June 2013
44 posts
“To George Bryan
Head Qrs [Valley Forge]
½ after 11 A.M. June 18th 1778
Sir
I have the pleasure to inform you, that I was this minute advised by Mr Roberts’s, that the Enemy evacuated the City early this morning. He was down at the Middle ferry on this side, where he received the intelligence from a number of Citizens, who were on the opposite shore. The destruction of the Bridge prevented him passing. I have not yet had any Official accounts on the subject, but there are many in corroboration of Mr Roberts’s. I congratulate you very heartily on this interesting event and have the Honor to be in haste Sir Yr Most Obedt servt
Go: Washington” —
Head Qrs [Valley Forge]
½ after 11 A.M. June 18th 1778
Sir
I have the pleasure to inform you, that I was this minute advised by Mr Roberts’s, that the Enemy evacuated the City early this morning. He was down at the Middle ferry on this side, where he received the intelligence from a number of Citizens, who were on the opposite shore. The destruction of the Bridge prevented him passing. I have not yet had any Official accounts on the subject, but there are many in corroboration of Mr Roberts’s. I congratulate you very heartily on this interesting event and have the Honor to be in haste Sir Yr Most Obedt servt
Go: Washington” —
From George Washington to George Bryan, 18 June 1778
The city of Philadelphia was abandoned by the British Army 235 years ago on June 18, 1778, as relayed in this letter from George Washington.
Find more references to the evacuation of Philadelphia and other events on June 18, 1778 in the Founders Online!
“But on Saturday last, the 17th, the Regulars attacked us upon one of the Charlestown Hills, where we had begun to entrench, and obliged us to retreat, by means of their Ships and Floating Batterys, we having no large Cannon to match theirs; the Cannon we cou’d have had, if we had had Gunpowder enough to Spare, but we had not more than sufficient for the Field Pieces and Musquetry; however, the Enemy have not much to boast; for tho’ they kept the Field, and took from us 4 or 5 pieces, 3 Pounders, yet they lost, by the best accounts we can yet obtain, about 500 kill’d and wounded, and among the former are, as we have reason to believe, several officers of distinction: our loss in numbers is not great, by the best accounts we yet have, about 60 or 70 kill’d and missing;4 but —— among these is —— what Shall I say! how Shall I write the name of our worthy Friend, the great and good Dr. W——. You will hear by others who will write tomorrow, such particulars as I am not possessed of: Soon after the Regulars landed, they Set Fire to the Town of Charlestown, and that day, yesterday and this Day they have consumed most of the Houses as far as Penny-Ferry;5 and they have possession of all that part of Charlestown, and are encamped upon Bunker’s Hill; and we are encamped upon Prospect Hill, Winters Hill, and at the Bridge leading to Inman’s, Phips’s &c. Yesterday and this day, they have Cannonnaded us, but to no purpose; and our people, by Small Parties have picked off some of their out Guards: We expect another action very soon. Do send us Powder, and then we Shall, by the blessing of Heaven, soon destroy this Hornets Nest.”
—
To John Adams from Joseph Palmer, 19 June 1775
An account of the Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775) via the Founders Online—a new tool for seamless searching across the Papers of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton. A partnership between the University of Virginia Press and the National Archives’ National Historical Publications and Records Commission, you can read more about this massive undertaking at Prologue: The Papers of the Founding Fathers Are Now Online
Our best #gif ever?
@usnatarchives Indeed, U.S. National Archives, that likely is your best animated GIF ever. SO FAR.
— Paul Ford (@ftrain)
Consider the gauntlet thrown…
In reference to our groovy dancing WAC:
(have you seen our other gifs?)
“If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best public school available, if he cannot vote for the public officials who represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would then be content with the counsels of patience and delay?”
—President Kennedy, Address on Civil Rights, June 11, 1963 (via jfklibrary)
