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watch your step. Wow,

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to the New York Historical Society's podcast,

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For the Ages, hosted by David

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foremost historians and creative thinkers

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in conversations on a wide range of topics

1:02

on the people who have shaped America. Although

1:04

Jimmy Carter left the White House in January

1:06

of 1981, his career in public service was

1:10

far from over. Listen to The Unfinished

1:12

Presidency, Jimmy Carter's journey

1:15

beyond the White House, as award-winning

1:17

historian Douglas Brinkley

1:19

explores the lessons of Carter's life

1:21

and legacy. And in the harsh

1:24

New England winter of 1692,

1:26

a minister's daughter began to

1:28

scream and convulse as if possessed

1:31

by a demonic spirit. This incident

1:34

marked the beginning of a year-long panic

1:36

in Salem, Massachusetts. Pulitzer

1:39

Prize-winning author Stacy Schiff uncovers

1:41

the origins of this phenomenon in The

1:44

Witches, Salem, 1692. Get

1:47

For the Ages wherever you get your

1:49

podcasts. And

1:52

the Bowery Boys, episode 421,

1:55

Evacuation Day, the forgotten

1:57

holiday of the American Revolution.

1:59

Hey, it's the Bowery Boys. Hey.

2:03

Support for the Bowery Boys is provided by

2:05

our listeners. Join us for

2:07

as little as a dollar a month by visiting

2:10

patreon.com slash

2:12

Bowery Boys.

2:15

Hi there, welcome to the Bowery Boys. This

2:17

is Greg Young. And this is Tom Myers.

2:20

And today we're telling a sort

2:23

of holiday story about New York

2:25

City and the Revolutionary War. But

2:28

it's not exactly a holiday

2:30

that's top of mind for many people. No,

2:32

because we are talking a holiday

2:35

here, but not Thanksgiving

2:37

or Hanukkah or Christmas or any of the others.

2:40

This is a forgotten celebration that

2:42

marks an event which occurred 240 years ago

2:44

this month,

2:47

the day in which the British finally

2:50

left New York City after a

2:52

long and arduous battle with the colonies

2:55

now brought together in victory to form

2:57

the United States. Yes,

3:00

the day that the British left New York

3:02

City, or more precisely,

3:04

the day they evacuated New York

3:06

City after occupying it for seven

3:09

years during the American Revolution and

3:11

using it as their base of power.

3:14

And the events of that day, November

3:17

25th, 1783, inspired annual celebrations, you know, patriotism

3:23

and unity and even a bit

3:25

of rowdiness. November

3:27

25th would become known as Evacuation

3:30

Day, and it was celebrated for

3:32

decades and decades. But then

3:34

gradually the celebration sort

3:36

of faded away. Of course,

3:39

Americans may know late November

3:41

for another historically themed holiday,

3:44

Thanksgiving, a New England

3:46

oriented celebration that eventually

3:48

took the place of Evacuation Day

3:51

on the American calendar. But

3:53

we are here to tell you, listener, you

3:55

should celebrate both! Or

3:58

celebrate them together! I mean, come on,

4:00

you could put a little tricorn hat

4:02

on your turkey. Or

4:05

paint your cornucopia if you have one of those.

4:07

Pin it red, white, and blue. Oh, I'm sure they

4:09

have cornucopias. I'm sure everybody does. Sculpt

4:13

some mashed potatoes into Washington

4:15

Crossing the Delaware. Make some

4:17

Marquis de Lafayette French tarts

4:20

for dessert. Oh, I know some

4:22

French tarts. You do? But

4:26

seriously, no, we are not a cooking show. We

4:29

are a history show, and today

4:31

we'll be taking you back to that glorious day,

4:33

for Americans at least. The glorious

4:36

day when the British finally left

4:38

New York City, November 25th, 1783. We

4:43

do want to emphasize the gravity

4:45

of this particular moment and how significant

4:47

it was. New York was a British

4:50

stronghold for most of the war, and it was

4:52

the very last major city to leave

4:54

British hands. The American army

4:57

did not seize New York in a battle.

4:59

It was simply relinquished. But

5:02

by November of 1783, the British

5:05

had long since been defeated. The

5:08

final decisive battle of the Revolutionary

5:10

War had taken place in Yorktown,

5:13

Virginia, more than two

5:15

years before. So

5:18

this today is the story of New

5:20

York in that kind of strange window

5:22

of time, right, between Britain's

5:25

ultimate defeat and their final

5:27

evacuation from the United States through

5:30

the city of New York. And finally,

5:32

we'll let you know where and how

5:34

you can really celebrate evacuation

5:37

day today, if you so choose. But

5:41

first, we have to say that

5:43

there's probably a better known, or at least equally

5:46

known, evacuation day that is

5:48

celebrated up in Boston.

5:51

Yes, Boston has its own

5:54

evacuation day, celebrated each

5:56

year on March 17th, marking

5:59

the end. And of the first major

6:02

battle of the Revolutionary War, the

6:04

siege of Boston, where the fledgling

6:07

Continental Army actually managed

6:09

to send the Redcoats packing, that,

6:13

however, was General George Washington's

6:15

first major victory. It was in 1776

6:19

at the start of what would be a long

6:22

and excruciating war. The

6:24

British quickly rebounded from that

6:26

defeat. And in July of

6:29

that year, they landed at Staten

6:31

Island, and during the next three

6:34

months, managed to sweep Washington

6:36

and his army out of Long Island and

6:38

then out of New York and the island of Manhattan.

6:41

The British then proceeded to turn

6:44

New York City into one of their central

6:46

strongholds for the remainder of

6:48

the war. And we have

6:50

an entire show on this dramatic turn

6:52

of events, episode 266, New York

6:54

City during

6:58

the Revolutionary War. But now,

7:00

Greg, why don't we jump forward

7:02

a few years, okay, through this occupation,

7:05

through most of the war. What we're discussing

7:07

today takes place years later. Yeah.

7:10

In fact, let me begin the story

7:13

in October of 1781. New

7:16

York City, by this time, by this

7:19

year, was an absolute mess. Oh,

7:21

boy. Yeah. New

7:25

York City, at that point, was located

7:27

really just at the tip of Manhattan. Its

7:30

northern border was around the location

7:32

of today's city hall, which at

7:34

the time was an open commons,

7:37

right, a sort of public park. Yes.

7:40

So with that as kind of a northern border,

7:42

New York City was more or less just

7:44

the area of today's financial

7:47

district. Now, the population

7:50

of the financial district today

7:52

is roughly 150,000 people. And

7:55

that's with Battery Park City, which

7:58

clearly did not exist during the war. the colonial

8:00

era. Back in 1781,

8:03

before apartment buildings of course, there

8:06

were about 50,000 people

8:08

and by 1781 they were

8:12

mostly loyalists or

8:14

people too poor to move during those

8:16

many years of occupation. And

8:19

really this number fluctuated

8:21

really from time to time, from month to

8:23

month, as thousands of British troops

8:26

would often descend upon the city. So

8:28

essentially it was a military encampment.

