Answer:
I saw the people in great commotion, and heard them use
the most cruel and horrid threats against the troops . . . They
immediately surrounded the sentinel posted there, and with clubs
and other weapons threatened to execute their vengeance upon
him. I was soon informed by a townsman, their intention was to
carry off the soldier from his post, and probably murder him . . .
I immediately sent a non-commissioned officer and twelve men
to protect both the sentinel and the King’s money, and very soon
followed myself, to prevent, if possible, all disorder . . . They soon
rushed through the people, and, by charging their bayonets in half
circle, kept them at a little distance . . . The mob still increased,
and were more outrageous, striking their clubs or bludgeons,
one against the other and calling out, ‘Come on you rascals, you
bloody backs, you lobster scoundrels; fire if you dare
Explanation:
