March 17th is known to many as Saint Patrick's Day, but for Bostonians, it's also Evacuation Day. Centuries ago, during the buildup of the American Revolution, Boston was a city under siege. It took a drastic, strategic standoff by Patriot colonists at Dorchester Heights to send the British sailing off to Canada, and it all played out on what we now know as Evacuation Day. Jonathan Lane, Executive Director of Revolution 250 in Boston, joins the show to tell the dramatic story and share details of this year's commemoration in Dorchester.
This segment is the seventh interview in our series "Revolutionary Roots", where we take a closer look at the stories, people, events, and local ties that connect New England to the nation's 250th anniversary in 2026.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week right here, we come together, we talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. Thanks for tuning in. This week, I'm Nicole Davis.
As we celebrate the nation's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary.
I've been doing the occasional segment in a series called
Revolutionary Roots. We're taking a closer look here at the stories,
(00:29):
local ties, the people, and the events all connecting Massachusetts
and New England to this pivotal moment in our history.
For this week, the series takes us to Dorchester. Now
picture it all these years ago in seventeen seventy six,
in March, Boston was a city under siege. It took
a pretty drastic move from the Revolutionaries the Patriots to
break that siege, send the British packing off to Nova Scotia,
(00:51):
and then push ahead the quest for independence. All that
played out on March seventeenth. What these days we now
know is Evacuation Day. Here in Massachuset, it's Revolution two
fifty as a group of local experts, organizations, and nonprofits
who've been putting on all these great special events to
mark the anniversary coming up on March seventeenth, they're doing
one in Dorchester for Evacuation Day. Here to tell us
(01:13):
all about that and a bit more about what exactly
Evacuation Day is is Jonathan Lane. He is the executive
director of Revolution two fifty and Jonathan, it's great to
have you with us. So before we kind of dig
a little deeper into Evacuation Day, get some education, give
us a rundown about Revolution two fifty and all the
work you all are doing there.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Sure. So, Revolution two fifty actually began back in twenty
fifteen when they commemorated the very first two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary event in the lead up to American Independence,
which was the dedication of the Liberty Tree in Boston
and really the formation of the Sons of Liberty, who
really become the heart and soul of what will eventually
(01:55):
be the independence movement. But of course in seventeen sixty
five they're not really there. Revolution two fifty is a
consortium of organizations that have been working since twenty fifteen
on the two hundred and fiftieth. We are across the
Commonwealth and we have a couple of partners just over
various borders, and it's really a recognition of the role
(02:18):
that New Englanders had with Massachusetts at the core in
the run up to American independence.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
It's really interesting to me how excited people are getting,
of course because again big birthday, but really there's just
so many educational opportunities and that I'm seeing pop up
all over the Commonwealth and people seem to really be
getting into this.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
It really is amazing. So if you look at the
arc of programs that have occurred over the last let's
say ten years, you know, we all we have hit
all the hotspots. And you know, the very last event
we did before COVID was the Boston massacre two fiftieth
and then there was that long COVID period where we
really struggled to keep them amentum going, but using technology
(03:03):
like the podcasting. For instance, we started The Revolution two
fifty podcasts, which is hosted by Suffolk University professor Bob Allison,
and you know, we are now three almost three hundred
episodes into that podcast, and we've talked with scholars and
public historians and screenwriters all who have a story to
(03:24):
tell about their role in promoting this history. So it's
really been a fantastic arc and I agree with you.
As we get closer to twenty twenty six, the momentum
has built. You know, we did the two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, and you know,
it had been commemorated almost annually prior to that, and
(03:47):
you get two three thousand people, and so we were
expecting four to six thousand people and we got over
fifteen thousand people at the event in a night in December.
