S8 Ep1009: Benjamin L. Carp explains how the British specifically targeted three rebel captains—Amos Fellows, Abraham Patton, and Abraham Van Dyk—suspecting them of arson. Patton, a member of Washington's spy network, allegedly confessed on the gallows, stating he d

The Great New York Fire of 1776 wasn't just a disaster—it may have been a calculated act of wartime sabotage. In this episode of The John Batchelor Show, historian Professor Benjamin Karp presents a compelling, though circumstantial, case that three American captains—Amos Fellows, Abraham Patton, and Abraham Van Dyk—were either directly involved in or sanctioned for setting fire to New York City during the Revolutionary War. The British suspected them specifically, and Patton’s dramatic gallows confession—echoing lines from Joseph Addison’s play *Cato*, a favorite of George Washington—suggests a martyrdom for liberty. What’s more striking is that Washington himself later honored all three men: eulogizing Patton, recommending Van Dyk for a naval captaincy, and advocating for Fellows’ release. Yet Washington never admitted authorizing the fire, only hinting that 'providence' had done what the army hadn’t. The episode raises a haunting question: did the Founding Fathers secretly endorse urban arson as a strategic necessity? Karp’s research reveals a web of circumstantial evidence—cut fire bucket handles, sabotaged pumps, and the targeting of loyalist officers who were later celebrated as patriots. The fact that Washington, Hancock, and Congress all supported these men’s families after their deaths, despite their alleged arson, suggests a deeper, unspoken endorsement. The episode ends with General Guy Carleton’s 1783 inquiry into the fire, still unresolved.