| Evacuation Day | |
|---|---|
 The 1879 paintingEvacuation Day and Washington's Triumphal Entry | |
| Observed by | New York City |
| Significance | Date when the last British troops left New York |
| Date | November 25 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| First time | November 25, 1783 (1783-11-25) |
Evacuation Day on November 25 marks the day in 1783 when British forces evacuatedNew York City after theTreaty of Paris led to the end of theAmerican Revolutionary War. In their wake, GeneralGeorge Washington triumphantly led theContinental Army from his headquarters north of the city across theHarlem River, and south through Manhattan tothe Battery at its southern tip.[1]
Following the significant losses at theBattle of Long Island on August 27, 1776,GeneralGeorge Washington and theContinental Army retreated across theEast River by benefit of both a retreat and holding action by well-trainedMaryland Line troops atGowanus Creek and Canal and a night fog which obscured the barges and boats evacuating troops to Manhattan Island.[2] On September 15, 1776, the British flag replaced the American atopFort George, where it was to remain until Evacuation Day.[citation needed]
Washington's Continentals subsequently withdrew north and west out of the town and following theBattle of Harlem Heights and later action at the river forts ofFort Washington andFort Lee on the northwest corner of the island along theHudson River on November 16, 1776, evacuatedManhattan Island. They headed north forWestchester County, fought a delaying action atWhite Plains, and retreated acrossNew Jersey in theNew York and New Jersey campaign.[citation needed]
For the remainder of theAmerican Revolutionary War, much of what is nowGreater New York was underBritish control.New York City (occupying then only the southern tip of Manhattan, up to what is today Chambers Street), became, underAdmiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, Lord Howe and his brotherSir William Howe, General of the British Army, the British political and military center of operations inBritish North America.David Mathews wasMayor of New York during the occupation. Many of the civilians who continued to reside in town wereLoyalists.[3]
On September 21, 1776, the city suffered adevastating fire of an uncertain origin after the evacuation of Washington'sContinental Army at the beginning of the occupation. With hundreds of houses destroyed, many residents had to live in makeshift housing built from old ships.[4] In addition, over 10,000Patriot soldiers and sailors died onprison ships in New York waters (Wallabout Bay) during the occupation—more Patriots died on these ships than died in every single battle of the war, combined.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] These men are memorialized, and many of their remains are interred, at thePrison Ship Martyrs' Monument inFort Greene Park,Brooklyn.[citation needed]
During the British occupation, New York City became "an island of freedom in a sea of slavery" due to thePhilipsburg Proclamation, which allowed all Patriot-owned slaves to escape to British lines and become free. The city became a haven forfugitive slaves from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. In New York City, freed slaves found work as construction workers or as servants, cooks, and laundresses for the British garrison; "[for] the first time in their lives, they received wages and were effectively treated as free, although their ultimate fate remained uncertain." Major influxes of Black refugees arrived to the city after the British evacuation ofPhiladelphia in 1778 and the Franco-American victory at thesiege of Yorktown in 1781.[14]
In mid-August 1783,Sir Guy Carleton, the last British commander in the United States, received orders from his superiors in London for the evacuation of New York. He informed the President of theConfederation Congress that he was proceeding with the subsequent withdrawal of refugees, liberated slaves, and military personnel as fast as possible, but that it was not possible to give an exact date because the number of refugees entering the city recently had increased dramatically (more than 29,000 Loyalist refugees were eventually evacuated from the city).[15][16] At the time the evacuation began, around 60,000 Loyalists resided in New York City, 4,000 of whom were free or enslaved Black people.[17]
Boston King, a South Carolina slave who fled toCharleston after the Britishcaptured it before making his way to New York City, noted in his memoirs that news of theTreaty of Paris "diffused universal joy among all parties, except us, who had escaped from slavery." Rumors spread among the city's Black population that fugitive slaves "were to be delivered up to their masters... fill[ing] [them] all with inexpressible anguish and terror." American slaveowners and slave catchers entered the city, intent on re-enslaving their former slaves. One of them was Daniel Parker, a Continental Army contractor who Washington instructed to re-enslavehis slaves: "If by chance you should come at the knowledge of any of them, I will be much obliged by your securing them so I may obtain them again."[18]