8:31

And that number could well be on the

8:33

low side because as the war

8:36

continued, loyalists who were

8:38

living in other colonies like

8:40

New Jersey and Pennsylvania came

8:43

to New York City. They moved here

8:45

because this was a safe spot for them.

8:47

It was a haven for loyalists or

8:50

Tories. I guess we'll be using each

8:52

of those terms, loyalists or Tories

8:55

sort of interchangeably pro-British.

8:58

Back in 1776, there had been

9:00

a terrible fire in New York that destroyed

9:03

almost a fifth of the city. None

9:05

of that was being rebuilt obviously.

9:08

Well, why rebuild in

9:11

the midst of a war, right? When you didn't know

9:13

how it was all going to turn out. The city could

9:15

be attacked at any moment.

9:18

Plus don't forget that New York was low

9:20

on wood and other supplies. Trees were

9:22

being chopped down for firewood. Buildings

9:25

were being ripped down for firewood.

9:28

Old Trinity Church was still a

9:30

burned out ruin in 1781.

9:33

The waterfront was in shambles. In

9:35

fact, there had been another major fire

9:37

in 1778 that destroyed

9:39

buildings on Water Street hindering the

9:42

delivery of food and supplies.

9:45

Hundreds of people were encamped at Fort

9:47

George, the old Dutch era

9:49

fortification at the tip of Manhattan. Then

9:52

there were also many thousands of enslaved

9:55

people in New York who

9:57

had escaped from various places under the

9:59

British press. promise that they would secure

10:01

their freedom by supporting

10:04

the Tories. These refugees

10:07

lived under the worst conditions along

10:09

the northern edge of town. So

10:12

the New York City had this giant

10:14

burned out district. There wasn't

10:16

enough housing and there were these

10:19

loyalists and enslaved

10:22

or formerly enslaved people and

10:24

also others who were just unable or unwilling

10:27

to move away. All of these people

10:29

cramming in and at the same time

10:32

being protected by British and

10:34

Hessian troops. Yeah, but

10:36

there was this rift even between

10:39

the loyalist citizens and the

10:41

military. To quote author Thomas

10:43

Fleming from his book, The Perils

10:45

of Peace, quote, since 1776,

10:47

New York had been

10:50

ruled by the military. The

10:52

loyalist repeatedly asked the army

10:55

to let them form a civilian government,

10:58

but they got nowhere. The generals

11:00

had no intention of surrendering the summery

11:02

powers that they enjoyed. They

11:04

took over almost every church in

11:06

the city and used them for hospitals,

11:09

jails, and barracks. The

11:11

army often ordered an individual

11:14

or a family to vacate a house

11:16

to provide a comfortable residence for a newly

11:18

arrived general or colonel, unquote.

11:21

I can see how that would really make them very popular

11:24

with the locals. And there was also

11:28

another significant population here that we

11:30

haven't mentioned. Prisoners captured

11:33

American fighters and others,

11:36

spies, suspected rebels. The

11:39

British kept these people in makeshift

11:42

prisons that were located on

11:44

land, converted churches and such.

11:47

But also thousands were imprisoned

11:49

aboard horrific prison ships

11:52

that floated in Wallabat Bay near the town

11:54

of Brooklyn. Yeah, Brooklyn

11:57

and Long Island were in British hands

11:59

as well.

11:59

And along with those

12:02

prison ships, there were new fortifications

12:05

that were built throughout Brooklyn

12:07

during this occupation. Troops were

12:10

always on the lookout for attacks from

12:12

the sea and of course for spies

12:15

among the population. The region was in

12:17

a state of paranoia and panic.

12:20

So you can imagine what the reaction was in

12:22

October of 1781 when the city received the following

12:24

news. The

12:27

commander of the British forces,

12:30

General Cornwallis, had surrendered.

12:33

Now the French had entered the war on

12:35

the Patriot side, greatly bolstering

12:38

Washington's army, which by 1781

12:41

had been severely weakened and greatly

12:43

demoralized even. But

12:46

together the Americans

12:49

and French forces proved

12:51

unstoppable. In September,

12:53

a French naval battalion led

12:55

by Rear Admiral Francois Joseph

12:58

Paul de Grasse prevented the

13:00

British from receiving reinforcements in Virginia

13:03

during the Battle of the Chesapeake. The

13:05

combination of Continental and French

13:08

forces then were able to overpower

13:11

and then entirely defeat the British army

13:14

in Yorktown, Virginia. Cornwallis

13:16

asked for articles of capitulation and

13:19

then two days later the army

13:22

surrendered. It seemed impossible,

13:25

but the war was finally over.

13:27

It must have been so surreal

13:30

to be a Tory or a loyalist

13:32

in New York. I mean, one day you're

13:34

seemingly secure in your

13:36

knowledge that you had the entire British

13:39

crown behind you. And then

13:41

one day a message arrives that basically

13:43

says, sorry, you know, your side

13:46

lost. The loyalists who barricaded

13:48

themselves here in New York may

13:50

not have realized at the time

13:53

that they were actually lucky

13:55

to be receiving this terrible news

13:57

by a proclamation because earlier

13:59

that... summer, Washington and the French

14:01

reinforcements had actually gathered

14:04

in White Plains, New York, and

14:06

Washington wanted to stage

14:09

a possible attack on Manhattan

14:11

to retake the upper reaches of the islands

14:14

that summer. That would have certainly

14:17

resulted in a great loss of life

14:19

here. But that was in August, and

14:21

upon word of de Grasse's French battalion,

14:24

instead the army's headed down to

14:27

Virginia where it would turn out, victory

14:29

awaited them.

14:31

So back to New York, what

14:33

were these loyalists who were living in New York

14:35

supposed to do now once they got

14:37

this news? I mean, they had homes here,

14:40

they had jobs here and families here. Were

14:42

they expected to just kind of like pick up and go?

14:45

Well, by this point in the war, late 1781,

14:48

the British still possessed three

14:51

major cities, New York, Charleston

14:55

and Savannah. They had pulled

14:57

out or been run out of most other

15:00

cities by this time. So upon

15:02

word of the British surrender, those

15:05

loyalists who were able to leave

15:07

the colonies did so. Those

15:10

that couldn't make that journey, at least initially,

15:13

essentially flocked to one of these three

15:15

cities. Okay. Which

15:17

for New York meant that even more people

15:20

were arriving right into the

15:22

city, which was already overcrowded. So

15:26

New York was kind of becoming something

15:28

of a refugee camp. And

15:30

the problem soon got

15:33

worse because the British evacuated

15:36

Savannah in the summer of 1782, and

15:39

then Charleston followed a few months

15:42

later. So yeah, basically

15:45

by 1783, in terms of the colonies, in terms

15:47

of cities, New York City was

15:50

one of the last holdouts. They're

15:53

only major haven. But

15:55

this is not to say that loyalists were

15:58

left alone or treated well. by

16:00

non-loyalists, let's

16:02

not forget the New York State

16:04

government, which since 1778 had been

16:09

located in Poughkeepsie,

16:11

north of the city. Not Albany at this

16:13

time, no, it's Poughkeepsie. And

16:16

they punished Tories throughout

16:18

the state with various anti-Tory

16:20

laws. Now, with victory

16:23

assured, two incredible

16:25

pieces of legislation passed, maybe even

16:28

disturbing laws in retrospect.

16:31

The Citation Act of 1782,

16:33

quote, which restricted

16:35

the rights of persons within the enemy

16:37

lines to collect pre-existing

16:40

debts from patriots, unquote.

16:43

So, a viewer, a patriot, indebted

16:45

to a loyalist for any reason, don't

16:48

worry about it. Debt forgiven. And

16:51

then the following year came

16:53

the Trespass Act, which, according

16:56

to Mike Wallace and Edwin Burroughs in their book

16:58

Gotham, quote, permitted

17:00

patriots to sue loyalists for

17:03

damages to property in occupied

17:06

areas of the state. So,

17:08

this meant then that all of

17:10

those New Yorkers who had fled when the

17:13

war began and who took the

17:15

side of the patriots or the rebels could

17:17

now return home to New York, reclaim

17:20

their homes, and even ask

17:22

for back rent, right, and damages

17:25

for the years they were gone. And

17:27

sure enough, starting around the end of 1782, New

17:29

Yorkers begin

17:32

coming back to the city, forcibly

17:35

demanding the return of their property.

17:37

This was quite hazardous,

17:40

as you can imagine, because the remaining Tories

17:43

had no place to go. And yet,

17:46

these returning New Yorkers had the heft

17:49

of state law behind them to

17:51

throw people out of their houses. It

17:53

was a very intense moment, and a board

17:55

of claims was formed to mediate

17:58

situations. Meanwhile,

18:00

what was happening on those horrible prison

18:02

ships? Well, for a time,

18:05

many prisoners were traded

18:07

in exchange for the

18:09

many thousands of British troops

18:12

that Washington and his army had

18:14

captured. But sadly, some

18:16

prisoners actually remained on these

18:18

ships until late in 1783. And

18:21

in all, an estimated 11,500 American

18:24

prisoners would die on these ships during the war. I

18:32

mean, making them deadlier

18:35

than any other single battle of the Revolutionary

18:37

War. Now, you can listen

18:39

to my show from earlier this year on the Brooklyn

18:42

Navy Yard to pick up the rest

18:44

of that story. But this just

18:46

goes to illustrate the messy and

18:49

very tragic end to

18:51

this conflict, even though the handover

18:53

itself wasn't necessarily violent.

18:56

Right. And the situation wasn't

18:59

resolved immediately either. I

19:01

mean, you said the last battle

19:04

was 1881, but the news of

19:06

the end of the war took time to get around.

19:09

And also, you know, keep in mind this new

19:12

United States was but one

19:15

area of conflict between

19:17

the British and the French. Just one

19:19

of the theaters of war. Yes.

19:22

Just one piece of the international chessboard

19:24

that included both international

19:27

powers like the Dutch and the Spanish

19:29

and even North American indigenous

19:32

tribal groups. Meanwhile, Washington

19:35

and the Congress in Philadelphia,

19:38

they were actually still uncertain

19:40

whether or not King George might

19:42

just send over more troops to

19:44

continue engaging in a fight. They

19:47

were still under a belief that the war might still

19:49

be going on. So General

19:51

Washington then had to be prepared for anything.

19:54

Yes. The Continental Army was actually

19:56

stationed on the west side of the

19:58

Hudson River on the. Hudson Highlands

20:01

at a spot we know as West Point,

20:04

but of course thankfully they weren't needed.

20:08

Those on the Loyalist side got

20:10

the message. They didn't need any further encouragement

20:13

to leave. 10,000 people

20:15

left New York by the summer of 1783 and an additional 8,000 left

20:17

by September. Now most of these Loyalist friendly

20:24

people weren't even necessarily

20:27

going back to England. They left

20:29

to Canada to the Caribbean

20:31

wherever. To put a spin on that

20:34

old bartender line, you don't have

20:36

to go home, but you probably don't

20:38

want to stay here. But

20:42

these numbers reflect just the civilians,

20:44

right, who were taking off? Yes, the

20:46

civilians who lived in New York who were Loyalists,

20:49

but not all

20:51

those who were aligned with the Loyalists

20:55

left, by the way. I would even

20:57

say that most of them stayed on.

21:00

Many simply disavowed their

21:02

former allegiances and became

21:04

new citizens of the United

21:07

States. So that was another

21:09

option, just kind of swear allegiance

21:11

to the new country and stay put. But

21:13

of course the British Army, the military

21:16

couldn't do that. Why were they even still

21:18

around? Well to answer that question,

21:20

let's turn our attention here to

21:23

a man named Sir Guy

21:25

Carlton, who in these

21:28

years post Yorktown was

21:30

the chief of the colonial British forces.

21:33

His central reason for maintaining an active

21:36

force here in New York was

21:38

to protect those who aligned themselves

21:40

with the Tories and protect them until

21:43

such time as they were able to escape.

21:45

So a protection squad, almost. And

21:48

let me just restate that this number

21:50

of fleeing civilians also

21:53

included many enslaved people

21:55

who had been promised their freedom

21:57

by the British. This was

21:59

rather a bold and controversial

22:02

maneuver by the British incidentally. Today,

22:05

we'd definitely consider it commendable

22:08

because the Americans actually

22:11

considered slaves to be property,

22:13

and Americans demanded

22:15

their return. There are even a few

22:17

slave owners who came to New York looking

22:20

for these people they believed to

22:22

be their property.

22:23

However,

22:24

over 4,000 free black

22:26

loyalists did take up the offer

22:29

to leave, and many settled

22:31

in Nova Scotia and eventually over

22:33

time Sierra Leone in

22:35

West Africa. Yeah, that

22:38

is such an important point to underscore,

22:40

and it kind of messes up our

22:42

sort of streamlined schoolbook version

22:45

of the Revolution, doesn't it? The

22:48

Americans, led by General George

22:50

Washington himself, wanted

22:52

to return escaped enslaved

22:54

people to their owners, and

22:57

the British helped them escape the

22:59

quote, land of the free, to actual

23:01

safety in Canada and elsewhere.

23:05

Okay, so then when

23:07

did General Carlton, who was in charge

23:09

of the British forces in New York, finally

23:12

decide then that this is it and our

23:14

army has to go? It became

23:16

a matter of urgency after September

23:18

3rd, 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of

23:22

Paris, which officially marked

23:24

the end of the war and the recognition

23:27

by the British of the sovereignty of

23:29

their former colonies. It was only

23:31

a matter of time before, to

23:34

use another tavern metaphor here, taverns

23:37

on the brain, it's 4 a.m.,

23:39

the lights are turned on, it's time to settle

23:41

up and go home. It's

23:44

always exciting to find newspaper articles

23:46

where you can see events like these

23:48

kind of play out in real time.

23:51

From the American Daily Advertiser

23:53

in Philadelphia, November 18th, 1783,

23:55

quote, according to the latest

23:59

advice. license from Jersey. The final

24:02

evacuation of the City of New York is to take

24:04

place on Thursday next, when

24:06

Sir Guy Carlton is to deliver up

24:08

the government to the Civil Authority

24:11

of the State, and Colonel Henry

24:13

Jackson, with the regiment of Continental

24:15

troops, to take possession on

24:18

behalf of the American forces. However,

24:20

it is said that any British troops

24:22

who may unavoidably remain after

24:25

that day are to retire to

24:27

Long Island, where they will stay until

24:29

vessels can be provided to carry

24:31

them off. The same accounts

24:33

mentioned that His Excellency George

24:36

Washington is daily expected to visit

24:38

New York." Well,

24:41

the final evacuation of the City

24:43

of New York is to take place on

24:46

Thursday next. And

24:48

that date, of course, was November 25, 1783, a date

24:50

that would become known as Evacuation Day.

24:56

We'll get a

24:56

breakdown of that day's highly

24:58

dramatic

24:58

events right after this. Did

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you know right now that more than 113,000

25:08

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26:10

every child out there deserves a home.

26:13

You can help. Visit davethomasfoundation.org

26:18

slash learnmore.

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28:07

So we just read off a couple of dates from

28:09

that newspaper article published on November

28:13

18th, 1783. Did the actual

28:15

departure of British troops follow that plan?

28:18

Well pretty much, yeah, the British

28:21

General, Carlton, did wait

28:23

for every loyalist who wanted to leave New York

28:25

City to get out and

28:27

then on November 21st, he

28:29

did order his troops to leave Upper

28:32

Manhattan and Long Island. And

28:34

by leaving Upper Manhattan, they

28:36

allowed Washington and his troops

28:39

to then enter up there. That's right,

28:41

Washington and New York Governor

28:43

Clinton, who met up in Westchester

28:46

and then headed down through Yonkers into

28:49

Harlem. But then they had to wait until

28:51

they received news, you know, that the Brits had

28:53

left. They were just following behind them and

28:56

so they waited at a tavern in

28:59

Upper Manhattan, which was located

29:01

about where 125th Street and Frederick Douglass

29:03

Boulevard are today,

29:05

just down the block from the Apollo Theater. Mmm,

29:09

so they met in a tavern, the first

29:11

of many taverns in this show.

29:13

Yeah, that's what they did back

29:16

then. Yeah, can you imagine

29:18

if you just happened to also be

29:20

at that tavern, like you know, auto-wim,

29:23

having a drink? Talk about a

29:25

celebrity sighting. Remember when we thought seeing

29:27

Parker Posey was a big deal? Honey,

29:30

you'll never believe who I saw today. Was that

29:34

a hiccup? It was my bus

29:36

podcast attempt at a hiccup. Anyway, so how long

29:42

did they have to wait up here at the tavern?

29:45

Just three days. I mean, I don't think they were in

29:47

the tavern for three days, but they waited up there until

29:50

November 25th and

29:52

obviously they weren't alone. Aside from

29:54

his other top officers, Washington

29:57

had been preceded by about 800 troops. troops

30:00

from New York and Massachusetts who

30:03

were camping out up there around the

30:05

area of today's northeastern Central

30:07

Park. So I think that they were occupying

30:10

areas that the British troops had been

30:12

occupied before. So they were just

30:14

sort of switching places. The

30:16

British general then, Carlton, had

30:18

said his official departure time

30:21

at noon on November 25th. And

30:23

so Washington and his men, they waited

30:26

until just afternoon on the 25th

30:28

for word to come that the last

30:30

British troops were indeed marching

30:33

down the Bowery to the waterfront and

30:35

boarding vessels that were taking them out to

30:38

their ships out in the harbor. And

30:40

the news came that the Brits had indeed

30:42

left the island. It

30:45

must have been a delirious

30:47

scene to see with their own eyes

30:50

for a population that had been through so

30:52

much. Well, yeah, remember that

30:54

many of the people, as you said, who were

30:56

witnessing their departure here hadn't

30:58

been here during the war. As

31:01

you explained, the city's population really

31:03

had changed pretty dramatically. And

31:06

meanwhile, as you pointed out, New Yorkers who

31:08

had earlier fled the city had come back

31:11

to reclaim their homes and clean up. So

31:13

yeah, you can imagine that many,

31:15

if not most of the people watching

31:18

the Brits leave had been

31:20

displaced during the war. They

31:22

had suffered. Their property had been

31:24

stolen from them. And so yes,

31:27

watching the Brits leave, they must have been absolutely

31:30

elated. And I've even read

31:32

about a few New Yorkers getting

31:34

a bit carried away by this

31:37

special moment. I think you

31:39

might be referring to the possibly apocryphal

31:42

story of a certain Mrs. Day

31:44

who ran a boarding house on Murray

31:46

Street downtown. And

31:48

as the British troops were marching off, she

31:51

enthusiastically pulled up an American

31:53

flag over her boarding

31:55

house a bit too soon, it turns

31:58

out, because a British authority the

32:00

Provost, Marshall Cunningham, reminded

32:03

her that it wasn't yet noon on the

32:05

25th, and he demanded that she

32:08

take it down. But she refused

32:10

and in fact smacked his face

32:12

with her broom and chased him away.

32:15

What? Sassy. Sassy

32:17

this day. Don't mess with Mrs. Day.

32:20

You don't ever mess with Mrs. Day. Which

32:23

is the reason why her street is today called

32:25

Broom Street. Did you know that? That's

32:28

not true. That is not true. No, that

32:30

is not true. Don't put out that misinformation.

32:33

I would like to imagine that that's true. But

32:35

anyway, it sounds like there's a certain

32:37

amount of getting even happening. Yeah,

32:40

a little bit of street justice. Patriots

32:42

reportedly throng the streets and smashed

32:44

signs that were hanging outside businesses that

32:47

had been welcoming to British customers

32:50

throughout the previous seven years. And

32:52

who exactly was in charge at this point?

32:56

Well, once the British left, the city

32:58

was technically under the temporary

33:00

control of General Henry Knox,

33:03

who had been a senior general for Washington.

33:06

He was evidently very good at securing things.

33:09

In fact, Fort Knox would

33:11

be named for him, Greg. Oh, what

33:13

a golden piece of trivia. But

33:16

meanwhile, yes, Washington at the same time

33:19

was making his way down Manhattan

33:22

with his men and with Governor Clinton.

33:25

And they finally arrived at the Bullshead

33:27

Tavern. Another

33:29

tavern. Another tavern on the Bowery

33:32

near today's Canal Street, just south

33:35

of Canal, at the outskirts right

33:37

of the actual city at the time. And

33:39

around the tavern then, a wild scene

33:42

awaited Washington and his officers

33:44

and the 800 troops who

33:46

had escorted him down from Harlem.

33:50

According to the 1892 book, The Memorial

33:52

History of New York City by James

33:54

Grant Wilson, quote, the

33:56

troops marched with the easy swing

33:59

of old campaigners and although

34:01

their uniforms were tarnished

34:04

of various hues and irregular

34:06

pattern yet their arms

34:08

were bright and their faces were shining

34:11

with soldierly pride. They

34:13

represented in a sense the old

34:16

guard of that patriot army which

34:18

had one piece and prosperity.

34:21

So I'm envisioning a street

34:24

party of some kind. Hundreds

34:26

of people cramming onto

34:28

the bowery led by Washington.

34:31

A procession. What was

34:33

their route into the city? Well

34:35

Washington and his entourage marched

34:38

down the bowery to today's

34:40

Chatham Square and then continued straight

34:43

along today's Pearl Street called

34:45

Queen Street at the time. Then that

34:48

was going to be renamed. Then down to

34:50

Wall Street where they turned west

34:52

and headed to Broadway where you

34:55

know right by Trinity Church where they stopped

34:57

at Cape's Tavern

35:01

and were officially welcomed by

35:03

a delegation of citizens who

35:05

proclaim that quote, we look up to

35:08

you our deliverer with usual

35:10

transports of gratitude and joy. Hoppin

35:13

from tavern to tavern. I love it. I

35:15

love that history takes us into taverns. Yes,

35:18

hoppin indeed. But seriously

35:21

this was a profound moment for Washington.

35:23

I mean imagine he looked

35:26

about him and saw a dramatically

35:29

changed New York City. He hadn't been

35:31

on the spot you know across from Trinity

35:33

since 1776 and

35:35

now he looked about him and he saw

35:37

the ruins of that church. He saw

35:40

other burned buildings. He saw churches

35:42

that had been sort of refitted

35:44

into barracks for British troops. He

35:47

saw treeless streets right. They'd all

35:49

been burned for firewood.

35:51

He saw a city in disarray. This

35:54

must have been such an intense sight

35:57

but then that was it. In

38:00

brief, the Americans had retaken New York

38:03

without any real bloodshed, save

38:05

for one nose bloodied by

38:07

an angry broom, if that's even

38:09

a true story. There

38:12

were quickly military ceremonies right

38:14

there in the battery, and then there was a reception

38:16

that was back up at the Bullshead

38:17

Tavern. And then that

38:20

night,

38:20

innumerable private celebrations

38:23

took place throughout the city, while

38:25

Governor Clinton hosted a dinner

38:27

party for General Washington and

38:29

his officers at Francis Tavern,

38:32

where 100 people feted

38:34

Washington, you know, and the

38:37

wine flowed freely, and famously 13

38:41

toasts were given in rapid

38:43

succession, ending in, quote,

38:46

may the remembrance of this day be

38:48

a lesson to princes. Wow.

38:52

And these celebrations, by the way, perhaps

38:55

not surprisingly, continued for a week.

38:57

It must have been one of the happiest

38:59

weeks in the history of New York. Indeed,

39:02

yes. Ironically, Clinton threw another party

39:04

for the French ambassador back

39:06

over at Cape's Tavern, where

39:08

they allegedly went through more than 130 bottles

39:11

of wine, and there were only 120

39:14

people there. Well,

39:17

it was for the French ambassador. And

39:20

that's not even including 60 bottles of beer. According

39:23

to Wallace and Burroughs in Gotham, they

39:26

also somehow broke 60 wine

39:29

glasses and ate wine decanters

39:31

during the meal. So I don't know how 120

39:33

people break 60 glasses. It

39:37

must have been a party. I'd also

39:39

like to bring up an incident which

39:42

occurred the day after evacuation

39:45

day, which is pretty important. So

39:47

Washington was golden here, right?

39:50

He knew that even a brief appearance with him

39:52

at this moment could rehabilitate any

39:55

possible negative associations.

39:58

And so that morning... He stopped

40:00

by a tailor named Hercules Mulligan,

40:03

who was an old friend of Alexander

40:05

Hamilton and a former member

40:07

of the Sons of Liberty, the Pro-Patriot

40:10

Unit. However, he was forced to stay

40:12

in town during the war and stay

40:14

as a tailor, and then forced to work

40:16

on the uniforms of British officers.

40:19

So now, with the British gone and

40:22

the loyalists not very welcomed, many

40:24

thought that Hercules Mulligan was a traitor.

40:27

Washington knew otherwise though, Mulligan

40:29

had actually spied for the Patriots

40:32

during the war. So that

40:35

morning, after Evacuation Day,

40:37

Washington made a point to visit

40:40

Mulligan, have breakfast with him,

40:42

and then hire Mulligan as

40:45

his tailor, immediately ending

40:47

all that speculation. Hercules

40:50

Mulligan would write off this fame

40:52

for the rest of his life thereafter. He

40:54

would even hang up a shingle which said,

40:57

Clothier of General Washington.

40:59

Wow, what a story. And

41:02

Greg, centuries later, there's

41:04

even a hard liquor named after him. But

41:06

the city was not done celebrating Evacuation

41:09

Day. There was even an elaborate

41:11

fireworks show on December 2nd. Yeah,

41:14

and weirdly, even Mother

41:16

Nature kind of got into it. I mean,

41:18

according to the author James

41:21

Grant Wilson, on November

41:23

29th, quote, In the evening,

41:26

we felt a light shock of an earthquake.

41:29

And at about 11 o'clock, there was a

41:31

more violent one that shook all the city

41:33

in a surprising manner. Wow,

41:36

you can't even blame that on the

41:38

rumbling of the subway because it wasn't even

41:40

invented yet. No, no,

41:42

it wouldn't open for another 121 years. So

41:46

Washington then called his top officers

41:49

back to Francis Tavern for one last

41:51

gathering. This one quite emotional

41:54

on December 4th, 1783. It

41:57

was the moment when General

41:59

George Washington resigned his military

42:02

commission. He had finished

42:04

the job and was now prepared to

42:07

step aside and leave New York

42:09

as a private citizen. One

42:11

of his officers, Colonel Talmadge, described

42:14

the scene like this, quote, we

42:17

had been assembled but a few moments when

42:19

His Excellency entered the room. His

42:22

emotion, too strong to be concealed,

42:25

seemed to be reciprocated by every officer

42:27

present. After partaking

42:29

of a small refreshment in almost breathless

42:32

silence, the general filled

42:34

his glass with wine and turning

42:36

to the officers said, with

42:39

a heart full of love and gratitude, I

42:41

now take leave of you. They

42:43

drank together and each officer

42:46

came to him, took his hand, hugged

42:49

and kissed him. Such a scene

42:51

of sorrow and weeping I have

42:54

never before witnessed,

42:56

unquote.

