1776 Great New York Fire

 

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New York 1776 Fire

New York Colony - Fear of Negro Insurrections - New York Riots of 1765 - The Fields of New York - The Eve of Revolution in New York - Capture of New York - Great New York Fire of 1776 - Evacuation of New York in 1783  New York in the Civil War - The New York Draft Riots (1862)

Great Fire of 1776.-The British anticipated snug winter quarters in the city of New York, when, at a little past midnight, Sept. 21, 1776, a fire broke out in a low drinking-place and brothel -a wooden building on the wharf, near White-hall Slip. The wind was brisk from the southwest, and the flames spread rapidly, unchecked, for there were few inhabitants in the city. Every building between White-hall and Broad streets up to Beaver Street was consumed, when the wind veered to the southeast and drove the flames towards Broadway. The buildings on each side of Beaver Street to the Bowling Green were burned. The fire crossed Broadway and swept all the buildings on each side as far as Exchange Street, and on the west side to Partition (Fulton) Street, destroying Trinity Church. Every building westward towards the Hudson River perished. The Tories and British writers of the day charged the destruction of the city to Whig incendiaries. Some of these citizens who came out of the gloom to save their property were murdered by British bayonets or cast into the flames. Even General Howe in his report made the charge, without a shadow of truth, that the accident was the work of Whig conspirators. About 500 buildings (almost a third part of the city) were laid in ashes.

Burning of New York

 

 

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