-■;:. 
 
 SB tD 5bM 
 
 lATTLE OF HARLEM PLAINS 
 
LIBRARY/ 
 
 OF THE ^/i/ 
 
 YOUNG MEN'S 
 
 Christian Association 
 
 CITY OF NEW YORK. 
 
 2 
 
 £#7£~f 
 
COMMEMORATION 
 
 BATTLE OF HARLEM PLAINS 
 
 J 
 
 ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY 
 
 BY THE 
 
 NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY 
 
 M DCCC LXXVI. 
 

New-York Historical Society. 
 
 CELEBRATION OF THE BATTLE OF HARLEM PLAINS 
 
 One Hundredth Anniversary. Sept. i6, 1876. 
 
 The expenses of this Celebration were defrayed by the following gentlemen in subscriptions 
 of Twenty-five Dollars each. 
 
 Joseph W. Alsop, 
 John T. Agnew, 
 Benjamin G. Arnold, 
 James W. Beekman, 
 Erastus C. Benedict, 
 David Wolfe Bishop, 
 August Belmont, 
 Samuel L. M. Barlow, 
 John C. Barron, 
 William Cullen Bryant, 
 Clarkson Crolius, 
 Mathew Clarkson, 
 B. F. Carver, 
 Addison Carmack, 
 Frederic de Peyster, 
 J. Watts de Peyster, 
 Evert A. Duyckinck, 
 John A. Dix, 
 Henry Drisler, 
 Edward F. de Lancey, 
 William M. Evarts. 
 George Ehret, 
 Benjamin H. Field, 
 Courtland de P. Field, 
 John Fitch, 
 Moses H. Grinnell, 
 F. Frederic Gunther, 
 John W. Hamersley, 
 Wilson G. Hunt, 
 A. Hupfel Sons, 
 
 John Hunter, 
 Adrian Iselin, 
 George Jones, 
 John J. Jones, 
 William L. Jenkins, 
 William Jay, 
 John D. Jones, 
 Morris K. Jesup, 
 David Jones, 
 Robert Lenox Kennedy 
 A. Gracie King, 
 A. C. Kingsland, 
 Robert E. Livingston, 
 William Libbey, 
 James Lenox, 
 A. A. Low, 
 John McKesson, 
 George H. Moore, 
 James M. McLean, 
 Fordham Morris, 
 Richard E. Mount, 
 Henry A. Oakley, 
 Charles O' Conor, 
 Samuel Osgood, 
 Willard Parker, 
 Frederic Prime, 
 George T. Plume, 
 Royal Phelps, 
 William C. Prime, 
 S. Whitney Phoenix, 
 Robert Ray, 
 
 Charles Roome, 
 William Remsen, 
 Lewis M. Rutherfurd, 
 Jacob Ruppert, 
 Theodore Roosevelt, 
 Augustus Schell, 
 Charles W. Sanford, 
 James Struthers, 
 Benjamin B. Sherman, 
 , Rutherfurd Stuyvesant, 
 Robert L. Stuart, 
 John Austin Stevens, 
 Benjamin D. Silliman, 
 Henry F. Spaulding, 
 Philip Schuyler, 
 James H. Titus, 
 William R. Travers, 
 Charles L. Tiffany, 
 William M. Vermilye, 
 Washington R. Vermilye, 
 Jacob D. Vermilye, 
 E. W. Vanderhoof, 
 Stephen C. Williams, 
 John A. Weeks, 
 Henry R. Winthrop, 
 Andrew Warner, 
 William H. Wickham, 
 J. Butler Wright, 
 William H. Webb, 
 Frank Work, 
 
 M163222 
 
THE BATTLE OF HARLEM PLAINS 
 
 O RAT I O N 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 September 16, 1876 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN JAY 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY. 
 
 M DCCC LXXVI. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE ORATION. 
 
 Mr. President, Fellow-Countrymen, Ladies and Gen- 
 tlemen : 
 
 Our Centennial year, fraught with cherished memories, has 
 brought us to the anniversary of the spirited engagements 
 which took place on the heights and plains around us an hun- 
 dred years ago, between some of the Continental troops under 
 the command of Washington, and a part of the British army 
 under Sir William Howe. The action for the American army 
 and the American cause had a great significance. Our troops 
 engaged in it represented all sections — Virginia, Maryland, 
 Pennsylvania, New York, and New England — indicating the 
 common ties that have bound us in a common destiny, and 
 recalling the generous thought of Patrick Henry, when he 
 said, " I am not a Virginian — I am an American." 
 
 It was the first success of the Americans in the New York 
 campaign, and it occurred at a moment when both officers 
 and men were discouraged by disaster and retreat, and mor- 
 tified and alarmed at an exhibition of panic the day before, 
 which had wounded their self-respect, and impaired their 
 courage and their hopes. 
 
 It developed the bravery and spirit of our newly levied 
 troops, and their ability, when fairly led, to meet in the open 
 field the flower of the English army and the trained veterans 
 of the Continent. It inspired with new ardor the Commander- 
 in-chief, his officers and men, and it thus became an important 
 link in that chain of events, military and civil, which, by the 
 wisdom of Washington and the help of God, established, after 
 a seven years' struggle, our Union and our Independence. 
 The New York Historical Society, which is faithfully prose- 
 cuting the work on which it entered seventy-two years ago, 
 under the presidency of Egbert Benson, whom some of us well 
 remember, of rescuing from forgetfulness and decay the fleet- 
 
8 Commemorative Oration* 
 
 ing reminiscences of our historic times, has brought us to-day 
 to this pleasant spot where the fast advancing city has but 
 partially changed the natural features so bold and picturesque 
 which marked it a century ago ; on those Heights the army 
 of Washington was encamped, and here you look upon the 
 field of battle. The occasion is fitly graced by this brilliant 
 assemblage, including our distinguished and welcome guests, 
 and by. our gallant Seventh Regiment, of which New York 
 is justly proud — that school of soldiers which in our late war 
 furnished more than six hundred officers to the army and 
 navy of the United States. 
 