When negotiating the Treaty of Paris, American negotiators included a clause that required the British to return all fugitive slaves to their American enslavers. Despite this, Carleton insisted the clause did not apply to slaves whom had been promised their freedom by the British. When he had met Washington in May 1783, Carleton was asked about "obtaining the delivery of Negroes and other property", with Washington hoping that the British would keep a lookout for "some of [his] own slaves" who had escaped during the war. Washington was surprised by Carleton's response that to deprive slaves of the freedom they had been promised would be a "dishonourable violation of the public faith".[19]
When British ships began sailing out of New York Harbor, they carried onboard tens of thousands of British military personnel and Loyalists along with 3,000 Black people. Carleton had instructed his subordinates to create theBook of Negroes, which listed 1,136 Black men, 914 women, and 750 children who had left the city during the evacuation, and sent a copy to Washington. Most of the 3,000 were from the American South, but approximately 300 were from New York. Along with the military personnel and Loyalists, they went to various ports across the British Empire, including Nova Scotia, Florida, the West Indies and England. For years afterward, the British decision to evacuate the freed slaves and refusal to compensate their American enslavers remained a point of tension in Anglo-American relations.[20][21][22] Carleton gave a final evacuation date of 12:00 noon on November 25, 1783. An anecdote by New York physicianAlexander Anderson told of a scuffle between a British officer and the proprietress of a boarding house, as she defiantly raised her own American flag before noon.[23] Following the departure of the British, the city was secured by American troops under the command of GeneralHenry Knox.[24]
.jpeg)
Entry to the city under GeneralGeorge Washington was delayed until a still-flyingUnion Flag could be removed. The flag had been nailed to a flagpole atFort George onthe Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan. Thepole was greased as a final act of defiance. After a number of men attempted to tear down the British colors, wooden cleats were cut and nailed to the pole and, with the help of a ladder, an army veteran,John Van Arsdale, was allegedly able to ascend the pole, remove the flag, and replace it with theStars and Stripes before the British fleet had completely sailed out of sight.[25][26] The same day, aliberty pole with a flag was erected atNew Utrecht Reformed Church; its successor still stands there.[27][28] Another liberty pole was raised inJamaica, Queens, in a celebration that December.[29]
Finally, seven years after the retreat fromManhattan on November 16, 1776, GeneralGeorge Washington and Governor of New YorkGeorge Clinton reclaimedFort Washington on the northwest corner ofManhattan Island and then led theContinental Army in a triumphal procession march down the road through the center of the island ontoBroadway in the Town tothe Battery.[30] The evening of Evacuation Day, Clinton hosted a public dinner at Fraunces Tavern, which Washington attended. It concluded withthirteentoasts, according to a contemporary account inRivington's Gazette, the company drinking to:[31]
The morning after, Washington had a public breakfast meeting withHercules Mulligan, which helped dispel suspicions about the tailor and spy.[32] Washington was still staying at Fraunces Tavern the night of theearthquake a few days later, but being accustomed to battle, his sleep was untroubled.[33]
A week later, on December 3, the British detachment under Captain James Duncan, under orders of Rear AdmiralRobert Digby, evacuatedGovernors Island, the last of part of the-then City of New York to be occupied,[34][35][36] and afterward Major-GeneralGuy Carleton departedStaten Island on December 5.[37][38]
It is claimed a British gunner fired the last shot of the Revolution either on Evacuation Day or when the last British ships left a week later, loosing a cannon at jeering crowds gathered on the shore of Staten Island as his ship passed throughthe Narrows at the mouth ofNew York Harbor, though the shot fell well short of the shore.[39][40] This has been described by historians as an urban legend.[41]
