THE BOSTON MASSACRE The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770. On the cold, snowy night of March 5, 1770, a mob of American colonists gathers at the Customs House in Boston and begins taunting the British soldiers guarding the building !he "rotesters, who called themsel#es $atriots , were "rotesting the occu"ation of their city by British troo"s, who were sent to Boston in 17%& to enforce un"o"ular ta'ation measures "assed by a British "arliament that lacked American re"resentation The presence of British troops in the city of Boston was increasingly unwelcome. The riot began when about 50 citizens attacked a British sentinel. British Ca"tain !homas $reston, the commanding o)cer at the Customs House, ordered his men to fix their bayonets and +oin the guard outside the building !he colonists responded by throwing snowballs and other ob+ects at the British regulars, and $ri#ate Hugh Montgomery was hit, leading him to discharge his rifle at the crowd !he other soldiers began *ring a moment later, and when the smo(e cleared, *#e colonists were dead or dying—Cris"us Attucks, $atrick Carr, .amuel /ray, .amuel Ma#erick, and James Caldwell—and three more were in+ured !he deaths of the *#e men are regarded by some historians as the first fatalities in the American Revolutionary War. !he British soldiers were "ut on trial, and "atriots John Adams and Josiah 1uincy agreed to defend the soldiers in a show of su""ort of the colonial +ustice system When the trial ended in 3ecember 1770, two British soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter and had their thumbs branded with an "M" for murder as "unishment !he .ons of 5iberty, a $atriot grou" formed in 17%5 to o""ose the .tam" Act, ad#ertised the 4Boston Massacre" as a battle for American liberty and +ust cause for the remo#al of British troo"s from Boston In April 1775, the American Revolution began when British troops from Boston skirmished with American militiamen at the battles of Lexington and Concord. The British troops were under orders to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington and to confiscate the Patriot arsenal at Concord. Eleven months later, in March 1776, British forces had to evacuate Boston following American General George Washington's successful placement of fortifications and cannons on Dorchester Heights. This bloodless liberation of Boston brought an end to the hated eight-year British occupation of the city. For the victory, General Washington, commander of the Continental Army, was presented with the first medal ever awarded by the Continental Congress. The massacre is reenacted annually on March 5[ under the auspices of the Bostonian Society. The Old State House, the massacre site, and the Granary Burying Ground are all part of Boston's Freedom Trail, connecting sites important in the city's revolutionary-era history..