NY, USA
Washington's Farewell at Fraunces Tavern
December 4, 1783
On December 4, 1783, George Washington gathered his remaining officers at Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan for a farewell dinner. After eight years of war, Washington was preparing to resign his commission and return to private life — a decision that astonished Europeans accustomed to victorious generals seizing power.
Washington reportedly said, "With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you." He then embraced each officer individually. Henry Knox, his chief of artillery, was the first. Many men wept openly. Washington then walked to the Whitehall slip and boarded a barge for New Jersey, beginning his journey to Annapolis. The scene at Fraunces Tavern became one of the most celebrated moments in the nation's founding narrative.
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.