<P> The Journal of Occurrences, an anonymously written series of newspaper articles, chronicled clashes between civilians and soldiers while troops were stationed in Boston, feeding tensions with its sometimes exaggerated accounts of the events . Tensions rose markedly after Christopher Seider, "a young lad about eleven Years of Age", was killed by a customs employee on February 22, 1770 . Seider's death was glorified in the Boston Gazette, and his funeral was described as one of the largest of the time in Boston . The killing and subsequent propaganda inflamed tensions, with gangs of colonists looking for soldiers to harass, and soldiers also on occasion looking for confrontation . </P> <P> On the evening of March 5, Private Hugh White, a British soldier, stood on guard duty outside the Custom house on King Street, today known as State Street . A young wigmaker's apprentice named Edward Garrick called out to a British officer, Captain - Lieutenant John Goldfinch, that Goldfinch had not paid a bill due to Garrick's master . Goldfinch had in fact settled his account and ignored the insult . Private White called out to Garrick that he should be more respectful of the officer . Garrick exchanged insults with Private White . Then, after Garrick started poking the officer in the chest with his finger, the officer left his post, challenged the boy, and struck him on the side of the head with his musket . As Garrick cried in pain, one of his companions, Bartholomew Broaders, began to argue with White . This attracted a larger crowd . Henry Knox, a 19 - year - old bookseller (who would later serve as a general in the revolution), came upon the scene and warned White, "if he fired he must die for it ." </P> <P> As the evening progressed, the crowd around Private White grew larger and more boisterous . Church bells were rung, which usually signified a fire, bringing more people out . Over fifty Bostonians pressed around White, led by a mixed - race runaway slave named Crispus Attucks, throwing objects at the sentry and challenging him to fire his weapon . White, who had taken up a somewhat safer position on the steps of the Custom House, sought assistance . Runners alerted the nearby barracks and Captain Thomas Preston, the officer of the watch . According to his report, Preston dispatched a non-commissioned officer and six privates of the 29th Regiment of Foot, with fixed bayonets, to relieve White . The soldiers Preston sent were Corporal William Wemms, Hugh Montgomery, John Carroll, William McCauley, William Warren, and Matthew Kilroy . Accompanied by Preston, they pushed their way through the crowd . En route, Henry Knox, again trying to reduce tensions, warned Preston, "For God's sake, take care of your men . If they fire, you must die ." Captain Preston responded "I am aware of it ." When they reached Private White on the custom house stairs, the soldiers loaded their muskets, and arrayed themselves in a semicircular formation . Preston shouted at the crowd, estimated to number between three and four hundred, to disperse . </P> <P> The crowd continued to press around the soldiers, taunting them by yelling, "Fire!", by spitting at and throwing snowballs and other small objects at them . Richard Palmes, a local innkeeper who was carrying a cudgel, came up to Preston and asked if the soldiers' weapons were loaded . Preston assured him they were, but that they would not fire unless he ordered it, and (according to his own deposition) that he was unlikely to do so, since he was standing in front of them . A thrown object then struck Private Montgomery, knocking him down and causing him to drop his musket . He recovered his weapon, and was thought to angrily shout "Damn you, fire!", then discharged it into the crowd although no command was given . Palmes swung his cudgel first at Montgomery, hitting his arm, and then at Preston . He narrowly missed Preston's head, striking him on the arm instead . </P>

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