BOSTON — Actors wearing 18th-century military greatcoats and hats filled the pews of one of the country’s oldest Catholic churches on Tuesday before shooting outside and marching through neighborhood streets, marking the 250th anniversary of the day British troops stormed the city.
Men, horses, and even cattle moved across the South Boston hills in the morning wind as residents watched from their slopes—some dressed in pajamas and wrapped in blankets, seemingly awakened by the sounds of drums and bagpipes.
Evacuation Day commemorates March 17, 1776, when British forces withdrew from Boston after months of siege by colonial forces. The breakthrough came when General George Washington fortified Dorchester Heights with artillery drawn from Fort Ticonderoga by Colonel Henry Knox, giving the Continental Army a strategic advantage over the port and forcing the British to evacuate.
This evacuation marked the Continental Army’s first major victory in the Revolutionary War, ending an 11-month siege of Boston and securing the city for the American cause.
The ceremony began Tuesday at St. Augustine’s Church and Cemetery, where participants gathered for Mass before forming a procession that moved through South Boston toward Dorchester Heights, the hill where colonial artillery was stationed overlooking the harbor.
Ronald White of Milton, dressed in colonial garb, stood among a line of actors firing replica rifles in the church cemetery after the service, and said the anniversary held personal meaning.
He is a member of the New Hampshire Sons of the American Revolution, and traces his lineage back to his grandfather, who fought in the war. He got teary-eyed Tuesday as he talked about how inspired he felt by the nation’s founders.
“When I think about Henry Knox taking such a brave stand 250 years ago, it makes me choke up to think about it,” White said. “They were really up against a force – the idea of going against Great Britain was suicidal. And we did it. And here we remember it.”