The Handy Boston Answer Book. Samuel Willard Crompton

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      How difficult was it for Howe to extricate his followers?

      Not only did Howe have more than ten thousand soldiers, he was also besieged by Loyalists, asking him to take them away. Howe did his best, and in the end nearly 1,500 Loyalists embarked with his troops. Tensions continued, and when the British departed, on March 17, 1775, the Americans could scarcely believe their eyes. This happened to be Saint Patrick’s Day, which had been celebrated by Boston’s Irish Protestants for almost fifty years, and in the years that followed, it came to be known as Evacuation Day.

      What did Boston look like to the entering Americans?

      The town was a disaster. Grass had grown on some of the streets, and many of the churches were in poor repair. The British had used the Old South Meeting House as the site of a riding academy!

      How narrow was Boston’s escape?

      If General Howe had assaulted Dorchester Heights, there would have been an intense, pitched battle. At the same time, however, General Washington had four thousand men near Charlestown, and they were ready to come across and attack the north side of Boston. The casualty list might have been huge, and the town of Boston might have been utterly destroyed. Some of the townspeople recognized this fact, and they composed a laudatory address to Washington, thanking him that their town was spared.

      Did Washington remain in Boston in order to savor his success?

      He remained for fewer than three weeks. By mid-April, Washington and a considerable percentage of the Continental Army had departed for southern Connecticut and New York City. Washington correctly anticipated that the British would ignore Boston in future campaigns, and that the struggle would be for New York and the middle colonies.

      Once the Continental Army had departed, Boston had the tough task of picking up the pieces. Not only had thousands of townspeople departed, but hundreds of others had sailed with the British. Many people wished the Loyalists good riddance, but this ignored the fact that they were some of the wealthiest and most productive people in town. Years passed before Boston was able to regain what it had lost in a commercial sense.

      What impression did Washington take as he left Boston in 1776?

      Washington never liked the New Englanders very much, and the feeling was mutual. One of the few exceptions was Washington’s admiration for the black poetess, Phillis Wheatley. In the winter of 1776, he wrote to her, thanking her for her flattering lines of poetry, and inviting her to visit him any time she was in Cambridge.