Evacuation Day (New York)
| Evacuation Day | |
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Evacuation Day and Washington's Triumphal Entry
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| 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 |
Evacuation Day on November 25 marks the day in 1783 when British troops departed from New York on Manhattan Island, after the end of the American Revolutionary War. After this British Army evacuation, General George Washington triumphantly led the Continental Army from his former headquarters, north of the city, across the Harlem River south down Manhattan through the town to The Battery at the foot of Broadway.
The last shot of the war was reportedly fired on this day, as a British gunner fired a cannon at jeering crowds gathered on the shore of Staten Island, as his ship passed through the Narrows at the mouth of New York Harbor. The shot fell well short of the shore.
Following the devastating losses at the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776, General George Washington and the Continental Army retreated across the East River by benefit of both a retreat and holding action by well-trained Maryland Line troops at Gowanus Creek and Canal and a night fog which obscured the barges and boats evacuating troops to Manhattan Island.
Washington's Continentals subsequently withdrew north and west out of the town and following the Battle of Harlem Heights and later action at the river forts of Fort Washington and Fort Lee on the northwest corner of the island along the Hudson River on November 16, 1776, evacuated Manhattan Island. They headed north for Westchester County and fought delaying action at White Plains. Later Washington was forced west into northern New Jersey and then south into Pennsylvania, taking shelter behind the banks of the Upper Delaware River for the rest of the winter.
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