When in March 1776 fast-riding couriers brought word to cities and towns up and down the American coast that the British had evacuated Boston, joy over the American success mixed with consternation over the whereabouts of the British fleet. Initial fears that the fleet had gone to attack another American port were allayed when news arrived that Halifax, Nova Scotia, was the destination. However, the Americans knew that the brothers Howe, General William and Admiral Richard, were not giving up, but rather licking their wounds and gathering strength before again descending upon the American coast.

A former bookseller and stationer, since the summer of 1775 Postmaster of New York, Ebenezer Hazard, was one of the first of Manhattan's inhabitants to hear the news of Boston's salvation and the British retreat to Halifax. For almost a year Hazard had been responsible for sending and receiving letters of the ‘eastern’ post that departed from and returned to New York City to and from the eastern colonies of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In the wake of the battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, accompanying the confusion that had erupted in the streets of New York between Whigs and Tories there had been a chaotic battle for control of the post; letters sent between New York and New England had been intercepted by different revolutionary committees along the way; thoughtful people had realized the necessity of a system to ensure the regular delivery of mail even in wartime.