This victory was so great that it really ended the war.  Great Britain gave up the struggle, and a treaty of peace was signed.

And now you will see how the British army left the city of New York.

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.

[Illustration:  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.