CHAPTER XXX
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.
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.