King's College traces its origins to the King's College of New York City. On 31 October 1754, King George II of Great Britain issued the charter for King's College within New York City, establishing it as the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York and the fifth-oldest in the United States. In 1776, during the eruption of the American Revolutionary War, studies at the university halted for the subsequent eight years. During this period, the college's library was looted, and its sole building was requisitioned for use as a military hospital first by American and then British forces. When Patriots took over the university, Bishop Charles Inglis, the rector of Trinity Church, led the flight of Loyalists to Windsor, Nova Scotia. After the American Revolution, the old institution was resuscitated and eventually renamed Columbia College, which would develop into Columbia University.