May 3, 1775
“The intelligence you seem to have received, relative to the late excursion of a body of Troops into the Country, is altogether injurious, and contrary to the true state of facts,” wrote British General Thomas Gage to Jonathan Trumbull, the governor of Connecticut. He was answering a letter that Trumbull had sent to him a few days before, talking about the battles of Lexington and Concord, and asking about what the British troops had done — some people said that they had committed “outrages” that “would disgrace even barbarians” — and why Boston was now cut off from the outside world. Gage responded:
The Troops disclaim with indignation the barbarous outrages of which they are accused, so contrary to their known humanity….For your better information, I enclose you a narrative of that affair, taken from gentlemen of indisputable honour and veracity, who were eye-witnesses of all the transactions of that day. The leaders here have taken pains to prevent any account of this affair getting abroad but such as they have thought proper to publish themselves; and to that end the post has been stopped, the mails broke open, and letters taken out; and by these means the most injurious and inflammatory accounts have been spread throughout the Continent, which has served to deceive and inflame the minds of the people….
You ask, why is the Town of Boston now shut up? I can only refer you for an answer to those bodies of armed men who now surround the Town, and prevent all access to it.
I don’t know, off the top of my head, how true it was that, as Gage said, the rebel leaders were basically censoring mail in order to prevent people from hearing the other side of the story. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was truth in it, though; after all, they were now at war, and letters written by the enemy — including those who sided with the British — probably seemed like fair game.
Sources
“Governour Trumbull to General Gage. [Read before Congress, May 19, 1775.] Hartford, April 28, 1775.” American Archives, ed. Peter Force, Series 4, Volume 2, 433-4.
“General Gage to Governour Trumbull. [Read before Congress, May 19, 1775.] Boston, May 3, 1775.” American Archives, ed. Peter Force, Series 4, Volume 2, 482-3.