— George Washington to the President of Congress, 28 June 1776. British troops captured lower Manhattan on September 15, 1776, and soon occupied all of what is now New York City. Fraunces and his family left "previous to its being taken Possession of by the British Forces," and fled to Elizabeth, New Jersey. Fraunces was captured in June 1778, brought back to New York City, and impressed into working as the cook for British General James Robertson. Fraunces later claimed that he used this as an opportunity to smuggle food to American prisoners, giving them clothing and money, and helping them to escape. He also claimed to have passed information about the British occupation and troop movements to General Washington and others. According to the Jane Tuers legend, Fraunces overheard British soldiers toasting Benedict Arnold, and sent the warning (through Tuers) that Arnold was a traitor. General Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but British forces continued to occupy New York City for more than two years. Fraunces's tavern was the meeting place for negotiations between American and British commissioners to end the 7-year occupation. Peace negotiations were held at the DeWint House in Tappan, New York in May 1783, where Fraunces provided meals for General Washington, British General Sir Guy Carleton, and their staffs. Carleton's "Book of Negroes" – a ledger listing some 3,000 fugitive slaves who had fled to the British and been promised freedom in return for their service – was compiled at the tavern between April 26 and November 30, 1783. The "Black Loyalists" were settled in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone. The British evacuation from New York City was celebrated by patriots with a November 25, 1783 dinner at the tavern. At a December 4, 1783 dinner in the tavern's Long Room, Washington said an emotional farewell to his officers and made his famous toast: "With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you: I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as you former ones have been glorious and honorable." In a March 5, 1785 memorial (sworn petition) to the U.S. Congress, Fraunces sought compensation for his service to the country in foiling an assassination plot against Washington, supplying provisions to American prisoners, and providing intelligence on British troops:  That your Memorialist, being from Principle attached to the Cause of America, removed from the City of New York previous to its being taken Possession of by the British Forces, into Elizabeth Town in the State of New Jersey.