And you know, a lot of attention was brought to
it because of you know, engaging with communities that were
(04:09):
the burial places of participants in the Tea Party. We
invited participants from around the world to send us tea
and we got over four thousand pounds of tea in
one and two ounce increments from what fourteen countries and
(04:29):
every state and territory in America.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
That is incredible. That's a lot of tea.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
It is well, but so four thousand pounds when we say, wow,
that's a lot of tea. But remember two hundred and
fifty years ago they dumped ninety six thousand, six hundred
and sixty pounds of tea into the four point Channel.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
That part of the Boston Harbor area must have smelled
amazing for at least a couple of hours. Afterwards. I'm
literally icy.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Tea well with salt water.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
But I mean I wouldn't drink it. I'm just saying
so ever.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Since then, you know, so it's not just the tea party,
it's not just Bunker Hill, it's not lexingon and conquer.
I mean, we did all of those things, but it's
also this two fiftieth is an opportunity to widen our
vista and help people understand the role of the indigenous
communities in America during this time period. You know, the
(05:21):
very first Indigenous person to die in the American Revolution
was killed at Bunker Hill, and he was a young
Connecticut Mohegan man who came up to Massachusetts with his
brother and some of his neighbors to support the patriot cause.
And similarly, there's more than fifteen hundred patriots of color
(05:43):
who served throughout the long eight year war of the
American Revolution from Massachusetts alone. And you know, so you
get to have these discussions of understanding that it's not
just about the big events, it's not just about Sam
Adams and John and Paul Revere. It's about average people,
(06:04):
ordinary people doing an extraordinary thing, and.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
It's about them living lives that we in current day
may never be able to truly understand. I mean, Boston
for a time was a war zone, a literal war zone.
It was under siege. You had women acting as spies.
You had, like you said, patriots of color joining up
and fighting at a time when that was just unheard of, unspoken.
(06:28):
So I'm really grateful that all these stories are coming
to life because they all make up the American experience.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
That's exactly right. And you know, let's not forget the
children out there. I mean, the youngest person at Bunker
Hill was ten years old. In the Arlington on April nineteen,
seventeen seventy five, a group of children managed to save
their house from destruction because they used the family's newly
brewed beer to put out a fire the British soldiers
had started. So there's all of these stories out there,
(06:56):
and it is very much a story of the people, right,
And that's what is particularly fascinating that as much as
we hold up certain individuals to be heroes, it really
is the stories of everyday lives and to the links
to which they would go to preserve their rights and liberties.
(07:18):
You know, John Adams said it best. He said, the
real revolution occurred before a drop of blood got spilled.
It was what occurred in the hearts and minds of
the people all across Massachusetts. And when you read the
town meeting records and you read the Committee of Correspondence records,
you really get a sense of how people across Massachusetts.
(07:39):
First of all, how deeply they understood their rights and
liberties under the English constitutional system, and two, how they
viewed their role in the British Empire. And three the
links to which they would go to preserve those rights
and liberties, not for themselves as much. They don't talk
about it in the sort of the first person. They
(08:02):
talk about securing these rights and liberties for their children
and their grandchildren. I mean, they were really very sort
of forward thinking people, which is Massachusetts to a te.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Right, Well, that's exactly it. I mean today I feel
like that is just us in a nutshell. There's all
that talk about, oh the whole country hates New England
and New England versus everybody. But I really do feel
that those are New England qualities Massachusetts qualities and even today.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yeah, it's it's so true, and quite frankly, it's one
of the things that you know, Revolution two fifty and
now m A two fifty, which is the State's office
for the two fifty, if you know, it's one of
the reasons that we spend so much time pushing and
promoting the work that we do to remind people, not
just in New England but across the nation that when
(08:49):
you get to the Declaration of Independence, when you get
to July fourth, seventeen seventy six, you only get there
because of what the people of Massachusetts did.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Mm hmm. Let's talk about Evacuation Day. March seventeenth is
often known as a whole other day. You know, Saint
Patrick's Day, got the parade and you know, people getting
drunk and all that stuff and whatever. That's great. It's
good to have a holiday for all those things. I
love March seventeenth because it's evacuation Day. And frequently I
have people saying, what's evacuation Day? And why is only
(09:22):
the City of Boston, like two other places off on
evacuation Day. Give us a little bit of the history,
if you could, about what exactly happened on March seventeenth,
all those years ago.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Sure, So March seventeenth, seventeen seventy six, the in the
months leading up to that, so everybody knows. April nineteenth,
the Siege of Boston begins, and Boston is ringed by
thirteen miles of fortifications and trenchments, and they're manned by,
(09:52):
given the time of year, anywhere between ten and sixteen
thousand soldiers, you know, provincial soldiers from New England and beyond.
