Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 73, November, 1863 by Various

V >> Various >> Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 73, November, 1863

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On Friday, the second of March, in the forenoon, as three soldiers were
at Gray's Ropewalks, near the head of India Wharf, they were asked by
one of the workmen to empty a vault. Sharp altercation followed this
insult, and the soldiers went off, but soon returned with a party of
their comrades, when there was a challenge to a boxing-match, and this
grew into a fight, the rope-makers using their "wouldring-sticks," and
the soldiers clubs and cutlasses. It proved to be the most serious
quarrel that had occurred. Lieutenant-Colonel Carr, commander of the
Twenty-Ninth, which, Hutchinson said, was composed of such bad fellows
that discipline could not restrain them, made a complaint to the
Lieutenant-Governor relative to the provoking conduct of the rope-maker
which brought on the affray; and thus this affair became the occasion of
political consultation, which tended to intensify the animosity between
the parties.

On Saturday, the report was circulated that the parties who were engaged
in this affray would renew the fight on Monday evening; on Sunday, Carr
and other officers went into the ropewalk, giving out that they were
searching for a sergeant of their regiment; but though on these days
there was much irritation, the town was comparatively quiet.

On Monday, the Lieutenant-Governor laid the complaint of
Lieutenant-Colonel Carr before the Council, and asked the advice of this
body, which gave rise to debate about the removal of the
troops,--members freely expressing the opinion, that the way to prevent
collisions between the military and the people was to withdraw the two
regiments to the Castle. No important action was taken by the Council,
although the apprehension was expressed that the ropewalk affair might
grow into a general quarrel. And it is worthy of remark, that, ominous
as the signs were, the Lieutenant-Governor took no precautionary
measures, not even the obvious step of having the troops restrained to
their barracks. His letters, and, indeed, his whole course, up to the
eventful evening of this day, indicate confidence in the opinion that
there was no intention on the part of the popular leaders to molest the
troops, and that the troops, without an order from the civil authority,
would not fire on the citizens.

Nor was there now, as zealous Loyalists alleged, any plan formed by the
popular leaders, or by any persons of consideration, to expel the troops
by force from the town, much less the obnoxious Commissioners of the
Customs; nor is there any evidence to support the allegation on the
other side, that the crown officials, civil or military, meditated or
stimulated an attack on the inhabitants. The Patriots regarded what had
occurred and what was threatened, like much that had taken place during
the last seventeen months, as the motions of a rod of power needlessly
held over the people to overawe them, serving no earthly good, but
souring their minds and embittering their passions; the crown officials
represented this chafing of the free spirit at the incidents of military
rule as a sign of the lost authority of Government and of a desire for
independence. Among the fiery spirits, accurately on both sides the
mob-element, the ropewalk affair was regarded as a drawn game, and a
renewal of the fight was desired on the ground that honor was at stake;
while to spirit up the roughs among the Whigs, to use Dr. Gordon's
words,--"the newspapers had a pompous account of a victory obtained by
the inhabitants of New York over the soldiers there in an affray, while
the Boston newspapers could present but a tame relation of the result of
the affray here." These facts account satisfactorily for the intimations
and warnings given during the day to prominent characters on both sides,
and for the handbill that was circulated in the afternoon. The course
things took fully justifies the remark of Gordon, that "everything
tended to a crisis, and it is rather wonderful that it did not exist
sooner, when so many circumstances united to hasten its approach."

