Beau Boulton

The Boston Massacre

It is uncertain whether it was the Bostonians or the British soldiers that
began the conflict that led to Boston Massacre. Some sources, such as the
London Chronicle and the personal account of Captain Preston of the British
soldiers, claim that a group of Boston citizens were harassing a soldier. The
Boston Gazette claimed the soldier began harassing the citizens first. What is
certain is that the two groups had been at odds and had had several
incidents beforehand; therefore, it is likely that neither side was entirely
without fault.
Another certainty is that the conflict somehow escalated to the point of
several soldiers chasing after several colonists with drawn cutlasses,
bayonets, muskets, clubs, and even one soldier wielding a shovel and
another with a pair of tongs. To add to the confusion, the towns alarm bells
had begun ringing at some point. Most assumed they meant there was a fire
as usual, but Captain Preston claimed to have received reports that the bells
were a signal from the colonists to assemble and harass the soldiers.
In any case, the tumult drew a large crowd of mostly unarmed boys
and men, and when the armed soldiers began to stand off against them,
most of the crowd dispersed. The scene ended with somewhere between
eight and fifteen soldiers standing off against thirty to forty colonists on King
Street in front of the commerce building at around 9pm. The remaining
colonists were mostly rope makers, dock workers, and generally hard
working citizens who were suffering the most from having to quarter soldiers.
The colonists insulted the soldiers, threw snowballs and various other small
objects, and threatened them to fire.
Not all sources agree on who gave the order to fire, but many, like the
Boston Gazette, and the personal testimonies of Captain Preston and Boston
citizen Samuel Drowne, agree that someone behind the soldiers yelled to
fire. Samuel Drowne claimed that it was Captain Preston who gave the order.
On the other hand, Captain Preston claimed that he was standing in front of
the soldiers, and that the order from behind was in actuality a taunt from an
enraged colonist. Regardless of who issued the order, the soldiers obliged.
They fired into the crowd, killing several men (sources vary between three
and seven men killed) and injuring several others. Among those killed was
Crispus Attucks, an African American man who, because of this incident, is
often considered as the first martyr of the American Revolution.
What appears in nearly all sources is all that can be sure of. The
denizens of Boston had been at odds with the soldiers they were forced to
quarter. There was a large gathering and a standoff with the soldiers. The
towns bells were ringing, the colonists were harassing the soldiers, and
someone did yell to fire. The soldiers did fire, killing several colonists
including Crispus Attucks. Beyond few consistencies such as these, it may
never be known what exactly happened, due to how greatly sources differ
from one another.