The Debate to Burn New York: Washington Regrets Obeying Congressional Order Against Arson Professor Benjamin L. Carp, Professor of History at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center | The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Rev

Following defeat at Long Island, Washington's forces escaped to Manhattan. The British Howe brothers hesitated, offering pardons and hoping for reconciliation. The debate over burning intensified: General Nathanael Greene advocated burning (September 5), but Congress President John Hancock ordered Washington to prevent it (September 6). Washington later confessed this refusal was a "terrible error," as burning would have deprived the British of critical winter quarters. Although Americans publicly blamed the British, rebels had previously burned Norfolk, Virginia. Loyalists circulated rumors that rebels planned arson.