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| ] in ] is '''Evacuation Day''', an official holiday commemorating the evacuation of the city of ] by ] forces during the ]. Evacuation Day is also observed in ] and ]. Schools and government offices are closed on the following Monday in observance. | ] in ] is '''Evacuation Day''', an official holiday commemorating the evacuation of the city (which was currently a town at the time) of ] by ] forces during the ]. Evacuation Day is also observed in ] and ]. Schools and government offices are closed on the following Monday in observance. | ||
| On ], ] the 11-month ] ended when the Continental Army, under General ], placed captured cannon from ] onto ] in ]. With a clear view of the city and the narrow harbor where the Royal Navy's ships were docked behind it, the Americans had ]'s garrison dead-to-rights. To prevent what would have been an inevitable slaughter of his troops, Howe agreed to retreat to ] via his ships without setting the city on fire as he left. | On ], ] the 11-month ] ended when the Continental Army, under General ], placed captured cannon from ] onto ] in ]. With a clear view of the city and the narrow harbor where the Royal Navy's ships were docked behind it, the Americans had ]'s garrison dead-to-rights. To prevent what would have been an inevitable slaughter of his troops, Howe agreed to retreat to ] via his ships without setting the city on fire as he left. | ||
Revision as of 18:33, 4 November 2006
March 17 in Suffolk County, Massachusetts is Evacuation Day, an official holiday commemorating the evacuation of the city (which was currently a town at the time) 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.