 When I ventured to accept the duty with which I have 
 been honored, of addressing you on this occasion, I recalled 
 the touching words of Lincoln at Gettysburg, when, alluding 
 to the brave men by whom that great battle had been won, 
 he said, " The world will little note nor long remember what 
 we say here ; but it can never forget what they did here." I 
 felt that the sacred memories invoked by the scene would 
 appeal to your imaginations and your hearts with an elo- 
 quence of their own, and that you would kindly accept some 
 thoughts suggested by the day and a simple narrative of the 
 battle. 
 
 Practical as may be the character, active as is the life of our 
 countrymen, theirs is not the frigid philosophy denounced by 
 the English moralist which might conduct one unmoved over 
 ground consecrated by wisdom, bravery, and virtue. If, as 
 Dr. Johnson observed, that man is little to be envied whose 
 patriotism would not gain force upon the plains of Marathon, 
 or whose piety would not burn brighter amid the ruins of 
 Iona : the American, could he be found, would be still less 
 to be envied, whose patriotism at this Centennial season would 
 not be refreshed on the battle-fields of the Revolution, where 
 our independence was won under the lead of Washington. 
 
 If Marathon and Iona inspire touching memories of a dead 
 past, our revolutionary scenes, whilst they also remind us 
 of ages that are gone, are linked with a living present, and 
 an impending and limitless future. 
 
 In America, too, each citizen shares the sovereignty of the 
 
Commemorative Oration. g 
 
 people, to whose wisdom and virtue are committed from 
 generation to generation the character and destiny of the 
 Republic ; and this thought enhances the personal interest of 
 each in the past of the country whose great future we are 
 moulding and carving and determining to-day. 
 
 It has been said that those will not look forward to pos- 
 terity who do not look back to their ancestors. We are 
 accustomed as a nation to do the one and the other, and the 
 habit strengthens as we advance. No story was more fasci- 
 nating to our childhood than that of America — itsydiscovery 
 by Columbus, the adventurous navigators who followed in 
 his steps, its settlement by colonists from every part of 
 Europe with their varied languages, characteristics, and 
 traditions, bringing with them the promise and the power of 
 that magnificent age of European advancement, of which 
 there has recently been given us, with unrivalled skill, so 
 striking a picture. 
 
 We trace the rough progress of the colonists in their battles 
 with the wilderness, with the Indians, and with each other, 
 up to the heroic story of our Revolution, which still grows in 
 interest as we read it anew in the thoughtful and brilliant 
 page of Bancroft. 
 
 Our interest was attended by the thought that the Republic 
 which had grown from those long processions across the sea, 
 and nearly two centuries of preparation, was, as Burke 
 declared, a new power, which, in its relations to the rest of 
 the world, might be compared to a new planet with its dis- 
 turbing influences suddenly appearing in the solar system. 
 
 The prediction in other lands that the Republic might 
 prove rather an erratic comet that would vanish in space, 
 or a baneful meteor, whose brief splendor would expire 
 in darkness, was thought in Europe likely to be accomplished 
 by the recent convulsion that threatened to terminate our 
 national career. The result of that contest has crowned the 
 accomplishments of our first century with the conviction, that 
 neither foreign power nor internal strife can reach the life of 
 the Republic; but that it contains within itself moral elements 
 of stability and permanence which were utterly discredited 
 
io Commemorative Oration. 
 
 by other nations, and were but partially appreciated among 
 ourselves. 
 
 In this view our Centennial commemoration becomes more 
 than a sentimental expression ; it marks the entering of the 
 Republic upon a new epoch, no longer as a doubtful experi- 
 ment, but as a fixed fact — a power of continental boundaries, 
 of limitless resources, of unmeasured energy, of schools and 
 churches, and universal freedom, more closely united than 
 ever before on a basis of equal rights and mutual interests, 
 and with no lingering element of sectional discord to again 
 disturb its harmony. 
 
 Other anticipations, where the wish was father to the 
 thought, were indulged in across the water by those who 
 hastened to announce our national dissolution, and to hail it 
 asa" blessing and a boon." They dreamed that the Ameri- 
 can Union was broken, that " the bubble of democracy was 
 burst," and that it would devolve on the European powers 
 whom we had dismissed from our territories to re-enter them 
 once more, to save the remnants from destruction. France 
 wrote, an officer of the old empire would retake the ter- 
 ritory of Orleans ; England might appropriate Oregon, the 
 State of Maine, and the harbor of Portland ; Mexico, under 
 foreign protection, would reclaim New Mexico, Texas, and 
 California ; while an Austrian prince from the throne of the 
 Montezumas would look upon the distribution of the effects 
 of the defunct Republic, and lend his imperial countenance to 
 the system of perpetual slavery that was expected to flourish 
 amid its ruins. 
 
 The heart of the nation may well beat high with joy and 
 thankfulness, as our Centennial sees the gathering of the na- 
 tions at Philadelphia, not to sing our requiem and divide 
 our heritage, but bringing their congratulations and their 
 treasures to lend magnificence to the birth-year of the re- 
 public. 
 
 Having dismissed to their homes her army of a million, 
 and retained for the protection of the Republic some 25,000 
 men, less than the garrison of an European capital, she cor- 
 dially greets in friendly rivalry her welcome guests in a way 
 
Commemorative Oration. 1 1 
 
 to assure them that if " Westward the Star of Empire takes 
 its way," our Star of Empire is the harbinger of peace. 
 
