Thomas Preston (British army officer)

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Thomas Preston was an officer of the 29th Regiment of Foot who was present at the Boston Massacre March 5, 1770. [1]He was acquitted of all charges in a trial held in Boston, Massachusetts. Future US President John Adams was his attorney. Two of his men, Hugh Montgomery and Mathew Kilroy, were found guilty of manslaughter and branded on the thumb with a hot iron. After his trial, Preston retired from the army and reportedly settled in Ireland, though Adams recalled seeing him in London in the 1780s.