On the evening of 8 September 1778, an altercation occurred in Boston between bakers
employed making bread for the French fleet anchored offshore and a number of unidentified
townspeople. When the crowd asked the bakers for some bread to eat, the bakers refused, so the
crowd assaulted both the bakers and a pair of French naval officers who hurried to the scene,
severely injuring a number of Frenchmen. One of the officers, a distant relation of the French king,
died from his wounds a few days later. Fearful that the incident would irreparably damage the new
Franco-American relationship, the American officials in Boston did their utmost to prevent the
incident from escalating. All involved found it most convenient to explain away the incident as the
actions of a few British provocateurs serving aboard privateers in Boston Harbor. This paper
addresses two issues relating to the incident. Firstly, it suggests that those who assaulted the French
were in fact Bostonians and that British sailors were blamed purely out of political expediency.
Secondly, it investigates whether the riot was primarily motivated by hunger or whether other causes
were more prevalent and suggests a mix of factors. This paper uses personal and official
correspondence, period newspapers, and judicial records, as well as secondary literature, to examine
the socio-economic situation in Boston at the time and the strain the arrival of the French fleet put on
supplies in the city.