 Our Centennial is teaching us the unity of history by the 
 most striking of lessons, as Egypt leads the throng, mother of 
 civilization, with her untold ages of hoar antiquity — the land 
 of the Pharaohs and the Pyramids ; of the Nile and of the 
 Sphinx, with scriptural memories of Abram and Sarah, of 
 Joseph and his brethren, when the great pyramid had been 
 standing some 2,000 years ; of the second Joseph, the mother 
 and the Child, recalling Memphis and Thebes, Rameses and 
 Cambyses, with dim thoughts of Tyre and Sidon and Baby- 
 lon, as shadowed forth by Ezekiel and Jeremiah. Egypt, 
 which in her remote origin was a sphinx to the ancient Greeks, 
 brings from the East with oriental courtesy her greeting and 
 her gifts. She salutes us as of old the statue of Memnon 
 greeted the rising sun ; and as we read the message written 
 on her pcrtals at Fairmount, " The oldest people sends her 
 morning greeting to the youngest nation," we feel that our 
 youthful Republic, child of the brightest centuries of Euro- 
 pean development, is akin to all the nations and heir to the 
 culture of all the ages. 
 
 There is one pleasant thought connected with the Centen- 
 nial, — pleasant in every aspect and in its significance to the 
 world at large, of which we are naturally reminded as we 
 recall the battle here fought between England and America, 
 ■ — the thought that the Revolution which severed our political 
 connection with the British crown, has enlarged our relations 
 and confirmed our friendship with the British people. 
 
 Nothing could have so crowned our majestic celebration, 
 ordained by Congress and proclaimed by the President — the 
 nation commemorating its founders and the world assisting at 
 the fete — as the magnanimity, worthy of the Anglo-Saxon 
 race, and which America will not soon forget, with which 
 England deputed her accomplished and honored Envoy at 
 Washington to represent the British Empire at the ceremonies 
 in honor of the birth-year of the Republic. 
 
 Wars that are provoked by passion or ambition may 
 produce new storms of international hate, to desolate in turn 
 
12 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 successive generations ; but with wars that result from # the 
 antagonism of principles and systems, after the lightning and 
 the crash may come the clear sky, while nature smiles with 
 freshened verdure, teaching us that in the Divine Economy 
 it is often the conflict of discordant powers that produces 
 the harmony of the universe. 
 
 Touching the dispute between England and her colonies, 
 which Englishmen and Americans can now discuss with calm 
 philosophy, there is one fact creditable alike to both parties 
 and essential to a correct appreciation of the position, which 
 has been curiously ignored, even in recent discussions of the 
 question on both sides the Atlantic. The impression still 
 obtains in various quarters, that for many years previous to 
 the Revolution a desire for independence had been growing 
 in the Colonies, and that when the struggle was entered upon 
 the American leaders aimed at a separation. Jefferson on the 
 contrary declared : 
 
 "It is well known that in July, 1775, a separation from 
 Great Britain and establishment of republican government 
 had never yet entered into any person's mind." The accur- 
 acy of that statement was in accord with the assurance given 
 by Franklin in August, 1774, to Lord Chatham, that he 
 " never had heard in any conversation from any person, drunk 
 or sober, the least expression of a wish for separation," and 
 it was distinctly confirmed by the testimony of John Adams, 
 who added, his sturdy patriotism giving significance to the re- 
 mark : " For my own part, there was not a moment during the 
 Revolution when I would not have given everything I possessed, 
 for a restoration to the state of things before the contest be- 
 gan, provided we could have had sufficient security for its 
 continuance." The character of the ties that attached the 
 Colonies to England was too little appreciated at the Court of 
 St. James ; and Lord Russell, in his Life of Charles James 
 Fox, remarked that " it was the peculiar infelicity of George 
 the III. and Lord North, that they turned to gall all those 
 feelings of filial piety which had so long filled the breasts of 
 Americans." 
 
 The principles on which our fathers resisted the powers 
 
Commemorative Oratioii. 13 
 
 assumed by Great Britain, are still occasionally criticised in 
 that country, but it can never be forgotten that the State 
 papers developing their views commanded the approval, even 
 the homage of the great Lord Chatham. 
 
 With the impressive diction that marked his transcendent 
 oratory, he said in words that can bear to be repeated, but 
 not to be abridged : 
 
 " For myself, I must declare and avow that in all my read- 
 ing and observation, and it has been my favorite study — I 
 have read Thucydides, and have studied and admired the 
 master states of the world — for solidity of reasoning, force of 
 sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion under such a complication 
 of difficult circumstances, no nation or body of men can stand 
 in preference to the General Congress at' Philadelphia." 
 
 That Chatham, who as William Pitt had been the great 
 Commoner of England, the expounder of the popular features 
 of the British Constitution, the most powerful orator of 
 modern times, whose " character had astonished a corrupt 
 age," found the statesmanship of the Continental Congress 
 to surpass that of the master states of ancient and of modern 
 times, is a noteworthy incident, as we review after the lapse 
 of a century, the full development of that political capacity 
 whose early exhibition at Philadelphia called forth that gener- 
 ous tribute from the foremost statesman of Great Britain. 
 
 Turning a deaf ear to the advice and warnings of Chatham 
 and of Burke, who stood on the American question like 
 " guide-posts and land-marks in the state," the ministry 
 adhered to the principle of the act, which said — what an his- 
 toric lesson it teaches to-day — " It is expedient to raise a 
 revenue in America." 
 
 On the soundness of that proposition the ministry deliber- 
 ately staked the dignity of the Crown and the integrity of 
 the Kingdom. 
 
 Dr. Johnson, in his " Taxation no Tyranny," ignoring the 
 principles and the characteristics of the American Colonists, and 
 the fact that their ancestors in every country of Europe had 
 been accustomed to resist oppression, anticipated as the 
 result of the struggle, " English superiority and American 
 
14 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 obedience," nor dreamed that he was assisting in the dismem- 
 berment of the British Empire and the erection of an 
 American Republic. 
 
 Never was a ministry trifling with the interests and honor 
 of a great nation more frankly and fearlessly warned, and the 
 speeches of Chatham on the American question show the 
 difference between the true statesman, maintaining the truth 
 with outspoken independence against an obstinate king, a 
 convenient ministry, and a subservient parliament ; and supple 
 courtiers who bend the knee where thrift may follow fawning, 
 and sustain with unquestioning acquiescence governmental 
 policies that assail the morality and the dignity of the nation. 
 
 " My Lords," said Chatham, and his words may be repeated 
 from age to age in every country, " this ruinous and igno- 
 minious situation, where we cannot act with success nor suffer 
 with honor, calls upon us to remonstrate in the strongest 
 language, to rescue the ear of majesty from the delusions 
 which surround it." 
 
 When, after the rejection of their second petition, Congress 
 resolved upon the necessity of separation, and declared the 
 inalienable rights which formed the basis of its action, the 
 great truths which it announced, if thought strange and novel 
 in Europe, had little of novelty in America. They were here 
 regarded not as something newly discovered, but old as the 
 creation, written in the Bible, uttered by others than 
 Christian philosophers from Aristotle to Locke, — truths which 
 had descended from their ancestors among the Hollanders, the 
 Walloons, the French Huguenots, the English, the Irish and 
 the Scotch, the Swedes, the Germans, and the Swiss, the 
 Bohemian Protestants, the Italian Waldenses, the Salzburg 
 exiles, the Moravian Brothers, and refugees from the Palati- 
 nate, Alsace, and Southern Germany. 
 
 They were rights that had been asserted and battled for in 
 England by those who believed in the enjoyment of personal 
 and religious freedom : which had animated the great charter 
 wrested from John : which had inspired the Petition of Right : 
 which had been reduced to practice in the English Revolution : 
 which were the proper heritage of the colonists from their 
 
Commemorative Oration. 1 5 
 
 earnest, freedom-loving, stout-hearted sires : truths self-evi- 
 dent, " the unassuming commonplace of nature." 
 
 When at our centennial commemoration of the Declaration 
 of Independence at Philadelphia, ordained by Congress to be 
 held under the auspices of the Government, and assisted in 
 by the Powers invited by the President, with the illustrious 
 Emperor of Brazil and a royal prince of Sweden, presenting 
 a scene unique in its political significance and its historic 
 associations, our acting Vice-President, Mr. Ferry, remarking 
 that the regretful absence of the President had o&st upon 
 him the honor of presiding on that eventful occasion, said 
 that the heroic statesmen who had there chosen between 
 royal rule and popular sovereignty had been inspired, in their 
 declaration that all men are born free and equal, by the truth 
 uttered on Mars Hill that God hath made of one blood all 
 nations of men. The religious sentiment thus alluded to by 
 the Vice-President has been recognized by the most philo- 
 sophic writers in America, as having lain at the root of the 
 governmental theories as well as of the social characteristics 
 of the colonists. Burke, in the greatest of his speeches on 
 America — that on conciliation — referred to the stream of 
 foreigners which had flowed into the colonies as being for the 
 greatest part composed of dissenters from the establishments 
 of their respective countries; and soon after that speech, and 
 a week before Congress was driven from Philadelphia, that 
 body ordered an importation of twenty thousand Bibles for 
 its constituents, at the public expense. 
 
 An interesting example of the recognition of the divine 
 rights of people, by the government of Holland, the parent 
 state of this part of our country, and of whom we are 
 reminded by these Harlem plains, is found in the reply of the 
 States General to the request of Great Britain for troops to 
 assist in the subjugation of the rebellious Americans. 
 
 It was in December, 1775, that Derk VAN DER CAPPEL — 
 may his name be cherished — declared, in answer to the 
 British demand for troops, that "the Americans were worthy 
 of every man's esteem — a brave people, defending in a 
 manly and religious manner those rights which, as men, they 
 
1 6 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 derive from God, and not from the Legislature of Great 
 Britain." 
 
 It was the fine thought of Bryant in his Ode to Freedom — 
 
 Thy birthright was not given by human hands ; 
 Thou wert twin-born with man. 
 
 But we may not linger on the civil questions involved in 
 our Declaration which have already been treated in our recent 
 centennial orations with so much of learning, eloquence, and 
 deep philosophy, by statesmen, jurists, diplomatists, and 
 divines. 
 
 The military question to which this battle scene recalls us 
 was, in fact, the question on which our success in the war 
 immediately depended ; for that success hung not alone on 
 the soundness of our political theories, but on our ability to 
 defeat the armies and fleets of Great Britain, then in the 
 height of her pride and the most powerful government in the 
 world. 
 
 We began the struggle with no certainty of any foreign aid, 
 and so unequal seemed the contest that Vergennes, the Min- 
 ister of Louis XVI., assured our envoys that it would not be 
 safe for France and America together to attempt to match 
 England, unless they were assisted by other powers. This 
 inequality must be remembered if we would appreciate aright 
 the importance of the battle fought on this spot an hundred 
 years ago. The Declaration of Independence but just 
 adopted, closing the door to conciliation and compromise, 
 had alienated our friends in England. France had not yet 
 become our ally. There had not yet come to us the gallant 
 and generous Lafayette, of whom Washington wrote: " Treat 
 him as though he were my own son." We had not yet wel- 
 comed to our camp and to our hearts Kosciusko, whose 
 soldierly fame lives alike in Europe and America ; nor Steu- 
 ben, who had learned the art of war under the great Frede- 
 rick ; nor De Kalb, who had served with the French and 
 who fell at Camden with eleven wounds ; nor Rochambeau, 
 with his brave command of six thousand men, who was made 
 Marshal of France for his services at Yorktown, and who 
 
Commemorative Oration. 17 
 
 brought in his gallant train such men as D'Estaing, Du Por- 
 tail, De Choise, Deuxponts, Custine, De Noailles, Montmo- 
 renci, De Grasse, Lauzun, St. Simon, De Broglie, Berthier, 
 Segur, and Montesquieu. 
 
 The 1st of January, 1776, opened gloomily, with the defeat 
 at Quebec and the death of the brave Montgomery. In 
 March, the British had evacuated Boston. In April, Wash- 
 ington had arrived in New York. On the 2d of July, Con- 
 gress had resolved on separation, and on the 9th the New 
 York Convention at White Plains had given, as Sparks happily 
 said, the finishing stroke to the Declaration of Independence, 
 which that evening was read at the head of each brigade 
 of the army, and the same night the leaden statue of George 
 III. in the Bowling Green was broken up and run into bullets. 
 Presently arrived in the Hudson two British ships, and a 
 third with the Admiral's flag of Lord Howe. Soon the High- 
 landers, Hessians and other troops began to be landed at 
 Staten Island. The British force near New York amounted to 
 30,000 men. That of the Americans was less than 20,000, 
 imperfectly equipped and armed, composed in part of" hasty 
 levies of countrymen." The yeomen summoned from the 
 plough, and destitute of arms, were ordered to bring with 
 them a shovel, spade, or pickaxe, or a scythe straightened and 
 fastened to a pole. 
 
 On the 27th of August was fought the disastrous battle of 
 Long Island. Two nights afterwards, on the 29th, was 
 effected the masterly retreat of Washington from Brooklyn to 
 New York, one of the most signal achievements of the war, 
 and perhaps unsurpassed in military history, by which " 9,000 
 men with their munitions of war, were successfully withdrawn 
 from before a victorious enemy, encamped so near that every 
 stroke of spade and pickaxe from their trenches could be 
 heard." 
 
 On the 2d of September, Washington wrote to Congress 
 that the situation was truly distressing ; that the check on the 
 27th had filled the troops with apprehension and despair ; that 
 they were dismayed, intractable, and impatient to return ; and 
 that great numbers had gone off, " in some instances almost 
 
1 8 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 by whole regiments, by half ones, and by companies at a 
 time." 
 
 A council of general officers had decided with regret that it 
 would be necessary to evacuate New York, which Washington 
 said had become the grand magazine of America. Put- 
 nam was stationed in the city with only 5,000 men, while 
 General Heath with 9,000 men was to guard the upper part 
 of the island and oppose any attempt of the enemy to land. 
 On the 13th of September three frigates and a British man-of- 
 war sailed up the East river towards Hell-gate, firing as they 
 passed. On Saturday, the 14th, Washington's baggage was 
 removed to his new headquarters at Kingsbridge. It was 
 now clear that the enemy were preparing to encompass our 
 army on the island, and their landing at Harlem or Morrisania 
 was apprehended. But the evening passed quietly, excepting 
 that six more ships had moved up the East River. 
 
 On the morning of Sunday, the 15th of September, three 
 British ships of war were sent up the North River with " a 
 most tremendous firing," as far as Bloomingdale, with the in- 
 tention, as appears from Sir William Howe's report, of draw- 
 ing the attention of the Americans in that direction. At 11 
 o'clock the real business of the day commenced by a cannon- 
 ade from three frigates and two forty-gun ships, which were 
 drawn up in line in the East River, upon the American 
 breastworks near Kip's Bay. Under cover of this fire was 
 landed the first division of the British army, consisting of the 
 Light Infantry, the British Reserve, the Hessian Grenadiers 
 and Chasseurs, under the command of Lt.-Gen. Sir Henry 
 Clinton, who had with him Lt.- General Cornwallis, Major- 
 General Vaughan, Brigadier-General Leslie, and Col. Donop. 
 "The fire of the shipping," wrote Sir Wm. Howe to Lord 
 Germaine, "being so well directed and so incessant, the 
 enemy could not remain in their works, and the descent was 
 made without the least opposition." 
 
 This statement is not without interest as tending to explain 
 the panic which seized the militia by whom the works were 
 manned, and who had already been disheartened by the de- 
 feat at Brooklyn, and perhaps also that of the two brigades 
 
Commemorative Oration. 19 
 
 who had been sent to support them, and who fled at the ap- 
 pearance of some sixty or seventy of the British troops. 
 Washington, who had come galloping down at the first sound 
 of the cannonade, met them in their flight, and strove in vain 
 to rally them. He is said to have been passionately moved 
 by their cowardice, which he reported to Congress and de- 
 nounced by general order. Recovering his self-possession, 
 he despatched an order for the instant occupation of Harlem 
 Heights, and another for the immediate retreat of Putnam. 
 
 There is one incident connected with Putnam's/ retreat 
 which, although often related, cannot properly be omitted in 
 a centennial mention of that eventful day. 
 
 Sir Wm. Howe, in his letter of September 21st, to Lord 
 George Germaine, after describing the landing at Kip's Bay, 
 said : " The British immediately took post on the command- 
 ing height of Inclenberg ; " but Sir William omitted to advise 
 his Lordship of the disposition of his staff on their arrival at 
 that point, to which the American officers were accustomed to 
 attribute the safety of Gen. Putnam's command, the loss of 
 which at that stage of the war might have had a serious influ- 
 ence on the military situation. 
 
