| Revision as of 16:15, 20 October 2006 editChris j wood (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users97,954 editsmNo edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 17:26, 27 October 2006 edit undo146.243.4.157 (talk) →See alsoNext edit → | ||
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| Boston was a town in 1776. It did not become a city until 1822. (source: Misplaced Pages) | |||
| Evacuation Day is celebrated exactly on March 17th and only if this falls on a weekend do various (mostly public) institutions take the following Monday off. | |||
| Eighteenth century cannon were not accurate enough to hit troops without damaging much of the town, but the threat to shell the British warships was quite real since near misses would fall harmlessly. Prior to embarkatiion the British troops chopped down the Liberty Tree (which ironically fell upon and killed a British soldier). While our side made much fuss over this "victory," letting an entire enemy force retreat without our guys firing a shot in anger or taking a single POW is pretty inconsequential in my book. | |||
| While you are correct that Evacuation Day is a Suffolk County holiday, Cambridge and Somerville are in Middlesex County not Suffolk County. The City of Boston, the City of Chelsea, the City of Revere, and the Town of Winthrop form Suffolk County. (source: Misplaced Pages) | |||
| Since the Massachusetts Legislature meets in Boston, they get to take the day off. | |||
| Signed: Richard Kimball, Massachusetts Highway Department | |||
Revision as of 17:26, 27 October 2006
March 17 in Suffolk County, Massachusetts is Evacuation Day, an official holiday commemorating the evacuation of the city of Boston by British forces during the American Revolutionary War. Evacuation Day is also observed in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Somerville, Massachusetts. Schools and government offices are closed on the following Monday in observance.
On March 17, 1776 the 11-month siege of Boston ended when the Continental Army, under General George Washington, placed captured cannon from Fort Ticonderoga onto Dorchester Heights in South Boston. With a clear view of the city and the narrow harbor where the Royal Navy's ships were docked behind it, the Americans had General Howe's garrison dead-to-rights. To prevent what would have been an inevitable slaughter of his troops, Howe agreed to retreat to Nova Scotia via his ships without setting the city on fire as he left.
Boston was one of the most important ports in the New World and, ironically, one of the most defensible (there is only a single channel into Boston Harbor which is ringed with islands). That the Americans were able to drive off several thousand hardened troops and 1,100 loyalists with only a few warning shots fired and no loss of life or property was a major accomplishment and was Washington's first victory of the war. It was also a huge morale boost for the new country, as the city where the rebellion against England started was the first to be liberated. Boston was never attacked again.
After a failed movement in 1876, the holiday was finally proclaimed on the 125th anniversary in 1901. Not coincidentally, this time period marks the ascendancy of Irish political power in Boston. March 17 is also St. Patrick's Day, giving Boston's large Irish and Irish-descended population an additional reason to celebrate.
See also
Boston was a town in 1776. It did not become a city until 1822. (source: Misplaced Pages)
Evacuation Day is celebrated exactly on March 17th and only if this falls on a weekend do various (mostly public) institutions take the following Monday off.
Eighteenth century cannon were not accurate enough to hit troops without damaging much of the town, but the threat to shell the British warships was quite real since near misses would fall harmlessly. Prior to embarkatiion the British troops chopped down the Liberty Tree (which ironically fell upon and killed a British soldier). While our side made much fuss over this "victory," letting an entire enemy force retreat without our guys firing a shot in anger or taking a single POW is pretty inconsequential in my book.
While you are correct that Evacuation Day is a Suffolk County holiday, Cambridge and Somerville are in Middlesex County not Suffolk County. The City of Boston, the City of Chelsea, the City of Revere, and the Town of Winthrop form Suffolk County. (source: Misplaced Pages)
Since the Massachusetts Legislature meets in Boston, they get to take the day off.
Signed: Richard Kimball, Massachusetts Highway Department
Categories: