NY, USA
Evacuation Day
November 25, 1783
On November 25, 1783, the last British troops departed New York City, and Washington led the Continental Army into the city in a triumphal procession. The event, known as Evacuation Day, was celebrated in New York as a holiday for decades. A final act of British defiance — nailing the Union Jack to a greased flagpole at the Battery — was overcome when an American soldier climbed the pole and replaced it with the Stars and Stripes.
The departure marked the end of over seven years of occupation and the effective conclusion of the war. Washington hosted a farewell dinner for his officers at Fraunces Tavern on December 4, where he famously embraced each officer in an emotional farewell before departing for Annapolis to resign his commission.
People Involved
Commander-in-chief who fought desperately to hold New York in 1776, lost the city after the Battle of Long Island, and returned in triumph on Evacuation Day 1783. His defense of New York was a military failure that nearly destroyed the army, but his escape preserved the Continental cause.