AFTER the WAR
On a crisp, cold day, late in the fall, a tall, mild-faced man on a
spirited horse passed down the Bowery Road, followed by a long train
of soldiers whose shabby clothes and worn faces told of days of trial
and hardship. This was General George Washington with a portion of the
Continental army. They were entering New York on this same day when the
British troops were leaving it.
But although the British were leaving under the terms of the treaty of
peace, and had gone on board ships that were to take them to England,
there were many who were filled with rage at this enforced departure.
At the fort by the river-side they had knocked the cleats _off_ the
flag-pole, and had greased the pole so that no one could climb it
to put up the United States flag and thus flaunt it in the face of the
departing troops. But the soldiers of Washington who reached the fort
just as the last British company was leaving, set to work with hammer
and saw. They made new cleats for the pole. Then a young sailor--his
name was John Van Arsdale--filling his pockets with the cleats and
nailing them above him as he climbed the pole step by step, was able to
put the flag in position. And as it floated to the breeze a salute of
thirteen guns sounded while the British troops were still within
hearing.
So now the city of New York, which for seven years the British had
occupied, was again in possession of the citizens.
General Washington only remained here a few days. He made his
head-quarters in Fraunces's Tavern, in Broad Street, and there at noon
on December 4th, his officers assembled to hear his words of farewell.
It was an affectionate parting of men who had suffered danger and
privations together. There were tears in Washington's eyes.
[Illustration: North Side of Wall Street East of William Street, Taken
a Few Years after the Revolutionary War.]
"With a heart full of love and gratitude," said he, "I now take my leave
of you, and most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as
prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and
honorable."
It was not a time for much talking, and Washington was soon gone,
leaving real sorrow behind him. Within a few weeks he had resigned his
commission as commander-in-chief, and had retired as a private citizen
to his home at Mount Vernon.
The city of New York was in quite a deplorable state. The wide tract
swept by the fire of 1776 still lay in blackened ruins. No effort had
been made to rebuild except where temporary wooden huts had been set
up by the soldiers. The churches, all of which had been used for one
purpose or another, were dismantled, blackened, and marred. There was
scarcely a house in all the little town that had not been ill-used
by the soldiers. Fences were down, and the streets were filled with
rubbish. It was a city stricken with premature decay. Business life
was dead, and would have to be begun all over again. The citizens were
divided against themselves. Feuds existed everywhere. Patriots who had
fled and had now come back felt a deep bitterness against those who had
adopted the royal cause for the purpose of keeping possession of their
property. These, however, complained just as bitterly because now their
homes were taken from them in the adjustment.
King's College, of which you have been told, had been closed all during
the war, and had been used as a hospital. It was opened now, but was
called Columbia College, as the King no longer had any claims on the
city or its institutions.
During the next few years business slowly revived, and day by day the
city was rebuilt, growing into something like its old self.
Some little distance above the Common was the City Hospital. There came
rumors at this time that the bodies of the dead were being stolen from
the graveyards and used by the students for dissecting purposes. There
was no truth in these stories, yet many persons became alarmed. They
gathered, broke into the hospital and destroyed everything of value.
The doctors fled to the jail on the Common for protection. The mob
determined to seize them, and tore down the fences about the jail. Then
the Mayor gathered a body of citizens to oppose the mob. As night came
on, the rioters, becoming more and more destructive, were fired upon and
five were killed. After this they scampered away, the trouble was over,
and that was the last of the Doctors' Mob.