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January 10, 1769, Tuesday, The British Army Seems to Have Run Out of Hard Currency 418 Days before the                                 Boston Massacre

1/10/2017

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The British Army had not been paid since occupying Boston October 1, 1768.[i]  Pay to any army is critical to morale.   This oversight is believable since the principals that ordered the British to Boston failed miserably at finding food and housing for their troops.  By now the British military and administration had stumbled badly relying on the Billeting Act, to keep their soldiers warm.  Our blog, We were Englishmen at Heart but Antagonist in Law will provide you with some incite into common laws that collided in the streets of Boston. On this day,  Arrogant warehouse confiscations by the British and rental price gauging by the Colonials, resulted in legal and physical confrontations that left the soldiers out in the cold: half of them camped on the Common with tents of little value in a New England winter.  The end result was massive desertions that panicked General Thomas Gage into extreme measures.
 
Desertions among the British Army started very early in the first week of occupation. 

The country they were sent to occupy more resembled a garden of Eden than a town in revolution.   Boston and the territories offered unusual opportunities for economic and social growth.  In just a few miles the non-commissioned soldier could put behind them the British Army’s harsh discipline, meager pay and promotions limited by social class.

Reports vary but approximately 70 or so soldiers deserted in the first month. Initially and defensively, the British Officer’s Corp complained that the Colonials encouraged desertion.    On October 31, 1768, thirty-one days into the occupation of Boston, Richard Arnes, a private of the 14th Regiment was shot on the Boston Commons for desertion.  Up to this point lashing was the principle discipline. Unbelievable as it seemed, 1,000 lashes for a first time offender was the initial attempt to limit desertion.  
 
Try to Adopt an 18th Century perspective! British check-points manned by 3-5 soldiers of low rank throughout the city and shadowy checkpoints to catch deserters just outside the city, prevented a normal means of transportation and commerce.  Forget about a leisurely walk.  Men of military age are dressed down, transport contents are searched or bayoneted, women are rudely addressed in the city and personal goods are inspected for compliance with customs laws. All of this imposed by the British Army on their cousins of equal English citizenship. 
 
Lack of hard currency was a problem in Boston for everyone, especially the non-commissioned British soldier.  Tomorrow we will describe this impact on a collapsing economy.
 
In future blogs we will cover the escalating events that drove the citizens and soldiers to the bloody riot of March 5, 1770; the Boston Massacre.  
 
 Future blogs will expand on:
  • 238 years of Impressment
  • Non-importation (boycotts)
  • Indenture of British soldiers
  • Corruption of desertion, indenture
  • Representation in Parliament
  • Propaganda as news and political tools
  • Murder, manslaughter, justifiable homicide, self-defense
  • Planned political confrontations
  • The Neck near riot
  • The Seider killing
  • A riot over cord wood at the neck
  • Three rope walk battles
  • The three trials
  • The aftermath
 
 
Tours begin in April 1, 2018, or upon request .  “Schedule Now”; Paypal or credit card links are available here.



[i] .  The New York Journal Supplement of February 9, 1769, pages 1-2.  Extracted by A Journal of the Times. . . . Chapman & Grimes, Mount Vernon Press, Boston.
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  • Freedom Trail Tour
    • The Boston Massacre Tour
    • Boston Civil War Tour
    • The Kennedy Tour
    • The Boston Massacre Lesson Plan
    • Paul Revere's Row to Charlestown 4/18/1775
    • Virtual Tour of the Massachusetts State House
    • The Boston Massacre per the Pennsylvania Gazette
    • Paul Revere Lesson Plan
  • Revere Bells Index
    • The Stickney Revere Bell Listings of 1976
    • Paul Revere Bell of Beverly
    • Revere Bells in Boston >
      • Paul Revere Bell Old South Meeting House
    • California's 2 Paul Revere Bells
    • Paul Revere & Son's Bell Westborough Massachusetts
    • Falmouth, Massachusetts
    • Revere Bell Fredericksburg VA
    • Revere Bell Hampton NH
    • First Parish Church of Kennebunk
    • Revere Bells in Maine
    • Revere Bell in Mansfield
    • Revere Bell of Michigan
    • Revere Salem Mass Bell
    • Roxbury First Unitariarn Universalist Church and their Revere Bell
    • Revere & Son Bell, Savannah Georgia
    • Singapore Revere Bell
    • Tuscaloosa Bell >
      • History of the St John and Leavens Patriarchs
      • Samuel St John Jr Estate Genealogy
      • Authenticating the Revere Tuscaloosa Bell
      • Joshua B Leavens Last Will and Testament
      • 20th Century Tuscaloosa bell
    • Revere Bells Lost in Time
    • Revere Bells Washington DC
    • Revere Bell in Wakefield, Mass
    • Revere Bells Woodstock VT
  • Bostonians
    • Edward F Alexander of The Harvard 20th Civil War Regiment
    • Polly Baker
    • John Wilkes Booth
    • The Mad Hatter, Thomas, Boston Corbett who Killed John Wilkes Booth
    • Richard-Henry-Dana-Jr
    • James Franklin
    • Benjamin Harris of Publick Occurrences
    • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
    • William Lloyd Garrison
    • USS Thomas Hudner DDG116
    • Edward Hutchinson Robbins Revere
    • Amos Lincoln
    • King Philip
    • Mayor's of Boston
    • Mum Bett & Theodore Sedgwick
    • James Otis
    • Paul Joseph Revere
    • John Rowe >
      • John Rowe's Diary Entries
      • John Rowe's Dinner Party
      • John Rowe and the Jail Fire
      • Hang John Rowe?????
      • John Rowe the Fisherman
      • Joh Rowe's Tea Ship
    • Be Proud to be Called a Lucy Stoner
    • Rachel Wall , Pirate
    • Paul Revere the Coroner of Boston
    • Deborah Sampson
    • Who was Mrs. Silence Dogood?
    • Dr. Joseph Warren's Dedication
  • History Blog
  • Lilja's of Natick
    • Lilja Brothers Military History
    • Lilja's Family Album
    • Memorials and Tributes to the Five Lilja Brothers
    • Lilja Family Tree
    • Lilja Historical Family Tree Documents
    • Lilja References
  • Collage of Boston
    • 4th of July Parade, Bristol RI
    • Boston Harbor
    • The Customs House
    • Forest Hills Cemetery
    • Georges Island
    • Nonviolent Monument to Peace - Sherborn
    • The Battle Road
    • Skate bike and scooter park
    • Cassin Young & USS Cassin Young
    • MIT
    • Historic Charles River
    • The Roxbury Standpipe on Fort Hill
    • John & Abigail Adams National Park