 On "the commanding height of Inclenberg," now known 
 more modestly as Murray Hill, resided Robert Murray whose 
 wife Mary Lindley Murray — all honor to her memory — in 
 the absence of her husband invited Sir William and his officers, 
 as they approached her residence, to stop for lunch. A halt 
 was ordered and the invitation accepted. The unaccustomed 
 heat and their morning's work seem to have prepared the 
 commander-in-chief and his officers, who were accompanied 
 by his Excellency Gov. Try on, to enjoy the proffered rest 
 and repast. In cheerful mood after their successful landing, 
 and refreshed with the generous wine, they bantered their 
 hostess with British bluntness on her rebel sympathies, and 
 Mrs. Murray responded with such graceful tact and pleasant 
 humor, that two hours or more were whiled away before 
 they had concluded their regale. During that precious time, 
 Putnam and his command, in their straggling and disorderly 
 retreat along the Bloomingdale road, had passed in safety 
 
20 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 within a mile of the comfortable parlors where the illustrious 
 generals, who were to conquer America, quaffed with appre- 
 ciation the old Madeira, jested complacently at the discom- 
 fiture of the rebels, and unconsciously measured the military 
 prudence of the Royal staff with the patriotic wit of an Ameri- 
 can woman. One mile's march during that pleasant lunch 
 would have cut off Putnam's advance or cut it in two, and a 
 little later, when he had passed, the 42d Highlanders moved 
 towards Bloomingdale " to intercept the retreating Ameri- 
 cans." 
 
 Putnam's command, after a weary march, joined the army 
 in the evening on Harlem Heights, where Washington had 
 made his headquarters at the house of Colonel Roger Morris, 
 at that time an adherent of Royal cause, formerly his com- 
 panion in Braddock's campaign, and his successful competitor 
 for the hand of Mary Philipse. This house, overlooking the 
 Harlem River, and commanding an extensive and varied view, 
 is now known as the Jumel Place, and here in later years 
 resided for a time Col. Aaron Burr, after his marriage with 
 Madame, the widow Jumel. About a mile to the north was 
 the height of Mount Washington crowned with an earthwork 
 mounting thirty cannon. On the heights, at this period, com- 
 menced the intercourse of Washington with Alexander Ham- 
 ilton, a young captain of artillery, whose skill in the construc- 
 tion of some of the defences had attracted the attention of the 
 commander-in-chief, and whose splendid abilities as exhibited 
 in the work of the National Constitution and the restoration 
 of the national credit were soon to command the attention of 
 the world. 
 
 The headquarters of the British Commander General, Sir 
 William Howe, were at the house of Mr. Apthorpe, which 
 stands near the corner of Ninth avenue and Ninety-first street, 
 and is now known as Elm Park. The encampment of the 
 British extended from the East River, where General Howe's 
 right rested on Horen's Hook near Eighty-ninth street, to the 
 North River where his left was at Bloomingdale, the distance 
 being about two miles and both flanks being covered by his 
 
Co in mentor ative ratio n. 21 
 
 ships. The encampment extended from the fourth to the 
 eighth mile-stone. 
 
 On the heights occupied by the Americans, between the 
 ninth and tenth mile-stones, southwest of the Roger Morris 
 House, our troops were preparing to form the lines afterwards 
 completed between the Hudson River on the west and the 
 Harlem river on the east, over a broken surface with breast- 
 works, entrenchments and abatis. 
 
 Here it was intended " to make a grand stand." Both 
 sides of the King's Bridge were carefully fortified^ making 
 this the strongest point. The division of the army lying near 
 the Roger Morris House extended southwardly to near the 
 Hollow Way running from Harlem Plain to the Hudson River 
 at the site of the present Manhattanville, a natural break be- 
 tween the Harlem and the Bloomingdale Heights. Between 
 the Point of Rocks (the southern extremity of the Harlem 
 Heights, now being cut away, the property of the Convent of 
 Sacred Heart), and McGowan's Pass at the northern extremity 
 of the Central Park, and lying on the eastward of Bloomingdale 
 Heights, intervened a low ground known as the Harlem Plain. 
 The Point of Rocks at One Hundred and Twenty-seventh street 
 was the advance post of the American army, and on the hill 
 slope below McGowan's Pass, at One Hundred and Ninth 
 street, a mile and a half distant was the advance post of the 
 British army. The picket lines of each army extended be- 
 yond these points into the plains and along the ridge which 
 overlooked them. As night closed around the two armies 
 on the opposing heights, a cold driving rain succeeded to 
 the sultry heat of the morning, and the contrast between the 
 thorough equipment of the British troops and the half-clad 
 unsheltered condition of the Americans, without tents or 
 blankets, might have extended perhaps to the temper of the 
 two armies. The events of the day had tended to confirm 
 the impression made by the battle of Long Island ; to increase 
 the belief of the British in their resistless superiority, and to 
 lower the confidence of the Americans in their officers and in 
 themselves. 
 
 In reporting to their respective governments upon the con- 
 
22 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 duct of their troops at Kip's Bay on this memorable Sunday, 
 Sir William Howe gave praise for highly meritorious con- 
 duct to his officers and men, while Washington expressed to 
 Congress his great surprise and mortification at the dastardly 
 behavior of his troops, whose cowardice was said to have 
 wrung from him the exclamation, " Are these the men with 
 whom I am to defend America ? " 
 
 Whilst Washington in general orders denounced instant 
 death as the punishment of cowardice in the field, he devoted 
 himself to the task of raising the courage of the army. He 
 perfectly understood that dependence upon raw militia was 
 resting upon a broken staff. " Men," he wrote to the President 
 of Congress, " just dragged from the tender scenes of domes- 
 tic life, unaccustomed to the din of arms, totally unacquainted 
 with every kind of military skill (which is followed by want 
 of confidence in themselves when opposed to troops regularly 
 trained and appointed, superior in knowledge and superior 
 in arms), are timid and ready to fly from their own shadows." 
 He had formed the determination, for which his present strong 
 position afforded an excellent opportunity, " to habituate his 
 soldiers by a series of successful skirmishes to meet the 
 enemy in the field." With clear sagacity, as observed by 
 Marshall, he had persuaded himself that his detachments, 
 knowing that a strongly entrenched camp was immediately in 
 their rear, would soon display their native courage and speed- 
 ily regain the confidence they had lost. 
 