The British Army is trapped in Boston. They can only
get supplied by ships at sea. But it's a stalemate
because the Massachusetts forces don't have cannons big enough to
(10:14):
drive the ships away, and the British Army don't have
enough men to come out and essentially break out and
subdue the provincial Army. So Washington comes to take command
in July of seventeen seventy five, and his first job
is to sort of figure out how to break the stalemate,
and they form the Continental Army. He meets Henry Knox,
(10:36):
a young twenty five year old bookseller from Boston, and
he's really impressed with Knox. Knox is a big imposing figure.
He's over six feet waist two twenty five, and you know,
he's obviously very intelligent and has a lot of book
learning that he's applied to some of the fortifications. And
Washington says, here's a man that I can send out
(10:58):
on an expedition. So he gives Knox essentially one thousand
dollars and says, go to Fort Taykonderga in New York,
which had just been captured, and bring me all the
heavy artillery you can. And so Knox and his brother
William go out to Fort Ticonderoga, and in the dead
of winter they pack up sixty tons of artillery. And
(11:21):
it's just the cannon tubes. There's no wheels, there's no gunpowder,
there's no shot. All of that will be supplied by
other means. But they essentially take eighty teams of horses
and put the cannon barrels on sleds and they drag
them from Fort Tekonderoga. They crossed the Hudson River twice.
(11:42):
They climb up through the Berkshire Mountains all the way
across the Housatonic and the Connecticut Rivers, all the way
to framing Ham, which they arrive in the middle of
January seventeen seventy six, the cannons are reassembled with all
their wooden and iron powers, and on the fourth of
(12:03):
March seventeen seventy six, General Washington is determined to build
a fortification on Dorchester Heights, which is the last high
ground that can oversee Boston. And in order to do
this they prefabricate a fort They use materials that are
called chandeliers, which are wooden frames like a timber frame,
(12:26):
like a like you would have built a house with
two hundred and fifty years ago. And they're filled with
tightly wrapped bundles of sticks called fascines, and they're about
anywhere from between three and four feet thick. And they
one night, twelve hundred men carry this entire fortification and
(12:46):
many of Knox's heavy guns up to the top of
Dorchester Heights and assemble it all. And the next day,
the fifth of March seventeen seventy six, George Washington rides
up to the fort and he says to the men
in the fortification, this is the sixth anniversary of the
(13:07):
Boston massacre, and I know you will not let the
British take this position, and you know, there were some
aboard of attempts by the British to both bombard and
potentially land troops, but they were frustrated by bad weather,
and on the seventeenth of March seventeen seventy six, General
(13:28):
Howe decided to evacuate more than essentially eleven thousand people,
So about seven thousand troops or so four thousand loyalist
families went with them, and they all decamped and went
to Halifax, Nova Scotia. And the importance of all of
this is that that is the moment that the people
(13:52):
of Massachusetts secured for themselves. They're independent because the British
Army never comes back. They have complete control over the
government and really the organization of Massachusetts. And so then
they saw it as their responsibility to go help out
the rest of the thirteen colonies.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Wow, what an amazing culture shift at the time, What
an amazing shift in the fight for independence. And I'm
sure that this spilled out into other colonies pretty quickly too.
People saw what happened in Boston. I feel like Evacuation
Day kind of lit a fire that had been smoldering
a bit, but really put the logs on the fire.