There was a layer of ice on the ground, a slight fall of snow during the
day, and a young moon in the evening. At an early hour, as though
something uncommon was expected, parties of boys, apprentices, and
soldiers strolled through the streets, and neither side was sparing of
insult. Ten or twelve soldiers went from the main guard, in King Street,
across this street to Murray's Barracks, in Brattle Street, about three
hundred yards from King Street; and another party came out of these
barracks, armed with clubs and cutlasses, bent on a stroll. A little
after eight o'clock, quite a crowd collected near the Brattle-Street
Church, many of whom had canes and sticks; and after a spell of
bantering wretched abuse on both sides, things grew into a fight. As it
became more and more threatening, a few North-Enders ran to the Old
Brick Meeting-House, on what is now Washington Street, at the head of
King Street, and lifted a boy into a window, who rang the bell. About
the same time, Captain Goldfinch, of the army, who was on his way to
Murray's Barracks, crossed King Street, near the Custom-House, at the
corner of Exchange Lane, where a sentinel had long been stationed; and
as he was passing along, he was taunted by a barber's apprentice as a
mean fellow for not paying for dressing his hair, when the sentinel ran
after the boy and gave him a severe blow with his musket. The boy went
away crying, and told several persons of the assault, while the Captain
passed on towards Murray's Barracks, but found the passage into the yard
obstructed by the affray going on here,--the crowd pelting the soldiers
with snowballs, and the latter defending themselves. Being the senior
officer, he ordered the men into the barracks; the gate of the yard was
then shut, and the promise was made that no more men should be let out
that evening. In this way the affray here was effectually stopped.

For a little time, perhaps twenty minutes, there was nothing to attract
to a centre the people who were drawn by the alarm-bell out of their
homes on this frosty, moonlight, memorable evening; and in various
places individuals were asking where the fire was. King Street, then, as
now, the commercial centre of Boston, was quiet. A group was standing
before the main guard with firebags and buckets in their hands; a few
persons were moving along in other parts of the street; and the sentinel
at the Custom-House, with his firelock on his shoulder, was pacing his
beat quite unmolested. In Dock Square, a small gathering, mostly of
participants in the affair just over, were harangued by a large, tall
man, who wore a red cloak and a white wig; and as he closed, there was a
hurrah, and the cry, "To the main guard!" In another street, a similar
cry was raised, "To the main guard!--that is the nest!" But no assault
was made on the main guard. The word went round that there was no fire,
"only a rumpus with the soldiers," who had been driven to their
quarters; and well-disposed citizens, as they withdrew, were saying,
"Every man to his home!"

But at about fifteen minutes past nine, an excited party passed up Royal
Exchange Lane, (now Exchange Street,) leading into King Street; and as
they came near the Custom-House, on the corner, one of the number, who
knew of the assault on the apprentice-boy, said, "Here is the soldier
who did it," when they gathered round the sentinel. The barber's boy now
came up and said, "This is the soldier who knocked me down with the
butt-end of his musket." Some now said, "Kill him! knock him down!" The
sentinel moved back up the steps of the Custom-House, and loaded his
gun. Missiles were thrown at him, when he presented his musket, warned
the party to keep off, and called for help. Some one ran to Captain
Preston, the officer of the day, and informed him that the people were
about to assault the sentinel, when he hastened to the main guard, on
the opposite side of the street, about forty rods from the Custom-House,
and sent from here a sergeant, a very young officer, with a file of
seven men, to protect the sentinel. They went over in a kind of trot,
using rough words and actions towards those who went with them, and,
coming near the party round the sentinel, rudely pushed them aside,
pricking some with their bayonets, and formed in a half-circle near the
sentry-box. The sentinel now came down the steps and fell in with the
file, when they were ordered to prime and load. Captain Preston almost
immediately joined his men. The file now numbered nine.

The number of people here at this time is variously estimated from
thirty to a hundred,--"between fifty and sixty" being the most common
statement. Some of them were fresh from the affray at the barracks, and
some of the soldiers had been in the affair at the ropewalks. There was
aggravation on both sides. The crowd were unarmed, or had merely sticks,
which they struck defiantly against each other,--having no definite
object, and doing no greater mischief than, in retaliation of
uncalled-for military roughness, to throw snowballs, hurrah, whistle
through their fingers, use oaths and foul language, call the soldiers
names, hustle them, and dare them to fire. One of the file was struck
with a stick. There were good men trying to prevent a riot, and some
assured the soldiers that they would not be hurt. Among others, Henry
Knox, subsequently General, was present, who saw nothing to justify the
use of fire-arms, and, with others, remonstrated against their
employment; but Captain Preston, as he was talking with Knox, saw his
men pressing the people with their bayonets, when, in great agitation,
he rushed in among them. Then, with or without orders, but certainly
without any legal form or warning, seven of the file, one after another,
discharged their muskets upon the citizens; and the result indicates the
malignity and precision of their aim. Crispus Attucks, an intrepid
mulatto, who was a leader in the affair at Murray's Barracks, was killed
as he stood leaning and resting his breast on a stout "cord-wood stick";
Samuel Gray, one of the rope-makers, was shot as he stood with his hands
in his bosom, and just as he had said, "My lads, they will not fire";
Patrick Carr, on hearing the alarm-bell, had left his house full of
fight, and, as he was crossing the street, was mortally wounded; James
Caldwell, in like manner summoned from his home, was killed as he was
standing in the middle of the street; Samuel Maverick, a lad of
seventeen, ran out of the house to go to a fire, and was shot as he was
crossing the street; six others were wounded. But fifteen or twenty
minutes had elapsed from the time the sergeant went from the main guard
to the time of the firing. The people, on the report of the guns, fell
back, but instinctively and instantly returned for the killed and
wounded, when the infuriated soldiers prepared to fire again, but were
checked by Captain Preston, and were withdrawn across the street to the
main guard. The drums beat; several companies of the Twenty-Ninth
Regiment, under Colonel Carr, promptly appeared in the street, and were
formed in three divisions in front of the main guard, the front division
near the northeast corner of the Town-House, in the kneeling posture for
street-firing. The Fourteenth Regiment was ordered under arms, but
remained at their barracks.

The report now spread that "the troops had risen on the people"; and the
beat of drums, the church-bells, and the cry of fire summoned the
inhabitants from their homes, and they rushed through the streets to the
place of alarm. In a few minutes thousands collected, and the cry was,
"To arms! to arms!" The whole town was in the utmost confusion; while in
King Street there was, what the Patriots had so long predicted, dreaded,
and vainly endeavored to avert, an indignant population and an
exasperated soldiery face to face. The excitement was terrible. The care
of the popular leaders for their cause, since the mob-days of the Stamp
Act, had been like the care of their personal honor: it drew them forth
as the prompt and brave controlling power in every crisis; and they were
among the concourse on this "night of consternation." Joseph Warren,
early on the ground to act the good physician as well as the fearless
patriot, gives the impression produced on himself and his co-laborers as
they saw the first blood flowing that was shed for American liberty.
"Language," he says, "is too feeble to paint the emotions of our souls,
when our streets were stained with the blood of our brethren, when our
ears were wounded by the groans of the dying, and our eyes were
tormented by the sight of the mangled bodies of the dead." "Our hearts
beat to arms; we snatched our weapons, almost resolved by one decisive
stroke to avenge the death of our slaughtered brethren."

Meantime the Lieutenant-Governor, at his residence in North Square,
heard the sound of the church-bell near by, and supposed it was an alarm
of fire. But soon, at nearly ten o'clock, a number of the inhabitants
came running into the house, entreating him to go to King Street
immediately, otherwise, they said, "the town would be all in blood." He
immediately started for the scene of danger. On his way, in the
Market-Place, he found himself amidst a great body of people, some armed
with clubs, others with cutlasses, and all calling for fire-arms. He
made himself known to them, but pleaded in vain for a hearing; and, to
insure his safety, he retreated into a dwelling-house, and thence went
by a private way into King Street, where he found an excited multitude
anxiously awaiting his arrival. He first called for Captain Preston; and
a natural indignation at a high-handed act is expressed in the stern and
searching questions which the civilian put to the soldier, bearing on
the vital point of the subordination of the military to the civil power.

"Are you the commanding officer?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Do you know, Sir, you have no power to fire on any body of people
collected together, except you have a civil magistrate with you to give
orders?"

Captain Preston replied,--

"I was obliged to, to save the sentry."

