CHRONOLOGY : THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD : 1776-1783
 

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1776 other Precaution that was practicable to ward off the impending
Sept. Ruin, Lord Howe ordered the Boats of the Fleet to be manned, and
21 after landing a large Number of Officers and Seamen to assist us,
the Boats were stationed on each Side of the City in the North and
East Rivers; and the Lines near the Royal Arms were extended
across the Island, as it manifestly appeared the City was designedly
set on Fire.

"The Fire . . . swept away all the Buildings between Broad
Street and the North-River, almost as high as the City-Hall; and
from thence, all the Houses between Broad-Way and the North-
River, as far as King's College, a few only excepted. Long before the
main Fire reached Trinity Church, that large, ancient and venerable
Edffice was in Flames, which baffled every Effort to suppress them.
The Steeple, which was 140 Feet high, the upper Part of Wood, and
placed on an devated Situation, resembled a vast Pyramid of Fire,
and exhibited a raost grand and awful Spectacle. Several Women
and Children perished in the Fire, their Shrieks, joined to tlie
roaring of the Flames, the Crash ot falling Houses, and the wide
spread Ruin which every where appeared, formed a scene of Horror
grand beyond Description, and which was still heightened by the
Darkness of theNight. BesldesTrinity Church, tbeRector's House,
the Charity School, the old Lutheran Church, and many other fine
Buildings were consumed. St. Paul's Church and King's College
were directly in the Line of Fire, but saved with very great Diffi¬
culty. After raging about 10 Hours, the Fire was extinguished be¬
tween 10 and II o'clock, A. M.

". . . severd Persons were discovered with large Bundles of
Matches, dipped in mdted Rosin and Brimstone, and attempting
to Bet Fire to the Houses, A New-England Man, who had a Cap¬
tains Commission undet the Continental Congress, and in their
Service, was seized with these dreadful Iraplements of Ruin—on
being searched, the Sum of 500I. was found upon hira. General
Robertson rescued two of those Incendiaries from the enraged Popu¬
lace, who had otherwise consigned them to the Flames, and re¬
served them for the Hand of deliberate Justice. One Wright White,
a Carpenter, was observed to cut the Leather Buckets which con¬
veyed Water—he also wounded, with a Cutlass, a Woman who was
very active in handing Water. This provoked the Spectators to
such a Degree, that they instantly hung him up. One of those
Villains set Fire to the College, and was seized; many others were
detected in the like Crime, and secured,

"Tj^Officers ot the Army and Navy, the Seamen and Soldiers
greatly exerted themsdves, often with the utmost Hazard to them¬
sdves, and shewed all that Alertness and Activity for which they
are jusdy celebrated on such Occasions, To theu- vigorous Efforts
in pulling down such Wooden Buildings as would conduct the Fire,
it Is owing, under Providence, that the whole City was not con¬
sumed; for the Number of Inhabitants was small, the Pumps and
Fire-Engines were very much out of Order, This last Circumstance,
together with the Removal of our Bells, the Time and Place of the
Fire's breaking out, when the Wind was South, the City's being set
on Fire in so many different Places nearly at the same Time, so
many Incendiaries bdng caught In the Fact of setting Fire to
Houses: these, to mention no other Particulars, dearly evince be¬
yond the Possibility of Doubt that this diabolical Affair was the Re¬
sult of a preconcerted, ddlberate Scheme, Thus, the Persons who
called themsdves our Friends and Protectors, were the Perpetrators
of this atrocious Deed; which in Guilt and Villainy is not inferior to
the Gun-Powder Plot: Whilst those who were hdd up as our Ene¬
mies, were the People who gallantly slept forth, at the Risque ot their
Lives, to snatch us from Destructionl Our Distresses were very
great indeed before; but this Disaster has Increased them tenfold.
Many Hundreds ot Families have lost their all; and are reduced
from a State of Affluence to the lowest Ebb of Want and Wretched¬
ness—destitute of Shdter, Food or Cloathing. . . ."—N.Y.Merc,
S 30, 1776.

"The London papers attributed the story to'Major Rook,'for¬
merly aide-de-camp to General Gage, and a noted paragraph writer
in the 'Massachusetts Gazette.'"-Wm. H. Shdton in The Jumel
Mansion (1916), 45. (Mr, Shelton, in this work, presents evidence
tending to show that the New England captain mentioned in this
account was Nathan Hale,) " For some reason this graphic account
ol the great fire in New York is omitted from Force's ■American
Archives,' where almost every reference to that event has found a
place."—J6iii., 47 and 64.

