tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post2712950361195713093..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: Boston Riots in Memory and MythUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-23440931363512101902012-07-31T09:54:10.053-05:002012-07-31T09:54:10.053-05:00There's also the testimony that one soldier st...There's also the testimony that one soldier stuck his bayonet into Gray's head wound, and Kilroy's bayonet was found to be bloody the next morning, which might indicate heightened anger. <br /><br />Not all the witnesses agreed about which soldier stood where, though. Given that confusion and the absence of any remarks from Kilroy, I hesitate to say he recognized Gray or aimed at him. The jurymen decided Kilroy was more guilty than most of his comrades (he was one of the two soldiers convicted of manslaughter), so perhaps they concluded otherwise.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-12023592615763898762012-07-31T05:58:44.494-05:002012-07-31T05:58:44.494-05:00The evidence that Kilroy deliberately singled out ...The evidence that Kilroy deliberately singled out Samuel Gray is somewhat stronger than you make it to be John. There is a deposition by one Charles Hobb who claimed that one of the grenadiers, at a distance of four or five yards, pointed his musket directly at Gray's head and fired. In testimony at the trial, Edward Gambett Langford identified Gray's shooter as Pvt Kilroy.Langford was sure of his identification of Kilroy but not so sure that Gray was his exclusive target.<br />It should also be noted that in standing next to Crispus Attucks, who was described as unusally tall, Gray was sure to be noticed.<br />While hardly dispositive, the evidence does give one pause. This wouldn't be the first time a soldier took advantage of a situation to settle a personal score.EJWitekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05796418061787943596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-86118619115560418942012-07-31T01:56:29.978-05:002012-07-31T01:56:29.978-05:00Good to hear that the errors appeared in the event...Good to hear that the errors appeared in the event description, not in the event. I was pleased to see the West End Museum highlighting ropewalks as an important part of Boston's manufacturing past, and featured the exhibit in <a href="http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2012/05/ropewalks-in-west-end.html" rel="nofollow">this posting</a>.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-59600511589127737852012-07-30T22:01:08.517-05:002012-07-30T22:01:08.517-05:00I was the man that gave the talk at the west end m...I was the man that gave the talk at the west end museum, they confused the wording to make john and samuel brothers, i know they were not, i was talking about the massacre as an out pouring of the riots earlier, not that they exsited at the same spot. One led to the other, in a way. The atkinson street walks were not far from the head of long warf where the massacre took place, sorry for the confusion in the shortly worded invite, the talk clarified things. I would have loved to have seen you there john. The focus at the west end museum right now is the history of the rope walks in the west end and through out boston. They do a wonderful job there. One of the little known museums in boston, well worth the trip. I had not been there before i spoke therAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-41746514975527631902012-07-30T19:46:45.323-05:002012-07-30T19:46:45.323-05:00Yes, there was some guessing that Pvt. Matthew Kil...Yes, there was some guessing that Pvt. Matthew Kilroy shot Samuel Gray because he recognized him from the ropewalk fight. <br /><br />I might think that a stretch except that Benjamin Burdick testified about soldiers staking out his house, where another ropemaker boarded, the day after the ropewalk fight. Burdick headed the watchmen in the center of town, so he was an attentive witness. So some soidiers definitely knew which ropemakers they had been fighting.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-88864796679968679692012-07-30T19:39:13.525-05:002012-07-30T19:39:13.525-05:00I'm not sure that soldiers were employed at Gr...I'm not sure that soldiers <i>were</i> employed at Gray's ropewalk, but they could have been. Regulars were allowed to moonlight when not on duty, and because the army took care of their basic needs they could probably underprice local laborers. <br /><br />The fights at Gray's ropewalk started when ropemaker William Green hailed Pvt. Patrick Walker with what sounded like an offer of work, only to suggest that Walker clean the outhouse. So whether Green resented soldiers like Walker taking jobs or just saw an opportunity to make fun of a poorer man is unclear, but soldiers' freedom to work definitely played a role in bringing on those fights.<br /><br />Complicating things, we know that a soldier named Pvt. Patrick Dines worked at Piemont's barber shop, and that apprentices at that shop visited him at his barracks over the weekend. So there was an example of a soldier working alongside locals on friendly terms. Nevertheless, those same apprentices were involved in the quarrel with Pvt. Hugh White that led straight into the Massacre.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-57955937203208003412012-07-30T14:12:32.801-05:002012-07-30T14:12:32.801-05:00There is some evidence that Samuel Gray, who was s...There is some evidence that Samuel Gray, who was standing directly next to Crispus Attucks, during the "massacre", was deliberately singled out and shot by a grenadier from the 29th Regiment who had participated in a March 2nd brawl at Gray's ropeworks along with Samuel Gray. Both Attucks and Gray were described as being no more than fifteen feet from the Redcoats when shot.<br /> There is no record of Samuel Gray being involved in any political agitation and, in fact, he probably thought he was getting in on some more "fun' like the March 2nd brawl. When a musketball pierced his head, he was standing peacefully with his hands inside his coat.<br /> How one could confuse the site of the "Boston Massacre" with Gray's ropewalk is totally beyond me.EJWitekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05796418061787943596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-18875690143435562522012-07-30T14:07:04.898-05:002012-07-30T14:07:04.898-05:00I recall reading somewhere that several "regu...I recall reading somewhere that several "regulars"were employed at the rope works, and that bad feelings surfaced between them and other workers over what was perceived as the loss of opportunities for civilians to work. More agitation that resulted in the Massacre.Jim Padiannoreply@blogger.com