Happy St. Patricks Day
It was on this day in 1776 that British forces evacuated Boston during the Revolutionary War. The defeat ended the eight-year British occupation of the city, and it was during those eight years that events such as the Boston Massacre occurred.
George Washington ordered the fortification of the city and the harbor on March 4th, and American General John Thomas had secretly led about 800 soldiers and 1,200 workers to Dorchester Heights, just south of the city. Most of the artillery used to surround Boston had been captured by Henry Knox at Fort Ticonderoga in New York during that winter. Knox used his men, their horses, and oxen to drag over 120,000 pounds of artillery through ice and snow for 300 miles back to Boston for the fortification.
British General Sir William Howe had planned to use British ships already in Boston Harbor to defeat the growing Patriot defense, but a storm hit and that gave the Patriots all the time they needed to complete their preparations. General Howe considered his options, and when he was told he was completely surrounded, he gave up Boston without a fight. 11,000 British troops and more than 1,000 remaining British loyalists boarded ships, and later they left Boston, retreating to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
From: americanpublicmedia.
I guess bad weather has been a boon to Bostonians since the revolutionary war! Thankfully, tonight’s weather won’t be so bad.
Eathan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys captured Fort Ticonderoga in May of 1775.
you’re absolutely right, but, as the snippet mentions, today is the history of the British leaving the City of Boston:
” The siege of Boston continued, with the British situation deteriorating, until 17th March 1776 when the force, now commanded by General Howe, evacuated Boston and sailed for Halifax in Nova Scotia, leaving Boston to the American Congressional Army commanded by General George Washington.”
From: http://www.britishbattles.com/american-revolution.htm
We should update Evacuation Day to July 29 — the day the Democratic National Convention ended its occupation of Boston.