged the
marchers to behave with decorum while
Bagguley warned that anyone causing trouble would be handed over to the magistrates.