On December 4, atFraunces Tavern, at Pearl and Broad Streets, General Washington formally said farewell to his officers with a short statement, taking each one of his officers and official family by the hand.[42] Later, Washington headed south, being cheered and fêted on his way at many stops inNew Jersey andPennsylvania. By December 23, he arrived inAnnapolis, Maryland, where theConfederation Congress was then meeting at theMaryland State House to consider the terms of the Treaty of Paris. At their session in the Old Senate Chamber, he made a short statement and offered his sword and the papers of his commission to the President and the delegates, therebyresigning as commander-in-chief. He then retired to his plantation home,Mount Vernon, inVirginia.[43]
Public celebrations were first held on the fourth anniversary in 1787, with the city's garrison performing adress review andfeu de joie, and in the context of a Federalist push for constitutional ratification following thePhiladelphia Convention.[44][45] On Evacuation Day 1790, theVeteran Corps of Artillery was founded, and it played a significant role in later commemorations.[46]
The BritishFort George at Bowling Green was also demolished in 1790, and in that year the "Battery Flagstaff" was built adjacent on newly reclaimed land at the Battery. It was privately managed by William and then Lois Keefe. Referred to colloquially as "the churn", as it resembled to some a gigantic butter churn,Washington Irving described a September 1804 visit to the commemorative flagpole in hisA History of New York as "The standard of our city, reserved, like a choice handkerchief, for days of gala, hung motionless on the flag-staff, which forms the handle to a giganticchurn".[47] In 1809, a new flagstaff further east on the Battery was erected with a decorativegazebo, and was operated as a concession until it was demolished about 1825.[48][49][50][51][52] The military band led by Patrick Moffat ofGeorge Izard's Second Regiment of Artillery sometimes held evening concerts.[53] The Battery Flagstaff commemorated Evacuation Day, and was the site of the city's annual flag-raising celebration for over a century. A flag-raising was held twice a year, on Evacuation Day and on theFourth of July, and after 1853 flag-raisings on these days were also held atThe Blockhouse further north.[54][55][56] John Van Arsdale is said to have been a regular flag-raiser at the early commemorations.[56]
TheScudder's American Museum /Barnum's American Museum held what it claimed was the original 1783 Evacuation Day flag until the museum's burning in 1865, and flew it on Evacuation Day and the Fourth of July.[57]
On Evacuation Day 1811, the newly completedCastle Clinton was dedicated with the firing of its firstgun salute.[58]
On Evacuation Day 1830 (or rather, on November 26 due to inclement weather), thirty thousand New Yorkers gathered on a march toWashington Square Park in celebration of that year'sJuly Revolution in France.[59][60]
For over a century the event was commemorated annually with patriotic and political connotations, as well as embracing a general holiday atmosphere.[61] Sometimes featured weregreasy pole climbing contests for boys to recreate taking down theUnion Jack.[62][37] Evacuation Day also became a time for theatrical spectacle, with for example an 1832Bowery Theatre double bill ofJunius Brutus Booth andThomas D. Rice.[63][64] David Van Arsdale is said to have raised the flag after his father's death in 1836.[54][56] There was also a traditional parade from near the currentCooper Union downthe Bowery to the Battery.[56]
The importance of the commemoration was waning in 1844, with the approach of theMexican–American War of 1846–1848.[65]
However, the dedication of the monument toWilliam J. Worth, the Mexican–American War general, atMadison Square was purposely held on Evacuation Day 1857.[66]
In August 1863, the Battery Flagstaff was destroyed by a lightning strike; it was subsequently replaced.[67][68]
Before it was a national holiday, Thanksgiving was proclaimed at various dates by state governors – as early as 1847, New York held Thanksgiving on the same date as Evacuation Day, a convergence happily noted byWalt Whitman, writing in theBrooklyn Eagle. The observance of the date was also diminished by theThanksgiving Day Proclamation by 16th PresidentAbraham Lincoln on October 3, 1863, that called on Americans "in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving."[69] That year, Thursday fell on November 26. In later years,Thanksgiving was celebrated on or near the 25th, making Evacuation Day redundant.[70]
On Evacuation Day 1864, the Booth brothers held a performance ofJulius Caesar at theWinter Garden Theatre to raise funds for theShakespeare statue later placed inCentral Park. That same day,Confederate saboteurs attempted to burn down the city, lighting an adjoining building on fire and for a time disturbing the performance.[71][72][73][74]
On Evacuation Day 1876, thestatue of Daniel Webster in Central Park was dedicated.
