Saint Patrick Day - Evacuation of Boston March 17, 1776
- Ray Via II
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
On the cold night of March 16, 1776, thousands of Continental soldiers moved quietly across the frozen ground south of Boston. The war for American independence had been going on for almost a year, but around Boston, both sides were stuck in a tense standoff. Inside the city, the British army, led by William Howe, felt secure with the Royal Navy nearby. Outside, George Washington’s army waited in a loose circle of camps and defenses.
Washington spent the long winter of 1775 to 1776 watching, waiting, and looking for a way to break the stalemate.
The chance to change things came from the north.
Months earlier, in May 1775, American forces had captured the remote fortress of Fort Ticonderoga, seizing dozens of heavy cannons from the British garrison. Those guns were hundreds of miles away in the wilderness of New York, but Washington understood that artillery could transform the entire situation around Boston. If the guns could reach the hills overlooking the city, the British fleet and army would suddenly find themselves under direct fire.
It was up to Henry Knox, a young former bookseller who had become an artillery officer, to move the cannons.
Knox’s journey turned into one of the most impressive efforts of the Revolutionary War. In the middle of winter, he arranged sleds, oxen, and teams of drivers to pull over fifty heavy cannons across frozen rivers, mountain passes, and deep snow. The trip from Ticonderoga to Boston was more than 300 miles, but the cannons arrived in early 1776, surprising both armies.
Now Washington finally had the weapon he needed.
The key terrain lay south of the city on a ridge called Dorchester Heights. Whoever controlled those heights could dominate Boston Harbor and threaten the British fleet anchored below. Howe understood this perfectly. Months earlier, he had considered seizing the hills but never acted.
Washington was determined not to make the same mistake.
The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day
On the evening of March 4, the Continental Army put its plan into action. American cannons fired heavily from positions north of Boston, drawing the British army’s attention while troops quietly moved toward Dorchester Heights. Wagons groaned under the weight of the cannons. Soldiers carried sticks, wood, and bundles of hay to build defenses.
What happened next was an amazing engineering effort.
All night, thousands of soldiers dug trenches, built platforms for the cannons, and put up protective walls. Hay bales and wooden shields kept the workers hidden from the British. By sunrise, a whole line of defenses had appeared on the ridge.
When British lookouts woke up the next morning, they could hardly believe their eyes. Cannons were now aimed straight down at the harbor.
British officers reportedly stared through their spyglasses in disbelief. One observer remarked that the Americans had done “more work in one night than my whole army could have done in a month.”
The cannons were set up not just to threaten the city, but to control the British fleet as well. If Washington fired, the harbor could turn into a trap.
St. Patrick's Day. For several tense days, both sides got ready for battle. for battle.
At first, General Howe planned to attack the heights directly. The British army still had some of the best infantry in the world, and a quick assault might have pushed the Americans out before their defenses were finished.
But the memory of the Battle of Bunker Hill weighed on the British leaders.
At Bunker Hill the year before, British troops took the ground but lost many men while attacking American defenses. Dorchester Heights looked even tougher. The slopes were steep, the cannons well placed, and the Continental Army was ready.
Then a storm swept across the harbor and disrupted the British plans.
By the morning of St. Patrick’s Day, Howe had made up his mind.
Instead of risking his army in a costly uphill attack, he ordered everyone to leave the city.
Irish Units in the British Army
The decision was also ironic. Many of the British soldiers that day were Irish. Throughout the 1700s, Irish regiments made up a big part of the British Army.
Some of the units around Boston included Irish-raised regiments like the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot. Many Irish soldiers joined these regiments for pay, steady work, and the hope of moving up in the British Empire.
On March 17, the soldiers of these units woke to an unusual sight.
Instead of getting ready for battle, they were told to pack up, gather at the waterfront, and get ready to board ships. The evacuation started in an orderly way. British soldiers marched in neat lines through the streets while Loyalist civilians hurried beside them, carrying whatever they could.
Wagons carrying cannons rolled toward the docks. Infantry marched past warehouses and churches. Sailors took troops out to the ships waiting in the harbor.
For the Irish soldiers fighting for the British, it must have felt strange to leave Boston on St. Patrick’s Day, retreating from a city the British had controlled since the start of the war. The Evacuation
Over 11,000 British soldiers, sailors, and Loyalist refugees boarded ships throughout the day. The Royal Navy kept things organized as the ships filled up and set sail.
The American cannons stayed silent.
Washington knew that if he fired, the British might try a last, desperate attack instead of leaving quietly. He wanted to take control of the city, not destroy it. By letting Howe leave, he took Boston without a big fight.
By the afternoon, sails filled the harbor.
British ships slowly moved out toward the Atlantic, then sailed north to Halifax, where the army got ready for future battles.
Boston was finally free.
The Continental Army Enters the City
The following day, Washington’s troops marched into Boston. in the streets as Continental soldiers entered the city that had endured nearly a year of occupation. Church bells rang. Citizens celebrated openly.
Washington entered the city carefully. He wanted to stop any looting or revenge against Loyalists who had stayed. The troops stayed disciplined, and the occupation ended in an orderly way.
For the Americans, this victory was crucial to their strategy.
The British would never again control New England.
A Holiday with Two Meanings
Today in Boston, St. Patrick’s Day has a special double meaning. It celebrates Irish heritage throughout the city, but it also marks the day the British army left Boston in 1776.
Locally, the day is still called Evacuation Day.
There is a quiet historical symmetry in this story. Irish soldiers fighting for the British left Boston on St. Patrick’s Day, while the American army entered as liberators.
Above them, the heights where Washington’s cannons changed the war still stood.
Sometimes, battles are won not by fighting, but by the quiet threat of cannons placed on the right hill at the right time.
Bibliography
Fischer, David Hackett. Washington’s Crossing. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Fleming, Thomas. Liberty! The American Revolution. New York: Viking, 1997.
Fleming, Thomas. The Strategy of Victory: How General George Washington Won the American Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2017.
Frothingham, Richard. History of the Siege of Boston and of the Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1903.
Higginbotham, Don. The War of American Independence: Military Attitudes, Policies, and Practice, 1763–1789. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1983.
McCullough, David. 1776. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.
Philbrick, Nathaniel. Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution. New York: Viking, 2013.
Puls, Mark. Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
Washington, George. The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745–1799. Edited by John C. Fitzpatrick. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1931–1944.
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