And fan the flames, to be sure.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
And let's be honest. First of all, we could not
have done it without the aid and support of the
other colonies. Of course, so many states from Virginia north
actually sent soldiers to the Siege of Boston, So we
need to recognize that. We also need to recognize the
fact that you don't get to July fourth without evacuation day. No,
(14:53):
because it really showed the rest of the colonies that
not only was victory achieve but that it didn't result
in chaos and turmoil. The people of Massachusetts just returned
to their their natural state of governance. The town meetings
went on, the Provincial Congress sort of returns back to
(15:16):
the General Court, and they are in a state of war,
and the Constitution of Massachusetts hadn't been written yet, but
John Adams was working on that. So it really is
that moment that allowed independence to happen.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Wow, And we still celebrated all these years later, which
we should if you ask me, because again, this was
a major, major moment in Massachusetts history. And as we
look ahead to the two fifty celebration here, you've got
a whole huge event plan for this year. This is
going to be over at Dorchester Heights, there's the monument there.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Yes, they're going to have it open on evacuation I
think in my lifetime, but as a regular opportunity. But
people will be able to go into the monument and
climb to the cupola and see Boston at their feet.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
That's going to be a gorgeous photo op for what
it's worth, even you know, history aside. I mean, we
rarely get to see that view. But I tell me
a little bit about what you've got planned for this
year for this epic celebration.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Sure, Look, it's really exciting. Obviously, the City of Boston,
Boston two fifty, they're involved, the National Parks, We've got
the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company involved. There's so many
great opportunities. We're going to start the day as is
traditionally done at Saint Augustine's, which is the oldest Catholic
(16:37):
chapel in Massachusetts, and they do a little service there,
particularly for some of the early organizers of Evacuation Day,
going back to the nineteenth century. Then we'll do a procession.
We have a procession organized. It's going to be about
somewhere between three and four hundred people long, which we'll
(16:59):
focus on both modern military elements and honor guards. Will
also have some obviously lots of colonial participation with re enactors.
We've got George Washington and his staff coming to bless
the occasion as they did two hundred and fifty years ago,
and of course the very last element of the entire
(17:22):
procession will be Henry Knox's teams dragging the cannons up
to the top of Dorchester Heights, which we work course
we're really excited about. And then working with the National
Park Service. Of course they've invested a great deal of
time and effort on getting the monument refurbished in time.
(17:42):
It's a beautiful restoration, meticulously done. So we're expecting participation
from a number of national National Park representatives in addition
to many of our local partners that we work with continuously.
And there's a whole commemorative program that is filled with
beautiful music and pageantry and opportunities for the public to
(18:03):
come and really touch history on this day, two hundred
and fifty years after we watched the British sale out
of Boston Harbor.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Wow, it's a once in a lifetime thing and kind
of extending on that really quick. You all have a
time capsule going on which I am super fascinated about.
Tell me a little bit what is in this time
capsule and what's going to happen during the ceremony.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
I think they're still taking submissions for the time capsule,
so you'll see some you know a lot of organizations
that are particularly tied to South Boston. You know, the
South Boston Citizens Association really the keepers of this story
for generations now. They have been the ones hosting this
(18:46):
event and encouraging school children to get involved. And you know,
we can't express enough gratitude towards the work that they
have done and the work they continue to do up
to this day. So they're the ones who are really
worked on getting this time capsule built and established, and
they're taking submissions there. You know, I'm sure they'll be
challenge coins and modern coins that will be going into
(19:09):
all this as well as you know, they're gonna they
always do student contests for essays and posters, and those
will all be going into the time capsules. Well, I
think I think they're going to go in in a
digital format, so their chances of preservation are slightly greater.
Obviously that's the thing you think about most, but it's
(19:30):
really going to be representative of the community spirit of
South Boston and it's tied to this particular moment in history,
and so we're just excited to be part of it.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I'm excited for you. And if people want to find out,
you know, the particulars about the event, when, where, how
they can get tickets. If they need to get tickets,
where can they find out more information?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Yeah, there's no tickets for the day itself. There are
other events happening throughout the weekend which we encourage people
to take part in, so they can find the South
Boxing Citizens Association on Facebook. Revolution two fifty dot org
will have some data up there for the various events
that are going forward as well, and anybody can always
reach out to the City of Boston Boston two fifty
(20:13):
and they'll have a complete schedule as well.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Beautiful Jonathan, this is so cool. I'm really excited for
this event. Thanks for taking the time and for the
history listen too.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Thank you very much for the opportunity, and we hope
to see you and everyone else.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
There have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join us
again next week. For another edition of the show. I'm
Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week right here, we come together, we talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. Thanks for tuning in. This week, I'm Nicole Davis.
