Happy Evacuation DaySid Harrison |
| ||
Great Sage of the Sea Posts: 590 Location: Colton, NY | Subject: Happy Evacuation Day By Jeremiah Horrigan November 25, 2009 The British weren't coming — the British were gone. Source: recordonline.com More: INFO.com Research That was the message Gen. George Washington communicated to the newly independent nation 226 years ago, on Nov. 25, 1783, the day Washington officially "took back" Manhattan from the British. Without benefit of Paul Revere or Western Union, the victorious general relied on burning beacons set along the Hudson Highlands to celebrate the day, now known as Evacuation Day. On Nov. 25 of this year, the memory of those beacons and the message they brought to the country will be invoked along the same hilltops by a variety of historical groups and agencies. It won't be an exact replication of the original wooden beacons, which were 20 feet high and stuffed with dried grass. The upcoming memorial will rely on electricity to get its message across. Look for 12 searchlights along the 108 miles between Beacon and Princeton, N.J., to be lit sequentially from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday. | ||