42:57

From there, Washington and his troops

42:59

walked down to Whitehall Street to

43:02

the wharf, quote, where

43:04

a prodigious crowd had assembled to

43:06

witness the departure of the man who, under

43:09

God, had been the great instrument

43:11

in establishing the glory and independence

43:13

of these United States. Washington

43:16

took a seat on the barge as it pulled

43:19

off into the East River. He

43:21

turned to the crowd and waved his

43:23

hand and, quote, bade

43:25

us a silent adieu. But

43:28

how will these momentous days be

43:30

remembered in the future decades? We'll

43:33

get to the rest of the story of Evacuation

43:36

Day after this.

43:42

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43:46

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44:57

Now things always look so definitive when

45:00

you look back, you know, at a list of dates.

45:03

Oh yes, the British left on evacuation day

45:06

and the story of America begins.

45:10

But those who had aligned with

45:12

the British, they hadn't all left town.

45:14

In fact, most of them were still here. And

45:17

there were paranoid fears that

45:19

those that remained would attempt

45:22

to take the reins of local government.

45:25

As a result, the Sons of Liberty continued

45:27

their harassment campaigns against

45:30

anyone they believed to still be

45:32

aligned with the Tories. And then the state

45:34

government, led by Governor George Clinton,

45:37

continued to pass anti-loyalist

45:39

legislation. Estates which

45:42

were owned by loyalist leaning landowners,

45:44

see that five turns fast. These

45:46

estates were chopped up and then were

45:48

put up for auction. Yeah, and one estate

45:50

that we often mention on the show that

45:52

was treated this way, chopped up and

45:55

sold off, was the farm of James

45:57

Delancey, which today comprises.

46:00

major portions of the Lower East Side.

46:03

But this exercising, if

46:05

you will, of the British presence in New York

46:08

was really complicated. For example,

46:10

what was to be done with Trinity Church

46:13

and King's College? Yeah, Trinity

46:15

Church, the religious arm of the crown.

46:19

Its rector was actually the bishop

46:21

Benjamin Moore, a loyalist

46:24

who remained in town and eventually

46:27

would raise a son by the name of Clement

46:29

Clark Moore, up at his estate

46:32

named Chelsea. Well, anyway, Moore

46:34

remained in town after evacuation

46:36

day and his presence in the

46:38

church was so offensive that he

46:40

was eventually demoted to assistant

46:43

in 1784 and replaced with a more

46:47

politically acceptable choice,

46:50

the priest Samuel Provost, the

46:52

man who would later become the first chaplain

46:55

of the United States Senate. And

46:57

Trinity Church itself, which

47:00

was part of the Church of England, as you

47:02

mentioned, would become an Episcopal

47:04

Church. This would be the foundation to break

47:07

with the Anglican Church to its all-American

47:09

cousin, the Episcopal Church. And

47:12

as for King's College, well, on

47:14

May 1st, 1784, it was rechartered as Columbia College.

47:17

So here we

47:22

have then a very volatile city,

47:24

right, and nation that is in

47:27

transition and things are becoming detoured,

47:30

if you will, decrowned. Did

47:32

New Yorkers mark that first anniversary

47:35

of the British departure in 1784? Well,

47:37

these first few years,

47:41

I would say celebrations were kind of informal.

47:44

In 1787, Congress at that time

47:48

in Philadelphia began its work on

47:50

the Constitution and in 1789, Congress

47:55

then moved to New York, which then

47:57

for a short time became the

47:59

nation's capital. So throughout

48:02

this process, of course, the date

48:04

of evacuation was evoked

48:07

repeatedly in documents and

48:10

proclamations and speeches by the

48:12

founders as a historical

48:14

marker, as a breaking point

48:17

of the past. Which is

48:19

something that we do to July

48:21

4th today, right? Yes. The

48:24

day that independence was declared at the

48:26

beginning of the conflict. As

48:29

the nation began building up credibility

48:31

through these founding documents and

48:33

as New York started to get

48:36

rebuilt here, the date November

48:38

25th became more important,

48:41

but mostly only to people

48:44

who lived here in New York. People

48:46

in other cities hadn't experienced the

48:48

British leaving on that date, obviously.

48:52

For New Yorkers, however, it was a really

48:54

profound moment and thus eventually

48:57

worth celebrating. In 1787,

49:00

a military brigade stationed at

49:02

Fort George at the tip of the island marched

49:05

up Broadway to the City Commons

49:07

where today's City Hall is today,

49:10

marking what we might consider the first

49:12

public celebration of Evacuation

49:15

Day as a holiday. There

49:18

was also something political. At a

49:20

moment when the nation was debating how strong

49:23

the federal government should be,

49:25

Evacuation Day also sort of

49:28

celebrated a strong central government.

49:31

It was kind of aspirational and basically

49:33

a demonstration sponsored by the Federalist

49:36

Party, which had its base here

49:38

in New York and was championed by

49:40

our old good friend Alexander

49:43

Hamilton. The idea of a

49:45

strong and powerful central government.

49:48

Now, what I'm about to say here might

49:50

be controversial to

49:52

some people. Oh, boy, here we go. Yes.

49:55

On October 3rd, 1789, President George

50:00

Washington, issued a

50:02

Thanksgiving proclamation that

50:05

was rather religious in nature, marking

50:07

quote, a day of public Thanksgiving

50:10

and prayer to be observed by

50:12

acknowledging with grateful hearts the

50:15

many signal favors of Almighty

50:17

God, especially by affording

50:19

them an opportunity peaceably

50:22

to establish a form of government

50:24

for their safety and happiness. Now

50:27

therefore I do recommend and assign

50:30

Thursday, the 26th day

50:32

of November next to be devoted

50:35

by the people of these States to

50:37

the service of that great and

50:39

glorious being who is

50:41

the beneficent author of all

50:43

the good that was, that is,

50:45

or that will be given

50:48

under my hand at the city of New York

50:50

the third day of October in the year

50:52

of our Lord 1789 signed George Washington.

50:58

That's it? I was prepared

51:00

to be triggered. What's so controversial,

51:02

Greg? Well in 1789

51:05

the capital of the nation was New York. George

51:09

Washington issued the proclamation

51:12

from New York. The date

51:14

of Thanksgiving in his proclamation

51:17

was placed one day after

51:20

evacuation day. So

51:22

while it is not precisely stated,

51:24

it is very likely

51:26

that the date of Thanksgiving

51:29

was chosen for its proximity

51:32

to evacuation day. Like they evacuated

51:35

and the next day you offer

51:37

your thanks. Hold on.

51:40

Thanksgiving had been a New England tradition,

51:42

right? Tracing back to the pilgrims and

51:44

even further back to more religious,

51:47

you know, Thanksgiving ceremonies. And

51:50

other countries have Thanksgiving on other dates.

