[I thank the editor of the Magazine of History for giving me the
opportunity of reading the article of Messrs. Hall and Bolton before
publication.—T. A. E.]
The object in writing my paper was to call attention to the uncertainty
existing with many as to the exact locality of Harlem Heights, on and
in the neighborhood of which the battle of September 16, 1776, was
fought. I hope the subject will be investigated by those in doubt
at greater length than these gentlemen seem to have done. I cannot
undertake to do more than may be covered by this letter. I have neither
the strength, the authorities at hand for investigation, nor the time,
as within a few days I go South for the winter.
Messrs. Hall and Bolton may have quoted correctly the authorities cited
by them, but they have not represented correctly my views, and from
their paper it is evident they did not read mine with sufficient care
to ascertain what I did write.
In the first instance, I did not misstate the relative position of the
English and American lines, for I was correct, and we agree fully.
I did not hold that the Battle of Harlem was fought in the vicinity
of 155th Street, but that a flank movement was attempted in the
neighborhood of what I suppose is the present site of Trinity Cemetery.
I was explicit in showing that the battle was, in my judgment, fought
below the site of the present Convent of the Sacred Heart, at the Point
of Rocks and along the irregular line of high ground to the north of
the plain to the east of Manhattanville.
In this connection, I will state my belief that after all the
excavating nothing can be judged at the present time with accuracy as
to where this line extended at the time of the battle. When I was a
boy the Point of Rocks extended so far to the south that it must have
almost reached the line of the street now extending eastward from the
foot of Claremont Heights. I recollect at one point on the road from
Manhattanville to Harlem, this Point of Rocks seemed to almost shut out
the valley and view of Manhattanville.
Again, I did not state I remembered seeing some entrenchments in the
vicinity of Trinity Cemetery, but I described the line of earthworks I
saw as being in connection with those on the Point of Rocks.
I did not state that the Americans were encamped on Morningside
Heights, nor on any portion of the high land to the south of the plain.
On the contrary, I labored to show they could have been nowhere else
but to the north of the extremity of the Point of Rocks, and all I
wrote was in relation to the article published in the _Evening Post_.
If in this connection there be anything in Lieut. Richards’ account as
quoted in the _Post_ which “fits in exactly” from the standpoint of
these gentlemen, as to the fight being on the Morningside Heights, it
is certainly a _mis_-fit. I agree with them that the English troops,
described by Richards as forming in line at sunrise at the foot of
McGowan’s Pass, were not likely to have attempted to scale Morningside
Heights. The fact of this force being at the foot of McGowan’s Pass
goes to prove that they were there to cross the plain and make an
attack on the American line, within which Richards’ Connecticut
regiment was stationed; and as he was with his regiment, which took
part in the fight, it becomes evident that the battle was fought about
the Point of Rocks.
If Morningside Heights to Claremont, then held by the British, formed a
part of Harlem Heights, and the American forces also held a portion of
Harlem Heights to the north, it seems evident that the order to General
Lee (referred to in my first article) would have been more explicit.
The resolution of Congress, passed October 17, 1776, was: “Resolved,
That General Lee be directed to repair to the camp on _the_ Heights
of Harlem, with leave,” etc. The wording can only be construed from a
logical point, as showing that the heights below Fort Washington were
the Harlem Heights, and there could have been no other Harlem Heights
but those occupied by the American forces.
The only foundation for any fighting on the heights to the south rests
on an encounter lasting but a few moments. Knowlton, before daylight,
was sent by Washington, with a single company of his command, to get on
the flank of the British troops encamped on Vandewater Heights, and to
reach that position by ascending the Hudson River bank at some distance
to the south of the present grounds of Columbia University. Washington
had received information that the enemy was forming in force at
McGowan’s Pass for an attack, and Knowlton was, by this means, to cause
a diversion, if possible, with the object of retarding the general
movement. Unfortunately, Knowlton’s presence was discovered as soon as
he reached the brow of the ascent, and he was forced to make a hasty
retreat. Knowlton’s party was followed down to the water by a body of
the enemy, which crossed the valley to the north, and later in the day
attempted a flank movement by ascending a ravine, and was repulsed as
described in my paper. This encounter of Knowlton’s at daylight on
Vandewater Heights, I assert, can scarcely be termed a skirmish nor
be considered as part of the Battle of Harlem Heights, as the battle
did not begin until late in the day, and lasted three or four hours.
Moreover, the place of Knowlton’s encounter was so far to the south
of the Harlem line (possibly as far south as 94th Street) as to render
it impossible to show any connection with Harlem Heights, the grounds
of Columbia University, or Morningside Heights. I do not propose, nor
is it necessary, to enter into any further detail of the battle, my
only purpose, as already stated, being to locate the Harlem Heights, on
which and about which the Battle of Harlem was fought.
To show the confusion which exists as to this locality, even in the
minds of Messrs. Hall and Bolton, I will quote a statement made in
their paper: “The hill on which the most desperate fighting took place
is identified by Major Lewis Morris, Jr., who wrote to his father
on September 28: ‘Monday morning an advanced party, Col. Knowlton’s
regiment, was attacked upon a height a little to the southwest of Day’s
tavern.’ Day’s tavern was on the line of the present 126th Street,
two hundred feet west of Eighth Avenue. _This locates the fight on
Morningside Heights_,” etc. I do not know what relation the site of
Day’s tavern may bear to Eighth Avenue, but I do know that it had no
relation whatever with the noted buckwheat field near the Columbia
grounds, nor with Morningside Heights. My recollection is quite clear
in recalling the facts of the site of Day’s tavern on the east side of
the road, extending from McGowan’s Pass, along the foot of the present
Morningside Heights to King’s Bridge. It was situated some distance
to the _northeast_ of the Point of Rocks, and Morris’ statement was
correct. The Point of Rocks and other entrenchments on the different
hills, forming the American line in this neighborhood, were “_a little
to the southwest of Days tavern_.” I believe the tavern was a mile to
the north of any portion of Morningside Heights, and at this advanced
point Knowlton with the Connecticut troops were stationed, in the most
direct line for the enemy from McGowan’s Pass.
Having reached this point in my task, which proved a fatiguing one,
I was prompted to consult Mrs. Lamb’s _History of New York City_, it
being the only work in my present library from which I could obtain
any information relating to the Battle of Harlem Heights. To my
satisfaction I found a tracing of Colton’s map, which confirms the
accuracy of my recollection in relation to the site of Day’s tavern.
In addition, I found that in all essentials as to the wooded country,
roads, etc., I had been accurate; a remarkable circumstance, as I have
had to trust to the impressions made by my observation and historical
studies at a period which would doubtless antedate the birth of either
of these gentlemen. Colton’s map shows, as I stated, that there was
no road at this time from these heights to the valley, and that only
a pathway existed from the Claremont Heights along the course of the
Bloomingdale road, which was not open in this neighborhood until after
the Revolution. It does give, however, what was probably a farm road
from Hoagland’s house down into the King’s Bridge road, at about 110th
Street. After the Bloomingdale road was extended to Manhattanville,
this one was probably closed, as it did not exist within my
recollection.
[Illustration: =Sketch of Battle-Field, Harlem Heights=.
Showing the relative position of the two hostile armies of Great
Britain and America, September 16, 1776.