George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 6, 10th edition.

[338] From ten to twenty boys came after them, asking,

Chap. XLIII} 1770. March

‘Where are they, where are they?’ ‘There is the soldier who knocked me down,’ said the barber's boy,¹ and they began pushing one another towards the sentinel.² He primed and loaded his musket.³ ‘The lobster⁴ is going to fire,’ cried a boy. Waving his piece about, the sentinel pulled the trigger.⁵ ‘If you fire you must die for it,’ said Henry Knox, who was passing by. ‘I don't care,’ replied the sentry; ‘damn them, if they touch me I'll fire.’ ‘Fire and be damned,’ shouted the boys, for they were persuaded he could not do it without leave from a civil officer; and a young fellow spoke out, ‘We will knock him down for snapping;’ while they whistled through their fingers and huzzaed.⁶ ‘Stand off,’ said the sentry, and shouted aloud, ‘Turn out, main guard.’⁷ ‘They are killing the sentinel,’ reported a servant from the Custom House, running to the main guard. ‘Turn out, why don't you turn out?’ cried Preston,⁸ who was Captain of the day, to the guard. ‘He appeared in a great flutter of spirits,’ and ‘spoke to them roughly.’ A party of six, two of whom, Kilroi and Montgomery, had been worsted at the Ropewalk,⁹ formed with a corporal in front, and Preston following.¹⁰ With bayonets fixed, they haughtily ‘rushed through the people,’¹¹ upon the trot, cursing them, and pushing them as they went