Colonial Campaigns Club (CCC)

1770: Boston Massacre

In the cold, snowy night a mob of American colonists gathers at the Customs House in Boston and begins taunting the British soldiers guarding the building. The protesters, who called themselves Patriots, were protesting the occupation of their city by British troops, who were sent to Boston in 1768 to enforce unpopular taxation measures passed by a British parliament that lacked American representation. British Captain Thomas Preston, the commanding officer at the Customs House, ordered his men to fix their bayonets and join the guard outside the building. The colonists responded by throwing snowballs and other objects at the British regulars, and Private Hugh Montgomery was hit, leading him to discharge his rifle at the crowd. The other soldiers began firing a moment later, and when the smoke cleared, five colonists were dead or dying--Crispus Attucks, Patrick Carr, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, and Christopher Monk--and three more were injured. Although it is unclear whether Crispus Attucks, an African American, was the first to fall as is commonly believed, the deaths of the five men are regarded by some historians as the first fatalities in the American Revolutionary War.

The British soldiers were put on trial, and patriots John Adams and Josiah Quincy agreed to defend the colonists in a show of support of the colonial justice system. When the trial ended in December 1770, two British soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter and had their thumbs branded as punishment.

The Sons of Liberty, a Patriot group formed in 1765 to oppose the Stamp Act, advertised the "Boston Massacre" as a battle for American liberty and just cause for the removal of British troops from Boston.


<s>1781</s>1776: General Howe orders the evacuation of Boston.

On the 4th, the General had noticed how many cannon The Colonials had pointed at him and his troops from Dorchester Heights, South of Boston, he couldn't believe how much work they had done in, what he believed to be, just one night. He didn't realize it took two nights, because the Continentals hid the evidence of their first night's work. General Washington and his troops had put their guns on Dorchester Heights where they could command Boston, threaten the British Army, and made the Boston Harbor unsafe for any British ship.

At first, General Howe planned to attack to recapture Dorchester Heights. In the end, he decided to leave Boston and move his troops to New York, which was more important to both armies since it would control the traffic to and from Canada. A big storm came up in the night giving the General an excuse for the evacuation.

It should be noted that the evacuation of Boston would not occur for some days - St. Patrick's Day, March 17, to be exact. March 5 was the day that the decision was made.

edited from us.military.history (Where RTO Trainer seems to be error prone, I have been too lazy to fact check[:I] - Thanks Jack.)

Mike, excellent narrative, as always, but please check your dates - I think the British "strategically withdrew" from Boston in 1776.

The moral of the story is to not bring a snowball to a gunfight.

Mike, great work. But don't forget to report the uncounted Rebel routings.[:D] Enough stuff for some years of articles.[^]