Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy Evacuation Day!!


Today is not only Saint Patrick's Day - but here in Boston it is "Evacuation Day"- which is a holiday! Now not all of you may be as much of a history loving geek as my mom so let me fill you in...

March 17th in the greater Boston area is Evacuation Day, an official holiday commemorating the evacuation of the city Boston by the British forces during the American Revolutionary War. (My human says if you get HBO you really should watch the Adams miniseries all about John Adams - Bostonian and founding father. All I can say is I slept through the whole show - YAWN!)

ANYHOW......
On March 17, 1776 the 11-month siege of Boston ended when the Continental Army, under the command of General George Washington, fortified Dorchester Heights with cannons captured at Ticonderoga, forcing General Howe’s's garrison to attack or flee. To prevent what could have been a slaughter of his troops, Howe agreed to retreat to Nova Scotia via his ships without setting the city on fire as he left.

Boston was one of the most important ports in the New World, and one of the most defensible (there is only a single channel into Boston Harbor which is ringed with islands). That the Americans were able to drive off several thousand hardened troops and 1,100 loyalists with only a few warning shots fired and no loss of life or property was a major accomplishment and was Washington's first victory of the war. It was also a huge morale boost for the new country, as the city where the rebellion against England started was the first to be liberated. Boston was never attacked again.


My mom loves this holiday, not because it is really Saint Patrick's Day and not because it commemorates a historic time - she just thinks it's cool that the cannons came from her very own beloved upstate New York to save the day!!
I like the holiday because I am styling in my shamrock collar! Have a happy day!

15 comments:

Sparky said...

Happy St. Patty's day! My mama made corned beef and cabbage yesterday, and I snuck a couple of pieces off of the platter when no one was looking. Yummy!

Amber-Mae said...

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you & Happy Evacuation Day to you too! Will you be evacuating?

Love licks,
Solid Gold Dancer

Molly the Airedale said...

Happy St. Patrick's day and happy evacuation day! Wait till our dad reads your posting today, Dory! He's a HUGE George Washington fan!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Gus said...

Wow Dory. You look great in your collar, and we appreciate the review of history. We didn't realize it was a HOLIDAY! Happy 'vacuation day

gussie

Lorenza said...

Hi, Dory!
Happy St. Patrick's Day and Evacuation Day too!
Thanks for sharing the history about the day. Very interesting.
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Lizzy said...

Happy St. Patricks day to you, Dory! Sorry I haven't visited your blog in a while, but now our internet connection is finally getting better again!

Sparky

Charlie said...

Happy E Day! What a great holiday!!
- Charlie

Dexter said...

Dory - We got to celebrate two holidays on the same day just for livin in Master Chew Sits. What a great place!

Love the collar.

Mango

Ricky Pepper said...

Hi Dory,

We thought of you since we are dog sitting a handsome Black Lab named Duke right now!

The Zoo Crew said...

Love the stylin' collar! And happy (belated) st. patty's day and evacuation day!

peace + paws,

The Zoo Crew

Sophie Brador said...

Dory, I thought you were going to tell us she kept making you evacuate the house! Around here, they are evacuating schools, because of all the snow on the roofs. They are afraid of collapse.

Mom just loves those pictures of you, again. Once again, she can't get over how similar our face shape and our expressions are.

Sparky said...

Dory, I know I've already commented once - but I keep coming back to look at your last picture in this post. You are so pretty!!! And, those eyes - so expressive. Tell your mama that we love the photo.

Misadventures of Widowhood said...

What an interesting blog entry! My two-legged mom is related to Mercy Otis Warren from your Revolutionary times Boston. Funny how humans get so excited about their pedigree.

Cooper

Niamh said...

Your sure are one smart pup and you know a lot of history. And of course you look great in your shamrock collar.

Your friend,
Niamh

Lenny said...

St. Patrick's Day in Boston is the BEST! My people were there last year but this year they were stuck in Indiana, where there are not too many Irish people. Not even green beer.