Evacuation Day (New York)

Evacuation Day (New York)

Following the American Revolutionary War, Evacuation Day on November 25 marks the day in 1783 when the last vestige of British authority in the United States — its troops in New York — departed from Manhattan. After this British evacuation, General George Washington triumphantly led the Continental Army through the city. The last shot of the war was reported to be fired on this day, as a British gunner on one of the departing ships fired a cannon at jeering crowds gathered on the shore of Staten Island, at the mouth of New York Harbor (the shot fell well short of the shore).