As the late Bay State historian David McCullough wrote in his book “1776,” Evacuation Day was “a spectacle.”
“There were 120 ships departing with more than 11,000 people packed on board — 8,906 King’s troops, 667 women and 553 children, and in addition, waiting down the harbor, were 1,100 Loyalists,” McCullough wrote.
On March 17, 1776, British troops and loyalists fled Boston by ship for Canada. The rest is history and then some!
BOSTON. MA – March 17: Scott Tourtellot a member of the The Colonel Henry Know Regimental Color Guard on Dorchester Heights during Evacuation Day festivities on March 17, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts (Staff Photo By Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON. MA – March 17: Period time militia soldiers march on Dorchester Heights during Evacuation Day festivities on March 17, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts (Staff Photo By Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON. MA – March 17: The Colonel Henry Know Regimental Color Guard stand on Dorchester Heights during Evacuation Day festivities on March 17, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts (Staff Photo By Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON. MA – March 17: The Colonel Henry Know Regimental Color Guard march along Dorchester Heights during Evacuation Day festivities on March 17, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts (Staff Photo By Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON. MA – March 17: Mayor Michelle Wu shares a laugh with Congressman Stephen Lynch, State Senator Nick Collins and City Councilor Ed Flynn during Evacuation Day festivities at Dorchester Heights on March 17, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts (Staff Photo By Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON. MA – March 17: Members of the The Colonel Henry Know Regimental Color Guard, including Scott Tourtellot, center, on Dorchester Heights during Evacuation Day festivities on March 17, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts (Staff Photo By Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
