Carleton Commission on the Great Fire of New York in 1776 (Dated 1783)
The Carleton Commission called about forty witnesses. Their sworn testimony, if accepted, provides convincing evidence that the fires of September 21, 1776 were not accidental. Many witnesses saw fires deliberately set far from the original (and perhaps accidental) blaze near Whitehall. The British troops testified that they caught, arrested, and in some cases killed Patriots in the act of setting fires. Many witnesses saw combustibles, usually large matches, hidden under clothing of suspected arsonists or in caches throughout the city. Several testified to the water pumps and fire buckets being vandalized.
Although the bulk of the witnesses were British troops, affiliated with the British Army, or Loyalists, their testimonies were generally reinforced by FDNY firemen and others who had little to gain from pro-British testimony at the time they testified (1783) just before the British evacuation. (See Carleton Commission Testimonies Summary Table)