When the time came to depart, laden carriages, trucks, and wheelbarrows crowded to the quays through the narrow streets and a sad procession of exiles went out from their homes.

A profane critic said that they moved "as if the very devil was after them." No doubt many of them would have been arrogant and merciless to "rebels" had theirs been the triumph.

But the day was above all a day of sorrow.
Edward Winslow, a strong leader among them, tells of his tears "at leaving our once happy town of Boston." The ships, a forest of masts, set sail and, crowded with soldiers and refugees, headed straight out to sea for Halifax.

Abigail, wife of John Adams, a clever woman, watched the departure of the fleet with gladness in her heart.

She thought that never before had been seen in America so many ships bearing so many people.