Photo: The Lemuel Clap House, used as a Revolutionary War barracks. (Photo courtesy of the Dorchester Illustration email list)
On Saturday, March 18th, an Evacuation Day ceremony will be held to commemorate the Siege of Boston and the astonishing accomplishment of Henry Knox and the Continental Army in moving 60 tons of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga in New York to Boston in the dead of winter. The cannon were put in place on Dorchester Heights, placing British troops and ships within easy range, thus convincing the British to evacuate Boston beginning on March 18th.
Starting at 9 A.M., cannon from Fort Ticonderoga will be taken from Fort Hill in Roxbury to First Church in Roxbury, on to the Shirley-Eustis House, then to the Lemuel Clap House in Dorchester (arriving around 11 am), and on to Dorchester Heights. Everyone is invited for lunch at the Shirley Eustis House following the final remarks at Dorchester Heights. Volleys will be fired along the way by the Lexington Minute Men. Trolley buses will be provided.
The full story of Henry Knox and his plan to move the cannon can be found here. From Mass Moments: "Twenty-five-year-old Henry Knox had met the general shortly after the Battle of Bunker Hill, when Washington arrived to take charge of the colonial forces. Knox impressed Washington with his energy, ingenuity, determination, and knowledge of artillery. Now, as winter deepened, Washington faced a predicament. His ragtag troops had Boston under siege, and they occupied high ground from which they could shell the British. But the Americans needed big guns, and Henry Knox had an idea about where to get them...."
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