Quincy Massacre The Quincy Massacre was a battle in the town of Quincy , a settlement belonging to the Commonwealth Minutemen , fought when the Gunners launched an invasion of the town . The attack was very successful , leading to the destruction of the Commonwealth Minutemen with only twenty surviving ( including Preston Garvey ) , and the occupation of Quincy as a permanent Gunner stronghold . The Battle . In 2287 , in response to a vision of Mama Murphy ' s , Sturges the mechanic requested aid from the Commonwealth Minutemen . A small detachment of Minutemen under the command of Colonel Ezra Hollis , including in their number Preston Garvey and Clint , arrived to defend the town . This turned out to be in the nick of time , as a large force of Gunners led by Baker were already laying siege to it . The Minutemen were initially able to drive them off by attacking from the rear . Hollis moved his force into the town , where Sturges registered his unease about how few of them there were . Preston Garvey worked with Sturges to reinforce defenses and build walkways between buildings . While the Gunners attack the walls daily , the town had enough ammunition and defenses to hold out in the short term . Hollis requested more back - up from other units , none of whom arrived due to internal disputes . Veteran Minuteman Clint arrived at Quincy gates , but while Hollis believed he was answering the call for reinforcements , Clint revealed he had defected to the Gunners and is the one leading the attack . Unsuccessful at convincing Col . Hollis and the mayor to stand down , Clint leaves to renew the assault . Under the leadership of Clint , the Gunners attack Quincy from the overhanging highway under the cover of darkness , turning the town into a shooting gallery . The battle quickly devolved into a massacre for the Minutemen and inhabitants of Quincy , as was over in under an hour . All of the town ' s civilians and Minutemen were killed except for Preston Garvey and nineteen others , who were able to escape to Jamaica Plain . Hollis was taken prisoner , and according to Clint was not able to believe the latter ' s betrayal until Clint killed Hollis himself . Aftermath . The battle dealt a killing blow to the Commonwealth Minutemen as they were , with the movement too few in number and rife with distrust to hold together . Those that remained who did not arrive to defend Quincy faded away . The Gunners dispatched a further detail to finish off Preston ' s group . They killed several more of them at Jamaica Plain , but were unable to stop the rest of them escaping . Preston ' s continued attempts to protect his group of survivors eventually took them to the ruins of Lexington . Feral ghouls whittled their number down to eight , before Jared ' s raider band , lead by Gristle , killed a further three and forced the five survivors to take shelter in Concord ' s Museum of Freedom . Clint was promoted to commander of Quincy by Captain Wes for his actions . Determined that the town would not be taken in the same way it had fallen to the Gunners , he fortified the highway , set up a radio tower and captured two sets of power armor in order to defend it . If the Sole Survivor visits Quincy , they will see the armor being worn by Clint himself , and the other set by Tessa , who wields Tessa ' s Fist ( a modified power armor piece ) . If the Survivor so chooses , the town can be attacked and Clint , Baker and Tessa can all be killed to avenge the Minutemen . Notes . Despite what Preston believes , it seems that not many people know of the Quincy Massacre . None of the Diamond City guards comment about the massacre , and Piper successfully convinces Danny Sullivan to open the gate by convincing him that the Sole Survivor is a trader from Quincy .