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| Historians Find the Letters of a
Soldier Involved in the Boston Massacre by
Max A. |
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February 28th, 1770
Dear Samuel,
It has been awhile since I had enough money to afford paper, ink, and a
quill. King George has been paying us only 8 pence a day. It takes more
than a fortnight to earn enough for a small piece of cheate bread and a
pint of ale. At least it was more than what they gave me in that prison
back in England.
Everyday the 29th Regiment of Foot and I go on patrol around the town
of Boston, led by Captain Preston. We live in tents in extremely cold
weather conditions. I share a tent with other soldiers who are as
miserable as I am to be here. They are always complaining about the
Bostonians and how they insult us by yelling Lobsterback! And Lobsters
for sale! Some of the townspeople throw anything and everything they
can find at us. It seems they are spoiling for a fight, though I pay no
mind to them.
Morning after morning, I grab my button breeches, cocked hat, red linen
coat, goatskin knapsack, and Brown Bess musket, and go out into the
cold cobblestone streets. I stand there for what seems like a
fortnight, waiting to pass inspection. If we are not washed, the
officers will whip us as punishment. Many times we have to withstand
being pelted with snowballs and frozen sticks by Colonists. Sometimes
we get diseases such as smallpox, pneumonia, and malaria. We usually go
to the local apothecaries, but sometimes they refuse to service us for
usually they are all Patriots. Last month I had pneumonia. I started
without being able to sleep. When I finally achieved my slumber, my
dreams were invaded by shadowy figures. I woke up panting with a
throbbing headache and a queasy stomach attained in me and I began to
upchuck. My illness lead the evil tyranny in my stomach for two brutal
weeks until it ceased. Illness here is about as common as a rats’
nest in our prison cells.
Life is harsh and cruel, even worse than the prison I was in back
in England. The townspeople are violent and have hated us ever since
we’ve arrived on the first of October two years ago. About a week ago
the Patriot martyr, Christopher Seider, was killed and the townspeople
were enraged. Seider was an eleven year old boy, who with his
rapscallion companions, put up a sign that read IMPORTER on one of the
Tory shoppes. A Richardson fellow, I forget the chap’s first name, saw
the sign and tried to remove it, but the ruffians began hammering him
with snowballs and rocks. Richardson ran into his shoppe, where he
grabbed his musket. He then went to the second floor of his shoppe,
took aim and fired. Shot the little bugger twice - once in the eye and
once in the back. Seider’s funeral was attended by all of Boston, I am
certain. The entire town was infuriated about this incident and have
taken it out on the British troops.
In addition, they are outraged by the taxes that have been passed by
the British Parliament through the Townshend Act. As a result of the
new tax act, the people are being taxed on lead, glass, paint, and tea.
The Townshend Act followed a previous Act which the Crown imposed on
the people for the debt they owed due to the Seven-Year-War. After the
new taxes, the Colonists began to get rowdy, so we were sent here to
take control of the situation. They wanted their voices heard before
the Crown and revolted against the taxes that were issued. So they took
their anger out on us. Taxation without Representation is what they
keep repeating.
I can’t wait to get out of this God-forsaken town and have enough
pounds to return to my homeland - England
Yours Always,
William Salasky
March 7th, 1770
Dear Samuel,
Two days ago occurred an event which could damage my chances of getting
out of the New World. The night of the 5 of March it was. I was at the
tavern when the bells began to rung. Captain Preston grabbed me from my
seat, and we left to check the troubles. We jumped in with the other
soldiers from the 29th Regiment and headed to the Customs House, where
all the commotion was coming from. When we arrived, a large mob of
about four hundred townspeople had gathered in front of the Customs
House. They were pelting our fellow sentry with rocks, stones,
snowballs, and the like. As we moved in, Captain Preston ordered us to
load our muskets and hold our aim. He told us not to fire unless the
matter became too out of hand.
At the same moment, the crowd began to back us up into a nearby
building close to the Customs House. There was confusion everywhere:
people were shoving each other, trying to attack us. We were getting
hit every which way from all directions. In the background church bells
were ringing, and in the foreground people were shouting at us -
telling us to hold our fire, and in the next instant, telling us to
shoot. It was all so confusing.