 On the morning of Monday the 16th of September, Wash- 
 ington concluded a letter to Congress on the affair at Kip's 
 Bay, with the remark, " I have sent out some reconnoitring 
 parties to gain intelligence, if possible, of the disposition of 
 the enemy." From the contemporaneous authority of an 
 officer engaged in the affair, it appears that a scouting party 
 of the Regiment of Rangers, a body of picked men under the 
 command of Lieut. Colonel Thomas Knowlton, set out 
 before day-break with instructions to ascertain the position 
 of the enemy's advanced guard. Passing over the ridge 
 which we have described as the Bloomingdale Heights, then 
 known as the Vanderwater Heights (they are so described in 
 
Commemorative Oration. 23 
 
 Sir William Howe's despatch), they pushed through the woods 
 until, near the southern extremity of this ridge, they came at 
 day-break upon a large party of the British light infantry, who 
 rapidly advanced upon them. A sharp skirmish ensued, 
 until Knowlton, perceiving that with their superior numbers 
 they were turning his flank, ordered a retreat. His men fell 
 back in an orderly manner to the northernmost end of the 
 ridge, where close by our advance posts a second stand was 
 made. Meanwhile, the firing had attracted attention, and 
 soon after Washington's morning despatches were y sentto 
 Congress, rumors reached the headquarters of a movement 
 by the enemy, considerable bodies of whom were showing 
 themselves at the lower end of the plains. 
 
 Adjutant-General Joseph Reed, as he himself informs us, 
 was sent to the front to learn the truth, and went down to 
 the most advanced guard picketed on the plain below the 
 Point of Rocks. He here fell in with the party of Knowlton, 
 who had been driven from the hill, and while Reed was talk- 
 ing to the officer in command the enemy showed themselves 
 and opened fire at a distance of fifty yards. The Ameri- 
 cans behaved well, stood and returned the fire till overpowered 
 by numbers (ten to one is Reed's estimate), they retreated, 
 the enemy advancing with such rapidity that they were 
 in possession of the house in which Reed conversed with the 
 officer five minutes after he left it. 
 
 Reed encouraged by the behavior of the men started for 
 headquarters to make his report and ask for reinforcements. 
 Meanwhile Washington had mounted his horse and ridden 
 down to our advanced posts. Hardly had Reed reached him 
 when the light infantry showed themselves in view, and in 
 the most contemptuous manner sounded their bugles as is 
 usual after a fox chase. This insulting behavior brought a 
 blush to the cheeks of the officers, and caused their blood to 
 tingle with shame. It showed them the contempt in which 
 they were held by their adversaries and seemed to crown 
 their disgrace. 
 
 On reconnoitring the situation of the enemy, Washington 
 saw that there was an opportunity for a successful action in 
 
24 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 which, under favorable conditions, the morale of the army 
 could be restored, and, to use his own words, he formed the 
 design of " cutting- off such of the enemy's troops as might 
 advance to the extremity of the woods." This wood was on 
 the northernmost spur of the Bloomingdale Heights, which 
 overlooked the hollow way and was divided from a similar 
 spur opposite at the Point of Rocks by a gully or ravine at 
 the foot of which lay a round meadow known in the topo- 
 graphy of the day as Matje (or Mutje) Davits Fly. 
 
 Washington learning that the body of the enemy who kept 
 themselves concealed was about three hundred, ordered three 
 companies of Colonel Weedon's regiment from Virginia, 
 under the command of Major Andrew Leitch, and Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Knowlton with his Rangers, to try and get in their 
 rear, while a disposition was made as if to attack them in front 
 and to draw their attention that way. Knowlton who was 
 familiar with the ground seems to have guided his party by 
 the left flank of the enemy through the woods of the western 
 slopes of the Bloomingdale Ridge in which he had fought in 
 the morning, in order to fall upon their rear. Leitch with 
 his Virginians, unacquainted with the field, was put under 
 the guidance of Adjutant-General Reed. It is worth while 
 here to notice that the Virginia troop, which was this day 
 under Leitch, had only arrived the day preceding, having 
 been ordered from the command of General Mercer in New 
 Jersey, and had joined the camp by way of Burdett's Ferry, 
 facing Fort Washington. Meanwhile at ten o'clock a de- 
 monstration or feint was made on the front which had the 
 effect intended by Washington. The British troops im- 
 mediately ran down the hill to the round meadow at its foot. 
 Here, in the words of General Clinton, who was in the action 
 during the greater part of the day, and whose report to the 
 New York Convention is the most detailed and intelligible 
 account of it, they were opposed with spirit and soon made 
 to retreat to a clear field about two hundred paces (eight 
 hundred feet distant), south-east of the fly or meadow, where 
 they lodged themselves behind a fence covered with bushes. 
 This cleared field we take to have been to the east and some- 
 
Commemorative Oration. 25 
 
 what south of the point of the ridge facing the Point of Rocks. 
 A smart firing began but at too great a distance to do much 
 execution, when a couple of field pieces being brought to 
 bear upon the British, at the second discharge they again fell 
 back retreating up the eastern slope of the hill. At this mo- 
 ment Major Leitch and his command came upon the field, but 
 misled by the movements of the regiment in action, who seem 
 to have hailed them as they appeared on the plain, were 
 diverted from the path by which Reed intended to lead them 
 around the right flank of the British to their rear,vwhere he 
 hoped to make a junction with Knowlton's Rangers. Leitch's 
 command evidently came from the lines by the Kings Bridge 
 road and their course was to have been by an irregular road, 
 which leaving it crossed the plain, ran along the eastern slope 
 of the ridge and passed over it about 11 2th street, where the 
 line of trees now standing marks its course, connecting with 
 the Bloomingdale road at its intersection with the present 
 Eleventh avenue. Reed finding it impossible to check their 
 ardor accompanied them. They joined the regiment in 
 action ; the feint was now turned into an attack. In a few 
 minutes, in the words of Reed, our brave fellows mounted up 
 the rocks, attacked the enemy, and a brisk action ensued. 
 Major Leitch fell presently, after the close fighting began, 
 wounded with three balls. In a buckwheat field on the top 
 of the hill, which General Clinton describes as four hundred 
 paces — sixteen hundred feet distant — (and here we must 
 remark that there can be no doubt about the accuracy of 
 these distances, Clinton himself having surveyed the ground 
 a few years previously to settle the Harlem boundary), the 
 British troops met the 42d Highlanders, who, dispatched 
 at eleven o'clock, had moved up on a double trot without 
 stopping to draw breath, to the support of the Light In- 
 fantry, whose distance from their lines had caused general 
 alarm at Howe's headquarters. 
 