There are severd other accounts worthy of special notice. The
 

following was written by David Grim for the N. Y. Hist. Soc:    Sept.
"This fire ot 1776 commenced in a small wooden house, on the   21
wharf near the White Hall Slip, it was then occupied by a number
of men and women of a bad character; .    .    . There being very
few inhabitants in the city, in a short time it raged tremendously.

"It burned dl the houses on the E side of the White Hall Slip,
and the W side of Broad Street to Beaver street; A providential
and happy circumstance occurred at this time, the wind was then
S westerly, about 2 o'clock that morning, the wind then veered to
the S. E, this carried the flames of the fire to the W ward, and
burned both sides of Beaver Street, to the E side ot Broadway, then
crossed Broadway, to Beaver lane, and burned all the Houses on
both sides ot the Broadway with some few houses In New Street to
Rector Street, and to John Harrison, Esqr, three story brick house,
which house stopped the fire on the E side of the Broadway; from
thence it continued burning all the houses in Lumbard Street, and
those in the rear of the houses on the W side of Broadway to St.
Pauls Church there continued burning the houses on both sides of
Partition Street, and all the houses in the rear [again] ot the W. side
of the Broadway to the N. River,

"The fire did not stop, untill it got into Mortkill Street, now
Barday Street. The Collcdge yard and the vacant grounds in the
rear of the same, put an end to this awful and tremendous fire.

"Trinity Church, being burned was occassioned by the flakes of
the fire that fdl on the S side ot the root. The southerly winds
tanned those flakes of fire, in a short time to an amazing blaze, it
soon became out ot the Human power to extinguish the same; The
roof ot this noble Edifice was so steep that no person could go on it,

"St, Paul's Church; was in hke perilous situation. The root
being flat, with a ballstrade on the eves; a number of the citizens
went on the same, and extinguished the flakes of fire, as they fell
on the roof. Thus happily was this beautiful church saved frora
the destruction of this dreadful fire [which] threatened the ruin
thereof, and that of the whole city,

"The Lutheran Church, bdng contiguous to houses adjoining,
it was impossible, to save it from destruction, this fire was so furi¬
ous and violently hot, that no person could go near it. And there
were no fire engines to be had at that time In the city.

"The number ot Houses, that were burned and destroyed, In
the city at that awful conflagration were thus; viz'

"From Mortkill Street to Courtiandt St. 167
" Courtiandt Street to Beaver St. 175
"    Beaver Street to E. river,               151

Houses           493

"There being very few inhabitants in the city at that time, and
many of those were draid to venture at night in the streets, fearing
of being taken up as suspicious persons.

"An instance to my knowledge occurred, a Mr. White, a decent
citizen and house carpenter, rather too violent Loyalist, and .
latterly had addicted himself to liquor; Was that niglit of the fire,
hanged on a tavern sign post, at the corner ot Cherry and Roosevelt
Streets; several of the citizens were sent to the provost guard for
examination, sorae of them remained there two or three days, until
they could give satisfactory evidence of their Loyalty."—N. Y.
H. S. Collections (1870), 275.

Grim's account is accompanied by a plan of the city ("within
the Pdisades which were erected in the year 1745"), showing the
course ot this fire and also that ot Aug. 3, 1778 (q.v.). It indicates
the sites ot the prominent buildings ot the period. This plan is
owned by the N. Y. Hist, Soc, and was reproduced in Man. Com.
Coun. (1866), opp. p. 766. No other map of the burned district
appears of record.

To this account, William Dunlap, writing In 1840, adds: "Over
the ruins of this fire I have wandered, when a boy, in every direc¬
tion. It will be observed, by Mr. Grim's account, that the houses
on the west side of Broadway, and which were south of Beaver
street, escaped the conflagration; and it was in these, that the
English generds lived—what is now No. I, being head-quarters.
I must observe, that the houses in Broadway, north of Trinity
church yard, were not burned. The City Tavern was on part of
the site ot the present City Hotel. Between this and St. Paul's
church the houses were small and most ot them of wood. The last
brick houses In the town were next beyond the church. The ruins
on the south-east side of the town were converted into dwelling
places by using the chimneys and parts of wdls which were firm,