A traditional children's rhyme of the era was:
It's Evacuation Day, when the British ran away,
Please, dear Master, give us holiday![75]
Over time, the celebration and its anti-British sentiments became associated with thelocal Irish American community.[61] This community's embrace also may have inspiredEvacuation Day in Boston, which began to be celebrated there in 1901, and taking advantage of the anniversary of the lifting of theSiege of Boston in 1776, which was by coincidence onSaint Patrick's Day.
As part of Evacuation Day celebrations in 1883 (on November 26), astatue of George Washington was unveiled in front of what is nowFederal Hall National Memorial.[76]
In the 1890s, the anniversary was celebrated inNew York atBattery Park with the raising of theStars and Stripes by Christopher R. Forbes, the great-grandson of John Van Arsdale, with the assistance of a Civil War veterans' association from Manhattan—theAnderson Zouaves.[77]John Lafayette Riker, the original commander of the Anderson Zouaves, was also a grandson of John Van Arsdale. Riker's older brother was the New York genealogistJames Riker, who authoredEvacuation Day, 1783[78] for the spectacular 100th anniversary celebrations of 1883, which were ranked as "one of the great civic events of the nineteenth century in New York City."[79] David Van Arsdale had died in November 1883 just before the centennial,[80] having helped revive the event the year previous,[81] and he was succeeded by his grandson.[56]
On Evacuation Day 1893, thestatue of Nathan Hale in City Hall Park was unveiled.[82]
In 1895,Asa Bird Gardiner disputed the rights to organize the flag-raising, claiming that his organization, theGeneral Society of the War of 1812, were the true heirs of theVeteran Corps of Artillery.[56][54][83]
In 1900, Christopher R. Forbes was denied the honor of raising the flag at the Battery onIndependence Day and on Evacuation Day[84] and it appears that neither he nor any Veterans' organization associated with the Van Arsdale-Riker family or the Anderson Zouaves took part in the ceremony after this time. In 1901, Forbes raised the flag at the dedication ofBennett Park.[85]
In the early 20th century, the 161-foot flagpole used was the mast of the 1901America's Cup defenderConstitution[86][87][88] designed byHerreshoff, replacing a wooden pole struck by lightning in 1909.[89] The event was officially celebrated for the last time on November 25, 1916, with a march down Broadway for a flag raising ceremony by sixty members of theOld Guard.[40][90][91] Future commemorations were forestalled by theAmerican entry into World War I and the alliance with Britain. The position of the flagstaff at this time was described as near Battery Park's sculptures ofJohn Ericsson andGiovanni da Verrazzano.[92][93] The commemorative flagpole was still listed as an attraction on a map of Battery Park in the WPANew York City Guide of 1939.[94]
On Evacuation Day 1922, the main monument atBattle Pass in Brooklyn's Prospect Park was dedicated.
