ground was probably more open and the pursuers could get a view of General Greene's force; but they sent after the retreating Connecticut men a message that made their Digitized by Microsoft® The Island and the River in 1776 177 very ears tingle. The bugle ranig out the notes of the fox-chase, a call which to the men of that day needed no interpreter. As the trees and rocks echoed back those derisive notes it seemed as if the cup of humiliation had been drained to its dregs. How many of the King's troops joined in that pur- suit is not definitely known. At the first sound of the firing the Second and Third Battalions of Light In- fantry, with the Forty-second Highlanders, began to move up; and it is probable that Knowlton and his Rangers did not retire till these reinforcements com- menced to appear upon the scene. Washington, on the other hand, put Spencer's and Putnam's men in readiness along the line of 147th Street, where they seem to have been immediately engaged in throwing up earthworks. It is doubtful if General Putnam could have rested for half an hour in any position without leaving something in the nature of a redoubt to mark the spot. Adjutant-General Reed, who joined Knowlton be- fore the retreat, reported the affair to Washington, ask- ing for reinforcements. The Commander-in-chief was then upon the brow overlooking Manhattanville (the " Hollow Way ' ') from the north. He then, we are told, "conceived the project, not of driving the light in- fantry back to their camp, but of entrapping them in the Hollow Way." The plan was to make a feint in front of the enemy and induce him to advance into the valley by the Digitized by Microsoft® 178 The Hudson River prospect perhaps of another "fox-chase," while a flanking movement, led by Knowlton and his Rangers, reinforced by Major Leitch with a detachment of Virginians, was arranged to close upon the British rear. The feigned attack, however, developed into some- thing more than was anticipated and in the skirmish that ensued the position of the light infantry was changed so that when Knowlton and Leitch, ignorant of the new disposition of the troops, closed with their foe, they engaged him upon the flank instead of the rear. The place where this flank attack occurred has been located at 123d Street, east of the Boulevard. The Connecticut men, then and throughout the day, retrieved their honour, fighting like veterans, and for the first time driving the seasoned troops of the King before them. It must have been a novel sensation for both parties. But both the Rangers and the Virginians, their companions and equals in courage that day, lost their commanders early in the action. Colonel Knowlton and Major Leitch were mortally hurt, within ten minutes of each other, the former being shot through the head and surviving only a short time after being carried from the field. The firing brought up Leslie's reserves and Wash- ington again reinforced his soldiers. From a skirmish, a " mere affair of outposts, " the action rapidly assumed the proportion of a battle. By noon Putnam, Knox, and Reed, with other American officers, were very actively engaged and reinforcements of Highlanders Digitized by Microsoft® The Island and the River in 1776 179 and Hessians were being hurried to the rehef of their distressed companions in arms. The Hessians, according to the report of one of their own officers, fought till they had no ammunition left and the Highlanders had fired away their last shot, but still the Americans showed no sign of flinching. General Greene's Connecticut men encountered the foe on the hill where the Lawrence mansion afterwards stood and gave an excellent account of themselves. Other detachments were engaged in various parts of a field that embraced woodland, hill, and valley. The centre of the battle was in a buckwheat field that ap- pears to have been midway between Columbia Univer- sity and Grant's tomb. The main engagement lasted from eleven o'clock till about half -past two, and was participated in by more than four thousand out of the eight thousand men comprising the American army, while a superior body of British opposed them. The American forces were completely victorious, finally chasing the King's troops down a hill and being recalled with difficulty by order of the Commander-in- chief. This necessarily brief account of the famous battle of Harlem Heights has followed what seems to be the most rational exposition of the perplexing and fre- quently contradictory records that have reached us. It is greatly to be regretted that for many years no effort was made to fix beyond question the scene of this important engagement. That it was important Digitized by Microsoft® i8o