So great was the confusion that Preston's reply was heard but by few.
The cry was raised, "To the Town-House! to the Town-House!" when
Hutchinson, by the irresistible violence of the crowd, was forced into
the building, and up to the Council-Chamber; and in a few minutes he
appeared on the balcony. Near him were prominent citizens, both
Loyalists and Whigs; below him, on the one side, were his indignant
townsmen, who had conferred on him every honor in their power, and on
the other side, the regiment in its defiant attitude. He could speak
with eloquence and power; throughout this strange and trying scene he
bore himself with dignity and self-possession; and as in the stillness
of night he expressed great concern at the unhappy event, and made
solemn pledges to the people, his manner must have been uncommonly
earnest. "The law," he averred, "should have its course; he would live
and die by the law." He promised to order an inquiry in the morning, and
requested all to retire to their homes. But words now were not
satisfactory to the people; and those near him urged that the course of
justice had always been evaded or obstructed in favor of the soldiery,
and that the people were determined not to disperse until Captain
Preston was arrested. In consequence, Hutchinson ordered an immediate
court of inquiry. The Patriots also entreated the Lieutenant-Governor to
order the troops to their barracks. He replied, that it was not in his
power to give such an order, but he would consult the officers. They now
came on to the balcony,--Dalrymple of the Fourteenth Regiment being
present,--and after an interview with Hutchinson returned to the troops.
The men now rose from their kneeling posture; the order to "shoulder
arms" was heard; and the people were greatly relieved by seeing the
troops move towards their barracks.

The people now began to disperse, but slowly, however. Meanwhile, the
court of inquiry on Captain Preston was in session, and, after an
examination that lasted three hours, he was bound over for trial. Later,
the file of soldiers were also arrested. It was three o'clock in the
morning before the Lieutenant-Governor left the scene of the massacre.
And now all, excepting about a hundred of the people, who formed
themselves into a watch, left the streets. Thus wise action by the crown
officials, the activity of the popular leaders, and the habitual respect
of the people for law, proved successful in preventing further carnage.
"It was Royal George's livery," said Warren, "that proved a shield to
the soldiery, and saved them from destruction." Hence, a contemporary
versifier and participator in these scenes was able to write,--

"No sudden rage the ruffian soldier bore,
Or drenched the pavements with his vital gore;
Deliberate thought did all our souls compose,
Till veiled in gloom the low'ry morning rose."

During the night, the popular leaders sent expresses to the neighboring
towns, bearing intelligence of what had occurred, and summoning people
from their beds to go to the aid of Boston; but as the efforts to
restore quiet were proving successful, the summons was countermanded.
This action accounts for the numbers who, very early in the morning of
the sixth of March, flocked into the town. They could learn details of
the tragedy from the actors in it,--could see the blood, the brains
even, of the slaughtered inhabitants,--could hear the groans of the
wounded,--could view the bodies of the dead. This terrible revelation of
the work of arbitrary power, to a people habitually tender of regard for
human life, naturally shocked the sensibilities of all; and thus the
public temper was again wrought up to a fearful pitch of indignation. It
required the strongest moral influence to restrain the rash, and to
guide in the forms of law a righteous demand for a redress of grievance
and for future security.

The Lieutenant-Governor, during the night, had summoned such members of
the Council as were within reach to meet in the Council-Chamber in the
morning; and on joining them, he found the Selectmen, with most of the
justices of the county, waiting for him, to represent, as he says,
"their opinion of the absolute necessity of the troops being at a
distance, that there might be no intercourse between the inhabitants and
them, in order to prevent a further effusion of blood." Such was the
logic of events which now forced the seventeen months' question of the
removal of the troops on the civil and military authorities with an
imperativeness that could not be resisted.

The question, however, came up now in a new shape. To put it in the
simplest way, and in the very words used on that day,--the people were
so excited by the shedding of blood on the preceding night, that they
were resolved no longer to acquiesce in the decision of the constituted
authorities as to the troops; but, failing in other means, they were
determined to effect their removal by force, let the act be deemed
rebellion or otherwise. Not that any conspiracy existed; not that any
plan had been matured to do this; but circumstances had transferred the
question from the domain of reason to that of physical force; and the
only point with the crown officials, during this whole day's
deliberations, was, whether they would be justified in what appeared to
them lowering the national standard at the demand of a power which they
habitually represented as "the faction," or whether they might venture
to take the responsibility of resisting the demand and of meeting the
consequences. Well might John Adams say, "This was a dangerous and
difficult crisis."

The Selectmen expressed to the Lieutenant-Governor the opinion, that
"the inhabitants would be under no restraint whilst the troops were in
town." "I let them know," Hutchinson says, "that I had no power to
remove the troops." They also informed him that they had been requested
to call a town-meeting, which was the special dread of Hutchinson. As
the settled determination of the people became revealed, the anxiety of
the Lieutenant-Governor naturally deepened as to what the day might
bring forth; and he sent for Colonels Dalrymple and Carr to be present
in Council and act as military advisers. But the discussions here were
interrupted by the entrance of a messenger from another assembly,
bearing the ominous summons for the immediate presence among them of the
Selectmen.