51:54

And it was even celebrated at various

51:57

times in many New England regions.

52:00

in the autumn. Right. It

52:02

was a celebration of the bountiful harvest.

52:05

But this designation by Washington

52:08

placed the Thanksgiving holiday right

52:10

next to evacuation day. But

52:12

as you'll get to, eventually Thanksgiving

52:15

would usurp evacuation

52:18

day on the calendar. You could even say

52:20

it gobbled it up. But

52:23

getting back here to New York, did

52:25

evacuation day then become more than

52:27

just a federalist celebration? Well,

52:29

the growing political alternatives

52:32

of the day, in particular those of the

52:34

newly formed Tammany Society,

52:36

which as we know would later become the all-powerful

52:39

Tammany Hall, well they

52:41

would host rival banquets that

52:44

were almost in jest for

52:46

a slight mockery of the Federalist

52:48

Party, loosening it up a bit, you

52:51

know, putting on some razzle dazzle. But

52:54

this actually had the effect of making

52:56

evacuation day more of a mainstream

52:59

celebration. And soon everybody

53:02

was celebrating it, rich and poor,

53:04

celebrating it in their own ways. By

53:07

the start of the 19th century, there were annual

53:10

parades. People got to take

53:12

off work or school, which is itself

53:14

a pretty big deal back then. They

53:17

all had parties. They went to a museum

53:19

or to the theater where they would take

53:21

in patriotic themed entertainment.

53:24

There were even dazzling illuminated transparencies

53:27

projected onto walls

53:30

at night. And of course there were fireworks. And

53:33

of course there would be the annual

53:36

greased pole ceremony, or

53:38

as you say, soaked

53:41

up pole ceremony. So

53:43

let's just leave it alone. Yes, the old

53:45

pole. Well it all sounds

53:48

so merry, but can we just address something,

53:50

Greg? Did they call it evacuation

53:53

day? I mean I don't want to be vulgar

53:56

or, you know, think basically

53:58

like a teenage boy. But

54:01

doesn't evacuation have

54:03

other meanings like, you know,

54:05

bodily functions, etc.? Like expulsion

54:08

from the body? Well, yes, and

54:10

it did then also. I

54:13

found a hilarious quote from

54:15

the London Guardian newspaper

54:18

in the year 1822. Quote,

54:21

The 25th of November is observed

54:24

as a holiday in New York under

54:27

the odd name of Evacuation

54:29

Day, not on account of

54:31

any medical practices, but

54:33

because it is the anniversary of

54:36

the departure from that city by

54:38

the British. Oh, those cheeky

54:40

Brits. I

54:43

also found a quote from the novelist

54:45

and historian Kevin Baker, who

54:47

told the New York Times in 2016, quote, Evacuation

54:52

Day is what results when bad

54:55

names happen to perfectly good holidays.

55:00

I get the feeling from that Guardian article

55:02

from 1822 that

55:04

the holiday was probably not very well known.

55:07

Right? I mean, was it being celebrated

55:10

anywhere else? Kinda. So

55:12

Evacuation Day was primarily a celebration

55:15

in New York, but it was also celebrated

55:17

in the independent city of Brooklyn and

55:20

other localities, even some areas

55:22

of New Jersey. But I failed

55:25

to find very many mentions

55:27

of it, honestly, in other American

55:30

newspapers. And when it was

55:32

mentioned, it was strictly framed as

55:34

a local tradition, but one that

55:37

would begin to get enshrined

55:39

in myth as the Revolutionary

55:42

War generation began dying

55:44

off. In fact, it was in the

55:47

1820s and 30s that the term Evacuation

55:49

Day really began taking

55:52

hold. And then as

55:54

time was passing, did people celebrate

55:57

it in the same way? I mean, you know, the

55:59

same old flagpole.

55:59

stuff?

56:01

Well think about certain

56:03

holidays that we have today which lose

56:05

a bit of their meaning. They eventually

56:07

just become you know a day off for

56:10

many people, a day of leisure, but

56:12

there were some big parades

56:15

they continued even if some of that meaning

56:17

was lost and in fact

56:20

those flagpole ceremonies still

56:22

remained you know even for a few decades

56:25

here. First with John Van Ardsdell,

56:27

the original dude

56:29

who climbed the soaked up pole and ripped down

56:32

the British flag with his cleats.

56:34

Yes with his cleats and when he

56:36

passed in the year 1836 the tradition

56:39

was carried on by members of his family.

56:42

Although even by this time it was

56:44

beginning to seem a bit old-fashioned.

56:48

Yeah by the middle of the 19th century

56:50

interest in the holiday was fading

56:54

and as you mentioned you know one reason

56:56

I think is pretty straightforward. By

56:58

then there were fewer people

57:00

who had actually been around during the war itself

57:03

right there were few people living by the mid

57:06

1800s who had actually witnessed the British

57:08

occupation of New York. Which meant

57:10

that not only did evacuation

57:13

day seem more remote and abstract

57:16

but also the commemorations of

57:18

the war itself. Yeah obviously

57:20

passions you know are strong immediately

57:23

following something you know like a war

57:25

or a tragedy but we've even

57:27

seen in our lifetimes you know how these events

57:30

that we've witnessed recede you know

57:33

in the public conscious as new generations

57:36

are born who never lived through them. But

57:39

I want to go back to that London Guardian clip

57:41

that you read a minute ago. It wasn't

57:44

only the foreign press who mused

57:46

you know about this holiday even American

57:48

papers wondered about it. The

57:50

Portland advertiser for example wrote

57:53

in 1834 quote why the New Yorkers

57:56

celebrate this evacuation day annually

57:58

I don't know. really

1:00:00

got into the act with special

1:00:02

events and a parade that consisted of

1:00:04

more than 20,000 people

1:00:06

heading down Broadway and of course

1:00:08

a fireworks extravaganza. This

1:00:11

was a party that was witnessed and enjoyed

1:00:13

by a half a million people.

1:00:16

Wow. Are there any remaining vestiges

1:00:19

of this party today that we can see? Well,

1:00:22

as a matter of fact, one very prominent

1:00:24

work of art still stands

1:00:26

today, very well known in front of

1:00:28

the Federal Hall National Memorial.

1:00:31

I'm talking of course about the 1883 bronze

1:00:34

statue of George Washington by

1:00:36

sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward.

1:00:39

The sculpture was unveiled here

1:00:42

near the spot where George Washington was

1:00:44

sworn in as the first president of the United

1:00:46

States in 1789, but it was unveiled on this 100th anniversary

1:00:49

of evacuation day in 1883.

1:00:57

So many statues in fact would be

1:00:59

unveiled on evacuation

1:01:02

day. Daniel Webster

1:01:04

in Central Park had an evacuation

1:01:07

day unveiling. The Nathan Hale statue

1:01:09

in City Hall Park. Yes, and others

1:01:12

too. Evacuation day would become like the city,

1:01:14

the sort of patriotic city day, right,

1:01:17

to unveil things. Had

1:01:19

to just line up statues when you saw the

1:01:21

date coming. So what happened?

