Big Apple History . Early New York . The Revolution


	Revolutionary New York burns.

On April 23, 1775, a messenger from Boston arrived in New York with urgent news. After years of growing conflict between Britain and her American colonies, bloody battles had finally broken out, at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. The American Revolution had started! New York patriots promptly seized control of City Hall and the Customs house.

But then New Yorkers realized that they were in grave danger. The British would almost certainly try to recapture the city, which occupied a crucial strategic position. George Washington, recently appointed General of the new Continental Army, rushed his troops to New York to defend it. Most Manhattan residents fled the city.

On the morning of June 29, 1776, those who had stayed woke to see more than a hundred British warships in the harbor. One American wrote, "I thought all London was afloat." Over the next few weeks, nearly 500 English ships with more than 30,000 soldiers took over the lower bay and Staten Island.

New York braced for invasion. On July 9, cheering crowds heard the Declaration of Independence read aloud to them, and they marched along Broadway and pulled down a giant statue of King George III. The act was not just symbolic -- the statue's two tons of lead were melted down into bullets to fight the British.


Pulling down the statue of King George III

On August 26, about 20,000 British soldiers ferried from Staten Island to Brooklyn, where General Washington's troops had taken a stand. Britain almost won the war right there. In two days, the outnumbered Americans lost 2,000 men -- a quarter of their army! General Washington wisely chose to retreat and try to save the rest of the army. In total darkness and heavy rain, he used every spare boat he could find to ferry all his remaining soldiers secretly back across the East River to Manhattan. With the British in hot pursuit, Washington and his troops then retreated up Manhattan into upstate New York. The British took over Manhattan.

On September 21, just 4 days later, a huge fire broke out on the lower west side of Manhattan, destroying as many as 500 buildings. The British blamed rebel colonists for setting the fire, and they hanged a young American captain named Nathan Hale. His final words became famous for their reflection of patriotism: "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country."

For the next seven years, New York was a British military base. Then, finally, the tide of war turned, and the rebel colonies were victorious. On November 25, 1783, George Washington lead his army back to Manhattan in triumph. New York officially became an American city and served as the capital of the new nation for the next seven years.

Top illustration: "Representation of the Terrible Fire at New York," courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.
Bottom illustration: "Pulling Down the Statue of George III," by William Walcutt, 1854, courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.