As we celebrate the nation's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary.
I've been doing the occasional segment in a series called
Revolutionary Roots. We're taking a closer look here at the stories,
(00:29):
local ties, the people, and the events all connecting Massachusetts
and New England to this pivotal moment in our history.
For this week, the series takes us to Dorchester. Now
picture it all these years ago in seventeen seventy six,
in March, Boston was a city under siege. It took
a pretty drastic move from the Revolutionaries the Patriots to
break that siege, send the British packing off to Nova Scotia,
(00:51):
and then push ahead the quest for independence. All that
played out on March seventeenth. What these days we now
know is Evacuation Day. Here in Massachuset, it's Revolution two
fifty as a group of local experts, organizations, and nonprofits
who've been putting on all these great special events to
mark the anniversary coming up on March seventeenth, they're doing
one in Dorchester for Evacuation Day. Here to tell us
(01:13):
all about that and a bit more about what exactly
Evacuation Day is is Jonathan Lane. He is the executive
director of Revolution two fifty and Jonathan, it's great to
have you with us. So before we kind of dig
a little deeper into Evacuation Day, get some education, give
us a rundown about Revolution two fifty and all the
work you all are doing there.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Sure. So, Revolution two fifty actually began back in twenty
fifteen when they commemorated the very first two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary event in the lead up to American Independence,
which was the dedication of the Liberty Tree in Boston
and really the formation of the Sons of Liberty, who
really become the heart and soul of what will eventually
(01:55):
be the independence movement. But of course in seventeen sixty
five they're not really there. Revolution two fifty is a
consortium of organizations that have been working since twenty fifteen
on the two hundred and fiftieth. We are across the
Commonwealth and we have a couple of partners just over
various borders, and it's really a recognition of the role
(02:18):
that New Englanders had with Massachusetts at the core in
the run up to American independence.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
It's really interesting to me how excited people are getting,
of course because again big birthday, but really there's just
so many educational opportunities and that I'm seeing pop up
all over the Commonwealth and people seem to really be
getting into this.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
It really is amazing. So if you look at the
arc of programs that have occurred over the last let's
say ten years, you know, we all we have hit
all the hotspots. And you know, the very last event
we did before COVID was the Boston massacre two fiftieth
and then there was that long COVID period where we
really struggled to keep them amentum going, but using technology
(03:03):
like the podcasting. For instance, we started The Revolution two
fifty podcasts, which is hosted by Suffolk University professor Bob Allison,
and you know, we are now three almost three hundred
episodes into that podcast, and we've talked with scholars and
public historians and screenwriters all who have a story to
(03:24):
tell about their role in promoting this history. So it's
really been a fantastic arc and I agree with you.
As we get closer to twenty twenty six, the momentum
has built. You know, we did the two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, and you know,
it had been commemorated almost annually prior to that, and
(03:47):
you get two three thousand people, and so we were
expecting four to six thousand people and we got over
fifteen thousand people at the event in a night in December.
And you know, a lot of attention was brought to
it because of you know, engaging with communities that were
(04:09):
the burial places of participants in the Tea Party. We
invited participants from around the world to send us tea
and we got over four thousand pounds of tea in
one and two ounce increments from what fourteen countries and
(04:29):
every state and territory in America.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
That is incredible. That's a lot of tea.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
It is well, but so four thousand pounds when we say, wow,
that's a lot of tea. But remember two hundred and
fifty years ago they dumped ninety six thousand, six hundred
and sixty pounds of tea into the four point Channel.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
That part of the Boston Harbor area must have smelled
amazing for at least a couple of hours. Afterwards. I'm
literally icy.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Tea well with salt water.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
But I mean I wouldn't drink it. I'm just saying
so ever.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Since then, you know, so it's not just the tea party,
it's not just Bunker Hill, it's not lexingon and conquer.