Meanwhile, the crowd was moving in and closing in on us. Suddenly,
someone threw a frozen stick towards us, and hit my colleague, Hugh
Montgomery in the face. The attack occurred so close to me that I
realized the extreme danger we were all in. I felt angry with all of
the chaos and confusion and had no choice but to fire back in the
crowd. After firing the first shot, my colleagues followed my action,
and the crowds backed off and began scampering away. Even though it was
somewhat out of the blue, I did recognize one of the two people I had
shot. He was Samuel Gray, a fellow from the rope works. He was the
first to encourage some kids to abrade me, and he pestered me every
chance he had. In a way, I had wanted to kill him for mocking me and
now I had my revenge.
The day after this event, General Gage, the leader of the men here in
Boston, scolded us and spoke ill of us, and especially of Captain
Preston. I realized I had been the one who started the King St.
Massacre, as the Gazette called it, and I quickly tried to cover up my
mistake. I intentionally blamed the incident on Hugh for taking the
first shot against his aggressor. Hugh didn’t know whether or not his
rifle actually went off at that moment due to all the confusion, but
still he took the blame.
As I finish this letter, I must hide it for no one must ever know what
I have written here. If I am discovered, I will never get back to
England and you may never see me again.
Yours always,
William Salasky
March 13th, 1770
Dear Samuel,
I have mixed news to share with you, my friend. As a result of the King
St. Massacre, Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Hutchinson and the British
Parliament have announced the decision of the departure of our
soldiers. God is smiling upon those of us who will be returning home to
England. The ships will be loading tomorrow. With all this good fortune
it appears I will return home after all, yes? Yet, with good fortune
comes bad fortune and by that I mean the soldiers of the 29th Regiment
who were involved in the King St. Massacre will be held in prison until
our trials begin. Captain Preston, along with the rest of our regiment
will be tried for the murder of the Colonists. Unfortunately, I was
involved in the blood fight that night, and I will be also put in
prison tomorrow.
I must share with you, my confidant, my recent plan to change the
course of events for myself. I am going to defect from my troop to
escape going to prison again. When the soldiers of my regiment are
taken to prison, I will hide in Long Wharf, which is about 7 rods away.
I will sneak on the ship and join the 32nd or 13th Regiments as they
make their departure and return to England. If I am caught, I will be
put in prison, and tried for the murder of the colonists who died in
the King St. Massacre. If found guilty, I will be executed and hanged
in the gallows in the Boston Common just like one of the witches in
Salem. I, for one, blame the colonists for taunting and intimidating
us. if it were not for them, we wouldn’t have been in this mess and
five of their precious Bostonians would still be alive. We all are here
to do our job for the King and the rest of the English Royals.
Yesterday I heard word of the trials by one of the townsfolk. They will
begin near the beginning of fall this year they announced and will be
in the same building as the prison. The jury will contain people from
cities near or close to Boston. He also said that he has heard rumors
of two of the finest lawyers in Boston are going to defend us: John
Adams and Josiah Quincy Jr. Hopefully I’ll be out of Boston by then if
I succeed. I will write back as soon as I can and in the meantime, stay
out of trouble.
Yours always,
William Salasky
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Historical References:
Chalberg, John. The American
Revolution.
San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1992
Hakim, Joy. From Colonies to
Country. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2003
LeClair, Caitlin. Class. 4 Apr. 2006
Penner, Lucille Racht. Liberty!.
New York: 1998
Runyon, Jane.”Colonial Soldiers.” edHelper. 10 Apr.
2006<http://www.edhelper.com>
American Revolution.
New York: DK Publishing, 2005
Soldiers’ Uniforms and Equipment. 3 Apr.
2006<http://www.lib.msu.edu>
“Timeline.” Spy Letters of the American Revolution.
27 Apr. 2006.<http://www.si.umich.edu>
“What British Soldiers Wore.” Star-Gazette.
<http://www.stargazettenews.com>
U-S-History. Online Highways. 27 Apr 2006.
<http://www.u-s-history.com> |
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