Onlookers were treated to a very Boston scene Tuesday as Revolutionary War reenactors lined up outside St. Augustine’s Chapel in South Boston. The would-be rebels slung their muskets and unfurled flags ahead of the parade to Telegraph Hill.
The crowd was a part of the scene, dressed in red, white, and blue… and green. They were there for Evacuation Day. And Saint Patrick’s Day.
The living history lesson marked the day 250 years ago that the British army fled Boston, ending 11 months of military occupation.
Reenactors gather outside St. Augustine’s Chapel to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the Siege of Boston and Evacuation Day. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
In 1776, Boston was under siege, with the Redcoats trapped inside the city by General George Washington and the newly formed American army. The 11-month stalemate came to an abrupt end thanks in part to Henry Knox, who led a three-month round-trip journey in the Northeast winter to retrieve cannons and heavy weaponry from Fort Ticonderoga in New York. His team slogged across unpaved land and rivers with oxen and horses, through the Berkshires, and crossed bodies of water with boats. All to fortify Telegraph Hill in Dorchester Heights, which overlooks Boston Harbor, during the early hours of March 5.
The threat of artillery was enough to force the British army’s hand, and the occupiers sailed away on March 17.
Reenactors on horses stand on Dorchester Heights at a gathering to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of Evacuation Day. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Rather than the quiet of night in 1776, drummers, bagpipe players and excited crowds provided a soundtrack to Tuesday’s procession up to the vantage point.
Members of the crew of the USS Constitution lead a procession towards Dorchester Heights to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the end of the Siege of Boston, and Evacuation Day. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Stuart and Sally Cartwright, from Wayland, attended another revolutionary reenactment in Framingham a month ago, representing one of Knox’s pit stops. Sally said that she’s been looking forward to this event for a long time, in part because she claims to be a distant relative of Knox’s wife, Lucy.
“ I have never been to Telegraph Hill, so I’m excited to actually see it today,” she said.
Re-enactors assembled on Telegraph Hill by the newly restored Dorchester Heights Monument, during the commemoration for the 250th anniversary of the end of the Siege of Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
The event was marked by speeches by elected officials. Gov. Maura Healey said that Dorchester Heights was a place that “changed everything.”
“We walk through towns and cities across the state where the story of the revolution still echoes in communities,” Healey said. “And you can see how that same spirit shapes us today, and that’s why people from all around the country and all around the world are gonna come here to see it for themselves and to celebrate.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu recounted the story of Knox and the siege.
“ It’s very hard to beat a community brought together by the cause of freedom,” Wu said. “So on this anniversary, let us honor what was won here, and let us remember that we live in a city and a country where ordinary people have the power to make history.”
Reenactors on Dorchester Heights fire their muskets in the direction of Boston during the commemoration for the 250th anniversary Evacuation Day, marking the end of the siege of Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Both Healey and Wu spoke in front of the Dorchester Heights Monument, which recently reopened after undergoing structural upgrades. The National Park Service spent an estimated $30 million to restore the structure so that the memory of Evacuation Day could be preserved here for years more.
The newly restored Dorchester Heights Monument on Telegraph Hill, in South Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)