This summons invites attention to the movements of the people, who had
been constantly coming in from the neighboring towns, and had now
gathered in great numbers in and around Faneuil Hall, to use
Hutchinson's words, "in a perfect frenzy." It was, however, the general
disposition, volcanic as were the elements, to act with caution,
deliberation, and in a spirit of unity, and, doubtless, with the
consideration that the eyes of the friends of their cause were upon
them, and the name and fame of Boston were at stake. The hours passed,
and no warrant appeared calling a town-meeting; when, at eleven o'clock,
the town-records say, "the freeholders and other inhabitants" held a
meeting, "occasioned, by the massacre made in King Street by the
soldiery." The town-clerk, William Cooper, acted as the chairman. This
true and intrepid patriot held this office forty-nine years, which
speaks for his fidelity to duty, intelligence, devotion to principle,
and moral worth. "The Selectmen," his clear, round record reads, "not
being present, and the inhabitants being informed that they were in the
Council-Chamber, it was voted that Mr. William Greenleaf be desired to
proceed there and acquaint the Selectmen that the inhabitants desire
and expect their attendance at the Hall." This was virtually a command,
and the Selectmen immediately repaired thither. Thomas Cushing was
chosen the Moderator. He was now the Speaker of the House of
Representatives; and though not of such shining abilities as to cause
him to be looked up to in Boston as a leader, and of the moderate class
of Patriots, yet, by urbanity of manner, a high personal character,
diligent public service, and fidelity to the cause, he won a large
influence. It was next voted that Constable Wallace wait upon the
Reverend Dr. Cooper and acquaint him that the inhabitants desired him to
open the meeting with prayer. This great divine was a brother of the
town-clerk, and the pastor of the Brattle-Street Church. He was devoted
to the Patriot cause, and on the most confidential terms with the
popular leaders; and besides being rich in genius and learning, he had,
says Dr. Eliot, a gift in prayer peculiar and very excellent. He
complied with the request, but no reporter has transmitted the words of
this righteous man, or described this solemn assembly, as fervent prayer
now went up for country.

The meeting next voted to invite any citizen to give information of the
massacre of the preceding evening, "that the same might be minuted by
the town-clerk"; whereupon several persons related details of the
tragedy. One said he heard a soldier, after the firing, say, that "the
Devil might give quarter, he should give none"; another said he heard a
soldier say, that "his officer told him, that, if the soldiers went out
that night, they must go armed and in companies"; another related a
soldier's story of a scheme formed to kill the inhabitants; another
said, he "descried a soldier who struck down the inhabitants." These
homely words are life-like glimpses of the spirit of the hour. No speech
could have been more eloquent, because none could have been better
calculated to deepen the general conviction and minister to the common
emotion. However, so many witnesses were ready to testify, that it was
found to be impracticable to hear all; and a committee was appointed to
receive and digest the evidence.

Samuel Adams addressed this remarkable meeting. He spoke with a pathos
peculiar to himself. His manner, naturally impressive, was rendered more
so by the solemnity of the occasion, and every heart was moved. The
great hour demanded dignity and discretion in unison with firmness, and
they were combined in the action of the meeting. It resolved that the
inhabitants would submit no longer to the insult of military rule. A
committee of fifteen was chosen to wait on the Lieutenant-Governor, and
acquaint him that it was the unanimous opinion of the meeting that the
inhabitants and soldiery could no longer dwell together in safety, and
that nothing could be rationally expected to restore the peace of the
town and prevent additional scenes of blood and carnage but the
immediate removal of the troops; and to say, further, that they most
fervently prayed his Honor that his power and influence might be exerted
in order that this removal might be instantly effected. This committee
well represented the intelligence, the patriotism, the varied interests,
and whatever there was of true greatness in Boston. The meeting now
dissolved; when the Selectmen issued a warrant for a regular
town-meeting to convene at the same place, at three o'clock in the
afternoon.

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