1:01:24

I think a couple of things happened.

1:01:25

Let's rewind a few decades

1:01:28

to the mid 19th century and to that

1:01:30

other holiday that you mentioned, Thanksgiving,

1:01:33

which had been already celebrated

1:01:37

on different dates around the country

1:01:39

in different regions. In the 1840s, New Yorkers

1:01:41

celebrated both

1:01:44

evacuation day and Thanksgiving

1:01:47

on the same day on November 25th. But then in 1863, President

1:01:54

Lincoln proclaimed that Thanksgiving should

1:01:56

be celebrated that year

1:01:58

on the last Thursday.

1:01:59

of November, which in 1863 was on November 26th. And

1:02:05

that sort of deflated the whole Evacuation

1:02:07

Day party that year.

1:02:09

And then I think that sort of last Thursday

1:02:12

of November tradition just stuck,

1:02:15

and the

1:02:16

day then always fell right

1:02:18

around or even on the 25th

1:02:20

itself. And so I think

1:02:22

that Evacuation Day just sort of felt, you

1:02:25

know, secondary

1:02:25

to Thanksgiving. And

1:02:28

I just not forget that most of the country didn't

1:02:30

really celebrate it in the first place. So

1:02:35

by the early 20th century, Evacuation

1:02:38

Day was losing popularity. And

1:02:41

finally, New York officially

1:02:43

celebrated Evacuation Day for

1:02:45

the last time on November

1:02:47

25th, 1916, according

1:02:51

to the New York Times, quote, about 60

1:02:54

uniformed veterans of the old guard of

1:02:56

the city of New York rode the subway

1:02:59

from their Midtown Armory to City

1:03:01

Hall and marched down Broadway

1:03:04

for a flag raising ceremony. 60 people,

1:03:08

which sounds a bit underwhelming. Especially

1:03:11

considering the fact, as was pointed

1:03:13

out in another article in the Times, that

1:03:16

on the same day, Greg, 45,000 spectators

1:03:21

crammed into the old polo grounds

1:03:23

to watch the Army Navy football game.

1:03:26

And 60 men marched down

1:03:29

Broadway. So yeah, times

1:03:31

had changed. Well, and that

1:03:34

was 1916, as war was raging in Europe,

1:03:36

and the year before the United States

1:03:39

entered that war. Yes, entered

1:03:41

the war with England and

1:03:43

France and other allies. And

1:03:46

now that we were allied with England,

1:03:49

you know, and soon sending our own troops

1:03:51

over to France and elsewhere to

1:03:54

fight for England and others, why

1:03:57

would we celebrate something that represented,

1:03:59

you know, a battle?

1:04:25

colonial

1:06:01

items and maybe even English things

1:06:03

you know maybe food items that you would pack

1:06:06

for the British Redcoats as they boarded

1:06:08

the ships back home like little

1:06:11

cupcakes with little Union Jack's

1:06:13

maybe with the words written in icing bon

1:06:15

voyage or

1:06:18

even folded in with Christmas Oh

1:06:20

put a festive greased pole a soaped

1:06:22

pole by the Christmas tree oh let

1:06:25

it all together please leave

1:06:27

the Christmas tree alone please all

1:06:30

right we've had enough fun visit our

1:06:33

website Barry boys history calm

1:06:35

where we'll have images of some

1:06:37

of the events that were depicted on this show

1:06:40

today then you know over

1:06:42

on Instagram and threads

1:06:45

you may see an image or two of

1:06:47

some evacuation day items that I'm

1:06:50

cooking up for my own celebration

1:06:52

this year how exciting well does

1:06:54

he does have you support us on

1:06:57

patreon.com will receive a bonus

1:06:59

podcast called side streets

1:07:01

our recent side streets episode

1:07:04

takes you the listener backstage at

1:07:06

Joe's pub we discussed kind of like I

1:07:09

believe you called it the aftermath of the show

1:07:11

I don't I think that's a strong word let's

1:07:14

just say it takes you backstage we

1:07:16

talk about putting on the show and just really

1:07:18

the the blast that we had

1:07:21

putting on the Halloween show this year also

1:07:23

if you sign up at the $10 level you get Bowery

1:07:26

boys episodes early and

1:07:28

ad free so you can check out all

1:07:30

of your options at patreon.com

1:07:33

slash Bowery boys and we thank you

1:07:35

so much for your support we couldn't do the show without

1:07:38

you Carl Raymond the Gilded

1:07:40

Gentleman has an excellent slate

1:07:43

of weekly shows for the next

1:07:45

month or two on all sorts of fascinating

1:07:48

topics on the Gilded Age yes

1:07:50

and he's also leading a Gilded Age

1:07:52

bus tour up to Lindhurst mansion

1:07:55

that's Jay Gould's former home up

1:07:57

in Tarrytown and that is on

1:07:59

Saturday, December

1:08:01

9th, 2023. You

1:08:03

can literally join Carl on

1:08:05

the bus and head up to to

1:08:07

Lyndhurst. It sounds like so much fun.

1:08:10

Yeah, and he's going to do a tie in J. Gould

1:08:12

show. So it's going to be like a big

1:08:15

event that we encourage everyone to join

1:08:17

in on. You can get your spot on

1:08:19

that bus and book other fabulous

1:08:22

walking tours with our guides all over

1:08:24

New York City at Bowery Boys Walks

1:08:26

dot com. And of course, you can hear

1:08:28

Tom talking Gilded

1:08:31

Age subjects over at the official

1:08:33

Gilded Age podcast, which is a tie

1:08:35

in to the HBO series The Gilded

1:08:38

Age streaming on Max. And

1:08:40

you're even talking about J. Gould. I can't

1:08:42

stop talking about J. Gould. J. Gould is not

1:08:45

only the inspiration, one of

1:08:47

the inspirations for George Russell in

1:08:49

this season, as we've already seen, he

1:08:52

himself makes some appearances.

1:08:55

He's he's in it. J is there

1:08:57

sitting across from George Russell.

1:08:59

I was like, I mean, that just nearly

1:09:01

put me over the top when I first saw that. That's

1:09:04

what does it. That's what does it. This

1:09:06

episode was edited by Karen

1:09:08

Gannon. Thank you, Karen. So

1:09:11

thank you very much for listening. Have a great

1:09:13

New York week, whether you live here or not. See

1:09:16

you real soon.

1:09:21

Hey, everyone, this is Tom. Just

1:09:23

a quick note that season two of

1:09:25

HBO series The Gilded

1:09:27

Age is now live on Max, and

1:09:30

that means so is the official Gilded

1:09:32

Age podcast, which I'm hosting,

1:09:35

along with Alicia Malone from Turner Classic

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Movies. Every week we dig

1:09:40

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