The flagpole was removed during the 1940-1952 construction ofBrooklyn–Battery Tunnel and the relandscaping of the park. In 1955, the 102-foot Marine Flagstaff was erected in the approximate area of the one formerly commemorating Evacuation Day.[95] Later, City Council PresidentPaul O'Dwyer expressed interest in a restored flagpole for the 1976United States Bicentennial.[62] A bicentennial of Evacuation Day in 1983 featured the labor leaderHarry Van Arsdale Jr.[96] A commemorative plaque marking Evacuation Day was put on a flagpole atBowling Green in 1996.[97]
TheSons of the Revolution fraternal organization continues to hold an annual 'Evacuation Day Dinner' atFraunces Tavern, and giving the thirteen toasts from 1783.[98][99]
Though little celebrated in the previous century, the 225th anniversary of Evacuation Day was commemorated on November 25, 2008, with searchlight displays in New Jersey and New York at key high points.[100][101][102] The searchlights are modern commemorations of the bonfires that served as a beacon signal system at many of these same locations during the revolution. The seven New Jersey Revolutionary War sites are Beacon Hill inSummit,[103]South Mountain Reservation in South Orange,Fort Nonsense in Morristown,Washington Rock in Green Brook, theNavesink Twin Lights,Princeton, andRamapo Mountain State Forest near Oakland. The five New York locations which contributed to the celebration are;Bear Mountain State Park,Storm King State Park,Scenic Hudson's Spy Rock (Snake Hill) in New Windsor,Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site in Newburgh, Scenic Hudson'sMount Beacon.[citation needed]
The renaming of a portion ofBowling Green, a street inLower Manhattan, to Evacuation Day Plaza was proposed by Arthur R. Piccolo, the chairman of the Bowling Green Association, and James S. Kaplan of the Lower Manhattan Historical Society. The proposal was initially turned down by theNew York City Council in 2016 because the council's rules for street renaming specify that a renamed street must commemorate a person, an organization, or a cultural work. However, with the support of CouncilwomanMargaret Chin, and after supporters of the renaming pointed to streets and plazas named after "Do the Right Thing Way", "Diversity Plaza", "Hip Hop Boulevard", and "Ragamuffin Way", the council reversed its decision and approved the renaming of the street on February 5, 2016.[104][40]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)New York Times, November 26, 1896,NEW YORK, Nov As the sun rise guns pealed forth at Fort William.Old Glory was run up to the truce of the city flagstaff atBattery Park on the site where stood the staff to which the British nailed their flag before sailing down the harbor. The British flag was torn down and replaced by the American colors by Van Arsdale, the sailor boy, and the "flag run up by one of his lineal descendants, Christopher R. Forbes, who was assisted by officers of theAnderson Zouaves. The flag was saluted by the guns atFort William.
The day was also celebrated by raising the flag at sunrise at the Battery by Christopher R. Forbes, great-grandson of John Van Arsdale, assisted by the Anderson Zouaves. Sixty-second Regiment, New-York Volunteers. Capt. Charles E. Morse, and Anderson and Williams Post, No. 394,Grand Army of the Republic.
Christopher R. Forbes, who for many years has had the privilege of raising and lowering the flag at the Battery on Evacuation Day and the Fourth of July, and claims that he inherited the right from his great-grandfather, John Van Arsdale, who tore down the British’colors on the spot and hoisted the American flag instead, he feels very sore over the way in which he has been treated by the Park Department. Van Arsdale family members from New York to San Francisco remain aghast. He said last evening:
"Early in June I made an application for permission to raise the flag on the Fourth, and I received a reply from President Clausen, on June 5 giving me permission to participate in the raising of the flag by the employes of the Park Department. Now any tramp can participate in the raising of the flag if he stands by and looks on, and that was the kind of permission that was given to me. If this was not a snub and an insult, I’d like to know what is. When my great-grandfather hauled down the British flag and hoisted the American colors I’d like to know where Mr. Clausen’s great-grandfather was and what he was doing.
Later even this tramp permission was revoked. To-day I received another letter from Mr. Clausen informing, me that instead of my participating with the Park Department employees in hoisting the flag, that ceremony would be performed by theVeteran Corps of Artillery, a part of the New York based Military Society of the War of 1812.
"I saw the hand ofAsa Bird Gardiner behind all this. He tried to do me out of I my privileges before, and he has succeeded now. The Veteran Corps was really wiped out in 1872 and in 1892 Mr. Gardiner was instrumental in organizing the present one. He wanted me and C. B. Riker to join, but we refused.
In former years the Anderson Post, the Anderson Zouaves, the Anderson Girls, and the Camp Sons of Veterans used to go with me and assist me in the ceremony of raising the flag and now even the tramp permission of participating with employees has been revoked.
I am going to consult with Mr. Riker about this matter and I shall probably be somewhere near the flag raising Wednesday morning. I think they will hear from me before then."
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
