On this day in New York · December 4, 1783
Washington Says Goodbye at Fraunces Tavern
In a back room on Pearl Street, the general who beat the British told his own army he was done, and meant it.
The facts
- Date
- December 4, 1783
- Location
- The Long Room, Fraunces Tavern, 54 Pearl Street, Lower Manhattan
- Backdrop
- British troops had evacuated New York just nine days earlier, on November 25, 1783
- What came next
- Washington resigned his military commission to Congress in Annapolis on December 23, 1783
On December 4, 1783, George Washington gathered his Continental Army officers in the Long Room of Fraunces Tavern in Lower Manhattan to say goodbye. The British had evacuated New York only nine days earlier, ending seven years of occupying the city. Washington raised a glass, thanked the men who had fought beside him, and then walked around the room shaking every officer's hand himself instead of sending word through an aide. Three weeks later he rode to Annapolis and handed his military commission back to Congress, walking away from command of the army by choice.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
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I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable.
George Washington, farewell to his officers, Fraunces Tavern, December 4, 1783
Source: Wikipedia
Why it still matters
Washington's choice to hand back power instead of keeping it set the pattern this country still runs on for peaceful transfers of command, and it started right here on Pearl Street.
Sources
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