General Henry Knox, who was with the Commander-in-chief, was there to take a conspicuous part in the ceremonious entrance. When the American troops, having marched through the length of New York, halted in Broadway, near Wall Street, and two companies were sent forward to take formal possession of the fort, with instruction to hoist the American flag and fire a salute of thirteen guns, many of the boats full of retiring British troops were still near the Battery wah. The shores were crowded with citizens, assembled to witness the embarkation. It has been remarked as a noteworthy fact that there seems to have been no disturbance, no taunts or jeers, such as might naturahy have been expected on the ])art of such a mixed assembly of spectators. On the contrary, everything was orderly and.
28 The Hudson River
to use a phrase unhappily somewhat obsolete, "was conducted with propriety." The British ships hung in the offing and received their barges as they came up; then, without further ceremony, sailed away and took with them the last shadowy vestige of royal claim to the land where they had struggled so long for supremacy. There is one bit of comedy associated with the British evacuation of New York. The retiring garrison, either with the connivance of their officers or as a piece of unauthorised waggery, left their flag flying in front of the fort. When the Americans, in accordance with orders, tried to pull it down to hoist the American colours in its place, they found that it had been securely nailed to the pole, the halliards cut, and the staff well slushed with grease. It was a dilemma awkward on one side as it was amusing on the other. We may imagine the departing soldiers waiting a short distance from the shore to watch the frantic efforts of their successors to exchange the flags.