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Battle of Harlem Heights
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The Battle of Harlem Heights was fought in the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War. The action took place in what is now the Morningside Heights and west Harlem neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City on September 16, 1776.
The Continental Army—under Generals George Washington, Nathanael Greene, and Israel Putnam, totaling around 1,800 men—held a series of high ground positions in upper Manhattan against an attacking British division totaling around 5,000 men under the command of General Alexander Leslie.
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The Battle of Harlem Heights was fought in the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War. The action took place in what is now the Morningside Heights and west Harlem neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City on September 16, 1776.
The Continental Army—under Generals George Washington, Nathanael Greene, and Israel Putnam, totaling around 1,800 men—held a series of high ground positions in upper Manhattan against an attacking British division totaling around 5,000 men under the command of General Alexander Leslie. British troops made a tactical error by sounding a fox hunt bugle call while in pursuit, meant to insult the Continentals, who were in orderly retreat. This instead infuriated the Americans who galvanized to hold their ground. After flanking the British attackers, the Americans slowly pushed the British back. After the British fled, Washington had his troops end the chase. The battle went a long way to restoring the confidence of the Continental Army after suffering several defeats. It was Washington's first battlefield victory of the war.
After a month without any major fighting between the armies, Washington was forced to withdraw his army to White Plains when the British moved into Westchester County and threatened to trap Washington in Manhattan. Washington suffered two more defeats, at White Plains and Fort Washington. After these two defeats, Washington and the army retreated across New Jersey to Pennslyvania. The New York and New Jersey campaign ended after the American victories at Trenton and Princeton.
Background
On August 27, 1776, British troops under the command of General William Howe flanked and defeated the American army at the Battle of Long Island. Howe moved his forces and pinned the Americans down at Brooklyn Heights, with the East River to the American rear. On the night of August 29, General George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, evacuated his entire Army, 9,000 men, and their equipment across the water to Manhattan.
On September 15, Howe landed his army at Kip's Bay, Manhattan. After a bombardment of the American positions on the shore, 4,000 British and Hessian troops landed at Battle of Kip's Bay. The American troops began to flee at the sight of the enemy, and even with Washington's arrival on the scene they refused to obey orders and continued to flee.
After scattering the Americans at Kip's Bay, Howe landed 9,000 more troops, but did not cut off the American retreat from New York City. Washington had all of his troops in the City on their way to Harlem Heights by 4:00 pm and they all reached the Heights by nightfall.
Battle
On the morning of September 16, Washington received word that the British were advancing. Washington, who had been expecting an attack, sent a reconnoitering party of 150 men under the command of Thomas Knowlton to probe the British lines. At daybreak, Knowlton's troops were spotted by the pickets of the British light infantry. The British sent two or three companies to attack the enemy. For more than half an hour the skirmish continued, with fighting in the woods between two farmfields. When Knowlton realized that the numerically superior British forces were trying to turn his flank, he ordered a retreat. The retreat was organized and conducted with no confusion or loss of life.
The British quickly pursued the Americans and were reinforced with the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, along with the 42nd Highlanders. During the retreat, the British light troops played their bugle horns signaling a fox hunt which infuriated the Americans. Joseph Reed, who had accompanied Knowlton, rode to Washington to tell him what was going on and encouraged him to reinforce the rangers. Instead of retreating, Washington, in what military historian Edward G. Lengel calls "an early glimmer of the courage and resolve that would rally the Continentals from many a tight spot later on", devised a plan to entrap the British light troops. Washington would have some troops make a feint, in order to draw the British into a hollow way, and then send a detachment of troops around to trap the British inside.
The feint party was composed of 150 volunteers who ran into the hollow way and began to engage the British. After the British were in the hollow way, the 150 volunteers were reinforced by 900 more men. All the troops were stationed too far away from the British so that neither side could do too much damage to the other.
The flanking party consisted of Knowlton's Rangers, which had been reinforced by three companies of riflemen, in total about 200 men. As they approached, an officer accidentally misled the men, and the firing broke out on the British flank, not their rear. The British troops, realizing that they had almost been surrounded, retreated to a field, where there was a fence. The Americans soon pursued and, during the attack, Knowlton was killed. Despite his death, the American troops pushed on, driving the British troops beyond the fence to the top of a hill. When they reached the hill, the British forces received reinforcements, including some artillery. For two hours, the British troops held their ground at the top of the hill. However, the Americans, once again, overwhelmed the British troops and forced them to retreat into a buckwheat field.
Washington was originally reluctant to pursue the British troops, but after seeing that his men were slowly pushing the British back, he sent in reinforcements and permitted the troops to engage in a direct attack. By the time all of the reinforcements arrived, nearly 1,800 Americans were engaged in the buckwheat Field. To direct the battle, members of Washington's staff, including Nathanael Greene, were sent in. During this time, the British troops were also reinforced, gathering to about 5,000 men.
Despite superior numbers, the British could not hold their ground against the Americans. For nearly two hours, the battle continued in the field and in the surrounding hills. Finally, the British troops were compelled to withdraw, but the Americans kept up close pursuit. The chase continued until it was heard that the British reserves were coming, and Washington, fearing a British trap, ordered a withdrawal. Upon hearing Washington's orders to withdraw, the troops gave a loud "hurra" and left the field in good order.
Aftermath
The British and Hessians suffered 90 killed and 300 wounded. The Americans had only about 30 killed and 100 wounded, including among the dead Lieutenant Colonel Knowlton and Major Andrew Leitch. The American victory raised morale in the ranks, even among those who had not been engaged. It also marked Washington's first battlefield victory of the war.
There was little fighting for the next month of the campaign, but Washington moved his army to White Plains in October after hearing that the British were attempting to trap him on Manhattan. After being defeated at the Battle of White Plains and later at Fort Washington, Washington and his army retreated across New Jersey, pursued by the British, into Pennslyvania.
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