I mean, we did all of those things, but it's
also this two fiftieth is an opportunity to widen our
vista and help people understand the role of the indigenous
communities in America during this time period. You know, the
(05:21):
very first Indigenous person to die in the American Revolution
was killed at Bunker Hill, and he was a young
Connecticut Mohegan man who came up to Massachusetts with his
brother and some of his neighbors to support the patriot cause.
And similarly, there's more than fifteen hundred patriots of color
(05:43):
who served throughout the long eight year war of the
American Revolution from Massachusetts alone. And you know, so you
get to have these discussions of understanding that it's not
just about the big events, it's not just about Sam
Adams and John and Paul Revere. It's about average people,
(06:04):
ordinary people doing an extraordinary thing, and.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
It's about them living lives that we in current day
may never be able to truly understand. I mean, Boston
for a time was a war zone, a literal war zone.
It was under siege. You had women acting as spies.
You had, like you said, patriots of color joining up
and fighting at a time when that was just unheard of, unspoken.
(06:28):
So I'm really grateful that all these stories are coming
to life because they all make up the American experience.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
That's exactly right. And you know, let's not forget the
children out there. I mean, the youngest person at Bunker
Hill was ten years old. In the Arlington on April nineteen,
seventeen seventy five, a group of children managed to save
their house from destruction because they used the family's newly
brewed beer to put out a fire the British soldiers
had started. So there's all of these stories out there,
(06:56):
and it is very much a story of the people, right,
And that's what is particularly fascinating that as much as
we hold up certain individuals to be heroes, it really
is the stories of everyday lives and to the links
to which they would go to preserve their rights and liberties.
(07:18):
You know, John Adams said it best. He said, the
real revolution occurred before a drop of blood got spilled.
It was what occurred in the hearts and minds of
the people all across Massachusetts. And when you read the
town meeting records and you read the Committee of Correspondence records,
you really get a sense of how people across Massachusetts.
(07:39):
First of all, how deeply they understood their rights and
liberties under the English constitutional system, and two, how they
viewed their role in the British Empire. And three the
links to which they would go to preserve those rights
and liberties, not for themselves as much. They don't talk
about it in the sort of the first person. They
(08:02):
talk about securing these rights and liberties for their children
and their grandchildren. I mean, they were really very sort
of forward thinking people, which is Massachusetts to a te.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Right, Well, that's exactly it. I mean today I feel
like that is just us in a nutshell. There's all
that talk about, oh the whole country hates New England
and New England versus everybody. But I really do feel
that those are New England qualities Massachusetts qualities and even today.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yeah, it's it's so true, and quite frankly, it's one
of the things that you know, Revolution two fifty and
now m A two fifty, which is the State's office
for the two fifty, if you know, it's one of
the reasons that we spend so much time pushing and
promoting the work that we do to remind people, not
just in New England but across the nation that when
(08:49):
you get to the Declaration of Independence, when you get
to July fourth, seventeen seventy six, you only get there
because of what the people of Massachusetts did.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Mm hmm. Let's talk about Evacuation Day. March seventeenth is
often known as a whole other day. You know, Saint
Patrick's Day, got the parade and you know, people getting
drunk and all that stuff and whatever. That's great. It's
good to have a holiday for all those things. I
love March seventeenth because it's evacuation Day. And frequently I
have people saying, what's evacuation Day? And why is only
(09:22):
the City of Boston, like two other places off on
evacuation Day. Give us a little bit of the history,
if you could, about what exactly happened on March seventeenth,
all those years ago.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Sure, So March seventeenth, seventeen seventy six, the in the
months leading up to that, so everybody knows. April nineteenth,
the Siege of Boston begins, and Boston is ringed by
thirteen miles of fortifications and trenchments, and they're manned by,
(09:52):
given the time of year, anywhere between ten and sixteen
thousand soldiers, you know, provincial soldiers from New England and beyond.
