Writings in the Sand

Happy Evacuation Day!

Most people in the US will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day today. It’s the day when everyone searches their genealogy for Irish ancestors and wears green to work. Nowhere is this day celebrated with greater enthusiasm than it is in Boston, MA. Yet, it’s not the only notable event on the calendar today. In Boston and all of Suffolk County, it’s also Evacuation Day. Evacuation Day commemorates the evacuation of British forces from the city of Boston in 1776.

During the night of March 16th, Washington had installed an impressive amount of artillery on the ridge of Dorchester Heights. On the morning of the 17th, the British, finding themselves in full view of this well-armed fort, quickly decamped to Nova Scotia.

It wasn’t a battle, but it was a win and it preceded the Declaration of Independence by nearly four months.

Evacuation Day is only an official holiday in Suffolk County with only some State offices closed but the kids in Somerville get the day off from school and if you’re a kid you’ll celebrate anything that gets you a day off.

I think it’s just a good way of teaching history, which is made up of more events and battles than are generally in the list of memorized dates. History is people and decisions and consequences - and days off from school.