Evacuation of Boston is completed.

At 4 a.m., some 9,000 British troops and 1,200 Loyalists board ships some 100 ships that [78, 11,000, 1,000] at Long Wharf. That afternoon, some 500 Continental troops, under the command of Gen. Artemas Ward, cross Boston Neck and occupy the town. Under orders from Gen. George Washington, only soldiers with smallpox scars, suggesting immunity to the disease, take part in the operation, for fear that the British may have left small-pox infected blankets and clothing behind. To mark the date, for the next week, the sentinels’ challenge to anyone entering Washington’s camp is “Boston!” and the countersign or password, is “St. Patrick.” The date is made a city holiday in 1901, a state in 1938,* and a state holiday in 1941.*