The colony of Massachusetts had successfully resisted the enforcement
of the Stamp Act, and had forced its repeal by the British Parliament.
None the less its rebellious attitude brought a measure of
punishment--the ministry decreed that four regiments should be
quartered in Boston, which had hitherto been free from the obnoxious
presence of a garrison. The coming of the troops was awaited with
apprehension; the majority of the townspeople considered their
presence as a personal affront. However, the soldiers were disembarked
at the long wharf and marched to the Common without any hostile
demonstration on the part of the populace. The soldiers soon settled
in barracks and entered upon a period of dull inactivity, broken only
by occasional clashes with the rougher elements of the town’s
population. After a year had passed away two of the four regiments
were withdrawn, leaving the Fourteenth and the Twenty-ninth, which,
after the events of the massacre, were nicknamed the “Sam Adams
regiments.”
In the strained relations between the colonial authorities and the
home government, the presence of the troops in Boston acted as a
constant irritant. The ruder class of the town’s population, sailors,
ropemakers, and apprentice lads, were imbued with the sentiments of
the patriotic party, but lacked the restraint and self-control that
marked its leaders. The soldiers became a constant butt for the rough
witticisms of the lower town element; they were taunted with the
epithets of “bloody-backs” and “lobsters” in derision of their
uniform. They were constantly dared to fight, and continually reminded
of the restriction that forbade a movement of aggression without the
orders of a civil magistrate. Several times individual soldiers were
provoked into fisticuff contests, and frequently came off second best
in such encounters with the town roughs. Upon the whole, the troops
showed commendable restraint, and, in spite of the bad blood between
them and the populace, for nearly two years no open clash took place.
On the night of March 5, 1770, an incident occurred which, trivial in
itself, led to momentous consequences. A guard stationed at the Custom
House in King’s Square was set upon by a crowd of roughs, and
assaulted with a volley of snowballs. Summoning assistance, the single
soldier was reënforced by a squad of six under command of Captain
Thomas Preston. The town crowd, instead of dispersing, continued its
insults, while its number was constantly swelled by fresh recruits.
During the excitement someone rang the town fire bell, and the
surrounding populace poured into the square to witness the nonexistent
conflagration. The restraint of the troops reached the breaking point.
In the mêlée an order to fire was believed to have been heard. The
soldiers leveled their fusees and fired into the crowd, the first
volley killing four bystanders and wounding several more. Aghast at
the consequences of their act, the offending squad withdrew to the
near-by barracks, leaving the “town-born” to bear away their dead and
wounded.
The excitement in the city grew apace throughout the hours of the
night. The townspeople gathered in the streets, while as the news
spread abroad hundreds flocked in from the countryside. The town
committee met at once, and demanded of the governor that the troops be
removed to the castle in the harbor. After much hesitation and
parleying on the part of the authorities, the request was granted, and
orders were reluctantly given to evacuate the city barracks. Preston
and his firing squad were arrested and placed in the town gaol. The
exasperation and resentment of the populace threatened dire
consequences.
On March 8 occurred the public funeral of the victims, and the
passions of the townspeople were fanned to a still hotter flame; it
was said that fifteen thousand people followed the four coffins to
their last resting place, and that threats of vengeance were openly
expressed. The trial for murder of Preston and the soldiers in the
colony’s civil courts soon followed. Excitement against the accused
ran high. Nevertheless, to the honor of Massachusetts the indicted
were given a fair trial, while two of the colony’s ablest advocates,
John Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr., offered at the risk of their
reputations and popularity to defend the accused. Under these
circumstances Preston and all but two of the soldiers were acquitted.
The latter received a light sentence for manslaughter.
In the meantime the town committee, fearing the adverse effect of this
incident upon the British authorities, and dreading the probable
misrepresentation of the facts before the British public, prepared a
defense of the colony’s position which they published in a pamphlet
entitled: _A Short Narrative of the horrid Massacre in Boston,
Perpetrated in the Evening of the Fifth Day of March, 1770. By
Soldiers of the XXIXth Regiment; which with the XIVth Regiment Were
then Quartered there: with some Observations on the state of things
prior to that Catastrophe._ Printed by Order of the Town of BOSTON,
and Sold by EDES and GILL in Queen-Street And T. & J. FLEET in
Cornhill, 1770.
Attached to this pamphlet was a folded plate, which, according to an
inscription in the lower right-hand corner was “Engraved Printed &
Sold by PAUL REVERE BOSTON.” Recently Mr. Frank J. Wilder, of Boston,
a member of the State Historical Society, presented to its Library one
of the early reproductions, now become rare, of this celebrated
engraving. The receipt of this interesting gift, which now hangs in
the military history room of the Museum, has directed attention to the
history of the print, which proves to be of no less interest than is
the print itself.
Paul Revere, later so prominently associated with the first struggle
of the Revolutionary War, was of Huguenot descent, a native of Boston,
and had for some time served the colony as a gold- and silversmith.
His first efforts at engraving were confined to silver plate; later he
began to produce engravings drawn on copper plates and printed on
paper. One of the earliest of these productions was a view of Boston
showing the disembarkation of the troops. Revere was an ardent
patriot, and in all probability formed one of the crowd of spectators
in King Street Square when the soldiers fired upon the populace. In
the Boston Public Library is still preserved a sketch by his hand of
the site of the massacre, with indications on the diagram showing
where the victims fell. This drawing was no doubt used during the
trial of Captain Preston and his soldiers.
Revere was likewise in close personal relations with Edes and Gill,
the publishers of the exculpatory pamphlet, and he often prepared wood
cuts for the paper they issued, the Boston _Gazette and Country
Journal_. An interesting illustration of his work appears in the issue
of this journal for March 12, 1770, where above the column devoted to
an account of the public funeral of the victims appear four miniature
black coffins. That these were the work of Revere we learn from an old
account book, found among his papers, wherein, under the entry for
March 9, is a charge to Edes and Gill of six shillings for “Engraving
5 Coffings for Massacre,” while pinned to the page is a paper pattern
the size and shape of the tiny coffins appearing in the newspaper. The
State Historical Society of Wisconsin possesses a copy of this old
journal, and there may be seen the heavily black-leaded page, on which
mourning is displayed for the Boston dead, and the prints of the
“coffings” engraved by Revere, on each of which is cut a skull and
crossbones over the initials of the victim. On that of the youngest of
the four appear the words: “Ae. 17,” with a scythe and hourglass
indicative of his having been cut off in the flower of youth. On the
same page with the account of the tragedy and the funeral occurs the
following interesting letter from Captain Preston:
BOSTON-GAOL, Monday, 12th March, 1770.
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
Permit me thro’ the Channel of your Paper, to return my
Thanks in the most Publick Manner to the Inhabitants of this
Town--who throwing aside all Party and Prejudice, have with
the utmost Humanity and Freedom stept forth Advocates for
Truth, in Defence of my injured Innocence, in the late
unhappy Affair that happened on Monday Night last: And to
assure them, that I shall ever have the highest Sense of the
Justice they have done me, which will be ever gratefully
remembered, by
Their much obliged and most obedient humble Servant,