The British Army is trapped in Boston. They can only
get supplied by ships at sea. But it's a stalemate
because the Massachusetts forces don't have cannons big enough to
(10:14):
drive the ships away, and the British Army don't have
enough men to come out and essentially break out and
subdue the provincial Army. So Washington comes to take command
in July of seventeen seventy five, and his first job
is to sort of figure out how to break the stalemate,
and they form the Continental Army. He meets Henry Knox,
(10:36):
a young twenty five year old bookseller from Boston, and
he's really impressed with Knox. Knox is a big imposing figure.
He's over six feet waist two twenty five, and you know,
he's obviously very intelligent and has a lot of book
learning that he's applied to some of the fortifications. And
Washington says, here's a man that I can send out
(10:58):
on an expedition. So he gives Knox essentially one thousand
dollars and says, go to Fort Taykonderga in New York,
which had just been captured, and bring me all the
heavy artillery you can. And so Knox and his brother
William go out to Fort Ticonderoga, and in the dead
of winter they pack up sixty tons of artillery. And
(11:21):
it's just the cannon tubes. There's no wheels, there's no gunpowder,
there's no shot. All of that will be supplied by
other means. But they essentially take eighty teams of horses
and put the cannon barrels on sleds and they drag
them from Fort Tekonderoga. They crossed the Hudson River twice.
(11:42):
They climb up through the Berkshire Mountains all the way
across the Housatonic and the Connecticut Rivers, all the way
to framing Ham, which they arrive in the middle of
January seventeen seventy six, the cannons are reassembled with all
their wooden and iron powers, and on the fourth of
(12:03):
March seventeen seventy six, General Washington is determined to build
a fortification on Dorchester Heights, which is the last high
ground that can oversee Boston. And in order to do
this they prefabricate a fort They use materials that are
called chandeliers, which are wooden frames like a timber frame,
(12:26):
like a like you would have built a house with
two hundred and fifty years ago. And they're filled with
tightly wrapped bundles of sticks called fascines, and they're about
anywhere from between three and four feet thick. And they
one night, twelve hundred men carry this entire fortification and
(12:46):
many of Knox's heavy guns up to the top of
Dorchester Heights and assemble it all. And the next day,
the fifth of March seventeen seventy six, George Washington rides
up to the fort and he says to the men
in the fortification, this is the sixth anniversary of the
(13:07):
Boston massacre, and I know you will not let the
British take this position, and you know, there were some
aboard of attempts by the British to both bombard and
potentially land troops, but they were frustrated by bad weather,
and on the seventeenth of March seventeen seventy six, General
(13:28):
Howe decided to evacuate more than essentially eleven thousand people,
So about seven thousand troops or so four thousand loyalist
families went with them, and they all decamped and went
to Halifax, Nova Scotia. And the importance of all of
this is that that is the moment that the people
(13:52):
of Massachusetts secured for themselves. They're independent because the British
Army never comes back. They have complete control over the
government and really the organization of Massachusetts. And so then
they saw it as their responsibility to go help out
the rest of the thirteen colonies.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Wow, what an amazing culture shift at the time, What
an amazing shift in the fight for independence. And I'm
sure that this spilled out into other colonies pretty quickly too.
People saw what happened in Boston. I feel like Evacuation
Day kind of lit a fire that had been smoldering
a bit, but really put the logs on the fire.
