November 25, 1783

Evacuation Day (New York)

British forces evacuate New York City as Washington and Clinton enter

The handover was meant to happen on 23 November. Bad weather kept the British in the city for two more days.

25 November 1783: a sequenced handover

British troops left New York City on 25 November 1783, two days later than planned, because bad weather had postponed the embarkation. The September 3 peace treaty required Britain to withdraw its armies, garrisons and fleets from the United States, and Sir Guy Carleton arranged the city's evacuation.

As the British departed, a detachment of the American army marched in, and civil government was immediately placed in possession. Washington afterwards reported to Congress that the transfer had gone off with regularity and good order.

Knox secured the city; the procession came after

American troops under Henry Knox took control of the city before the ceremonial entry. Only then did George Clinton, governor of New York, and George Washington enter lower Manhattan in a public procession.

The men who did it were a detachment, not the wartime Continental Army — most of that army had already disbanded and gone home.

What the day did not end

Nearly 30,000 Loyalists had left New York in the evacuation that began in April 1783, months before the last soldiers embarked.

The date closed the occupation of the city, not of the region: an editorial note in the Franklin Papers has British troops leaving the surrounding areas only by 4 December. Britain went on occupying several frontier posts inside territory awarded to the United States until 1796.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 7 sources 2 audit passes

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

November 25 is secure for the evacuation of New York City. However, an editorial note in the Franklin Papers says British troops left the surrounding areas only by December 4, so November 25 should not be described as the departure of every British serviceman from the wider New York region.
Britain continued to occupy several frontier posts within territory awarded to the United States until 1796. Thus “last British troops in the United States” is broader than the evidence supports.