March 17, 1776: British evacuate Boston after the Siege of Boston

On April 19, 1775, British regulars under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith marched
on Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts to destroy Patriot munitions. They were met by a force of militiamen at the North Bridge in Concord. After a pitched battle, the British retreated back to the safety of Boston. The city became surrounded by militia from all over the colony, trapping the British inside.

Meanwhile, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to decide how to prosecute the upcoming war. On June 14, Congress voted to form a continental army with General George Washington at the head of it. Washington arrived in Cambridge on July 25. He shored up his siege lines, and gave a fateful order to General Henry Knox. Knox's order was to bring captured cannon from Fort Ticonderoga back to Boston to support the siege. After a harrowing journey, the cannons arrived in early March of 1776.

On the night of March 9, Washington's army transported the cannons up the Dorchester Heights that surrounded Boston. By the morning, the British saw the newly encamped cannons, and realized the weakness in their position. A week later, on March 17, the British army left Boston Harbor, never to return.

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