DiscoverThe John Batchelor ShowMissing Inquest Records and Washington's Denial Fuel 250-Year Mystery 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 Revolution Immediately
Missing Inquest Records and Washington's Denial Fuel 250-Year Mystery 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 Revolution  Immediately

Missing Inquest Records and Washington's Denial Fuel 250-Year Mystery 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 Revolution Immediately

Update: 2025-10-05
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  1. Missing Inquest Records and Washington's Denial Fuel 250-Year Mystery 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 Revolution

Immediately after the fire, the British detained many as suspected arsonists, often for possessing "combustibles" (long matches, turpentine, gunpowder). George Washington publicly denied knowledge, writing that they had "no idea how this happened." Crucially, there is no document where anyone confessed at the time. General Howe's inquiry records were lost in a fire in Ireland in 1826, and prisoner records were lost at sea in 1780, leaving key evidence missing. Nathan Hale, executed the next day for spying, has often been historically associated with the fire due to the timing.






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Missing Inquest Records and Washington's Denial Fuel 250-Year Mystery 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 Revolution  Immediately

Missing Inquest Records and Washington's Denial Fuel 250-Year Mystery 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 Revolution Immediately

John Batchelor