The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution

Brooklyn College historian Carp (Defiance of the Patriots) delivers a detailed report on the fire that destroyed “more than a fifth” of New York City in September 1776, six days after it was taken by British forces in the Revolutionary War. Contending that the conflagration “reveals the mayhem and instability that accompanied the creation of the United States,” Carp notes that when George Washington abandoned New York, some rebel troops—“undisciplined, dispirited, and vengeful”—remained behind. Spread by intense winds, the blaze was eventually brought under control by British forces and local firefighters, and “dozens of suspected incendiaries” were identified, including Amos Fellows, who, according to eyewitness testimony, was seen with “a burning torch in his hand... holding it up against the Roof of a Shed,” and rebel spy Abraham Patten, who confessed to setting the fire just before he was hanged by the British in 1777. Carp contends that the blaze “appears to have been the intentional work of... the more radical elements of the rebel coalition,” and relates how the patriot press, by “emphasiz[ing] British atrocities” and suggesting that the fire was an accident, “did their best to make the story disappear.” Meticulously researched and richly documented, this is an intriguing look at a little-known aspect of the Revolutionary War. Illus. (Jan.)