Battle of Harlem Heights - Battle

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 Lieutenant Colonel 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 of Light Infantry, along with the 42nd Highlanders. During the retreat, the British light troops played their bugle horns signaling a fox hunt, which infuriated the Americans. Colonel 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 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 of the troops were stationed too far away from one another to do much damage.

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 this, 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 until the Americans once again 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 that 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. By this time, the British troops had also been reinforced; bringing their strength up to about 5,000 men.

For an hour-and-a-half, the battle continued in the field and in the surrounding hills until, "having fired away their ammunition", the British withdrew. The Americans kept up a close pursuit until it was heard that 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 "huzzah" and left the field in good order.