noon
At the Middle Ferry was the 71st Regiment , and a body of Yagers were at the Point House , opposite Gloucester . Many of these locations were then outside the city , which extended at that time from Christian Street on the south , to Callowhill on the north , being widest between Arch and Walnut , where it expanded from Delaware to Ninth . However , I visited a number of these encampments , finding in each merely a small guard retained for the day , the majority of the troops being off on liberty . Soon after noon these began to throng the water front , eager to view the coming spectacle . I was , myself , in the Yager 's camp , finishing a late lunch , with a few officers , when the announcement came that the water procession had started . I confess that up to this time I had experienced little interest in the affair . After Valley Forge it was hard for an American soldier to admire such boy 's play , or to enter into the spirit of British fun making .