And fan the flames, to be sure.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
And let's be honest. First of all, we could not
have done it without the aid and support of the
other colonies. Of course, so many states from Virginia north
actually sent soldiers to the Siege of Boston, So we
need to recognize that. We also need to recognize the
fact that you don't get to July fourth without evacuation day. No,
(14:53):
because it really showed the rest of the colonies that
not only was victory achieve but that it didn't result
in chaos and turmoil. The people of Massachusetts just returned
to their their natural state of governance. The town meetings
went on, the Provincial Congress sort of returns back to
(15:16):
the General Court, and they are in a state of war,
and the Constitution of Massachusetts hadn't been written yet, but
John Adams was working on that. So it really is
that moment that allowed independence to happen.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Wow, And we still celebrated all these years later, which
we should if you ask me, because again, this was
a major, major moment in Massachusetts history. And as we
look ahead to the two fifty celebration here, you've got
a whole huge event plan for this year. This is
going to be over at Dorchester Heights, there's the monument there.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Yes, they're going to have it open on evacuation I
think in my lifetime, but as a regular opportunity. But
people will be able to go into the monument and
climb to the cupola and see Boston at their feet.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
That's going to be a gorgeous photo op for what
it's worth, even you know, history aside. I mean, we
rarely get to see that view. But I tell me
a little bit about what you've got planned for this
year for this epic celebration.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Sure, Look, it's really exciting. Obviously, the City of Boston,
Boston two fifty, they're involved, the National Parks, We've got
the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company involved. There's so many
great opportunities. We're going to start the day as is
traditionally done at Saint Augustine's, which is the oldest Catholic
(16:37):
chapel in Massachusetts, and they do a little service there,
particularly for some of the early organizers of Evacuation Day,
going back to the nineteenth century. Then we'll do a procession.
We have a procession organized. It's going to be about
somewhere between three and four hundred people long, which we'll
(16:59):
focus on both modern military elements and honor guards. Will
also have some obviously lots of colonial participation with re enactors.
We've got George Washington and his staff coming to bless
the occasion as they did two hundred and fifty years ago,
and of course the very last element of the entire
(17:22):
procession will be Henry Knox's teams dragging the cannons up
to the top of Dorchester Heights, which we work course
we're really excited about. And then working with the National
Park Service. Of course they've invested a great deal of
time and effort on getting the monument refurbished in time.
(17:42):
It's a beautiful restoration, meticulously done. So we're expecting participation
from a number of national National Park representatives in addition
to many of our local partners that we work with continuously.
And there's a whole commemorative program that is filled with
beautiful music and pageantry and opportunities for the public to
(18:03):
come and really touch history on this day, two hundred
and fifty years after we watched the British sale out
of Boston Harbor.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Wow, it's a once in a lifetime thing and kind
of extending on that really quick. You all have a
time capsule going on which I am super fascinated about.
Tell me a little bit what is in this time
capsule and what's going to happen during the ceremony.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
I think they're still taking submissions for the time capsule,
so you'll see some you know a lot of organizations
that are particularly tied to South Boston. You know, the
South Boston Citizens Association really the keepers of this story
for generations now. They have been the ones hosting this
(18:46):
event and encouraging school children to get involved. And you know,
we can't express enough gratitude towards the work that they
have done and the work they continue to do up
to this day. So they're the ones who are really
worked on getting this time capsule built and established, and
they're taking submissions there. You know, I'm sure they'll be
challenge coins and modern coins that will be going into
(19:09):
all this as well as you know, they're gonna they
always do student contests for essays and posters, and those
will all be going into the time capsules. Well, I
think I think they're going to go in in a
digital format, so their chances of preservation are slightly greater.
Obviously that's the thing you think about most, but it's
(19:30):
really going to be representative of the community spirit of
South Boston and it's tied to this particular moment in history,
and so we're just excited to be part of it.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I'm excited for you. And if people want to find out,
you know, the particulars about the event, when, where, how
they can get tickets. If they need to get tickets,
where can they find out more information?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Yeah, there's no tickets for the day itself. There are
other events happening throughout the weekend which we encourage people
to take part in, so they can find the South
Boxing Citizens Association on Facebook. Revolution two fifty dot org
will have some data up there for the various events
that are going forward as well, and anybody can always
reach out to the City of Boston Boston two fifty
(20:13):
and they'll have a complete schedule as well.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Beautiful Jonathan, this is so cool. I'm really excited for
this event. Thanks for taking the time and for the
history listen too.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Thank you very much for the opportunity, and we hope
to see you and everyone else.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
There have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join us
again next week. For another edition of the show. I'm
Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio
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