Boston 1775

After being acquitted of murder at the Boston Massacre on 5 Dec 1770, Cpl. William Wemys and five private soldiers “went their Way thro’ ...

The 17 Dec 1770 Boston Gazette reported on the third trial for the Boston Massacre by naming all the defendants and concluding, “After a...

As reported here , jurors convicted Pvt. Mathew Kilroy and Edward Montgomery of manslaughter instead of murder for the Boston Massacre . M...

As described yesterday , the trial of the eight enlisted men for the Boston Massacre ended with six acquittals and two convictions. The...

After Robert Treat Paine finished his closing argument in the second Boston Massacre trial on 5 Dec 1770, the justices delivered their ch...

John Adams ’s closing argument in the trial of soldiers for the Boston Massacre started on 3 Dec 1770 and lasted until the next day. Th...

Among the men who brawled at John Gray ’s ropewalk on 2 Mar 1770 were a young ropemaker named Samuel Gray (no known relation) and Pvts. ...

Yesterday we saw rookie town watchman Edward G. Langford dealing with the influx of British soldiers —and, more troublesome, British army ...

The Boston Massacre occurred 244 years ago today. From the start that was a controversial event with different participants seeing it quite...

A few years back, Don Hagist, blogger and author of British Soldiers, American War , alerted me that the name of Pvt. Hugh White of His M...

Under the rules of criminal trials at the time of the Boston Massacre , defendants weren’t allowed to testify on their own behalf. That mean...

Pvt. Mathew Kilroy was one of the soldiers of His Majesty’s 29th Regiment of Foot put on trial after the Boston Massacre of 5 Mar 1770. F...

Yesterday I quoted a story from George R. T. Hewes that was published in Traits of the Tea Party in 1835. It described how he saw a Briti...

With the Boston Massacre anniversary and reenactments coming up , I’m giving the writs of assistance a short rest in favor of more violent...

Yesterday I quoted the start of blockmaker James Brewer ’s testimony about what he had seen on King Street on the night of Monday, 5 Mar 17...

On Wednesday, 28 Nov 1770, the Crown called James Brewer , blockmaker, to the witness stand at the trial of soldiers for the shootings on Ki...