 The effect of the undue and unexpected precipitation on the 
 part of the American troops ordered to make the feint, was 
 to cause the attack to be made too soon, and rather in flank 
 than in the rear, thus thwarting the well-arranged plans of 
 
26 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 Washington. The interference with his orders was pointedly 
 referred to in the General Orders of the next day, in the re- 
 mark that " the loss of the enemy yesterday would undoubt- 
 edly have been much greater if the orders of the Commander- 
 in-Chief had not in some instance been contradicted by some 
 inferior officers, who, however well they might mean, ought 
 not to presume to direct." At the same time, the Virgin- 
 ians of Leitch's command received the thanks of Washington 
 for their gallantry. 
 
 On receiving their reinforcements, the British made their 
 second stand. Here it is probable that Knowlton made his 
 appearance on the British left flank. In the buckwheat field 
 which is located to the eastward of the Bloomingdale Asylum 
 on the line of 118th street, a brisk action commenced, which 
 continued near two hours. In this fight, in which, in the 
 words of General Heath, there was good " markmanship on 
 both sides," Colonel Knowlton fell about noon. The officer 
 of the Rangers, whose account of the early morning skirmish 
 we have freely quoted, caught him in his arms, and sent him 
 off the field by two of his men, and he was taken to our lines 
 on the horse of Adjutant-General Reed, probably by the road 
 we have described, which in fact is the only road laid down 
 on the maps of the period, and the only path practicable for 
 a horse. 
 
 Knowlton behaved with the greatest courage, and accepted 
 his fate with brave composure. " He seemed," wrote one of 
 his officers, " as unconcerned as though nothing had hap- 
 pened to him." His last inquiry was as to the result of the 
 action. Notwithstanding the loss of their leaders, the men 
 persevered and continued the engagement under the lead of the 
 captains, until Washington, finding that they needed support, 
 advanced part of Colonel Griffiths' and Colonel Richardson's 
 Maryland regiments, with some detatchments from the eastern 
 regiments who were nearest the scene of action, who charged 
 the enemy with great intrepidity. Among these troops were 
 Captain Beatty of the Maryland line, Major Mantz with three 
 rifle companies of the same troops, Major Price with three of 
 the Independent companies of Maryland troops, and three 
 
Commemorative Oration. 27 
 
 other companies of the Maryland Flying Cavalry, a battalion 
 of Virginians, and some southern troops. Thus reinforced, 
 the Americans pushed on with fresh vigor. Generals Putnam 
 and Greene, with Tilghman and other officers of Washington's 
 staff, joined in the engagement, and animated the soldiers by 
 their presence. Greene, in his account of the battle, speaks 
 of the noble behavior of Putnam and Adjutant-General Reed. 
 The British also received a considerable addition to their force, 
 which appears from the official report of Lord Howe to have 
 consisted of " the reserve with two field pieces, a battalion of 
 Hessian grenadiers, and a company of chasseurs," under the 
 command of Brigadier-General Leslie. Notwithstanding this 
 assistance they were driven from the buckwheat field into a 
 neighboring orchard. This orchard was a field north of 
 the line of n 6th street, where the remains of the old trees 
 were visible until about the year 1866, when the land was 
 cleared. An ineffectual attempt was made by the British 
 for a further stand, but they were again driven across a hol- 
 low and up a hill not far distant from their own encampment. 
 This hollow was undoubtedly the dip of land between the 
 Bloomingdale and McGowan's Heights, and the hill the slope 
 of the latter elevation. 
 
 Here the Americans having silenced the British fire in 
 great measure, Washington judged it prudent to order a 
 retreat, fearing that the enemy, as he afterwards learned was 
 really the case, were sending a large body to support their 
 party, which would have involved his drawing supports from 
 his strong position on the Harlem Heights, and have brought 
 on a general engagement, which he was determined to avoid. 
 The war, as he had written Congress, must be a "war of 
 posts," and he had no thought of jeoparding the cause by a 
 battle in the open field — at least, not till he had thoroughly 
 tried the temper of his troops. The Von Lansing battalion 
 was seen to draw near ; two other German battalions, under 
 Von Donop, occupied M'Gowan's Pass ; and from eight to 
 ten thousand men were under arms, hidden by the hill to 
 which the enemy were being driven. The American troops 
 obeyed the re-call ordered by Washington, although the 
 
28 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 " pursuit of a flying enemy was so new a scene that it was 
 with difficulty our men could be brought to retreat, which 
 was, however, effected in very good order." 
 
 The loss on the side of the Americans, as reported by 
 General George Clinton, was seventeen dead and fifty-three 
 wounded. On the part of the British, according to the full 
 circumstantial report of Bauermeister, quoted by Mr. Ban- 
 croft, there were seventy dead and two hundred and ten 
 wounded. 
 
 The battle, as we have described it, was chiefly fought 
 upon the Bloomingdale Heights ; but as the main action 
 commenced on the plains near Manhattanville, it was called 
 by Mr. Lossing the battle of Harlem Plains, and that title 
 has been adopted in the subsequent narratives of Mr. Dawson 
 and other writers. Some manuscript accounts of the battle 
 not hitherto referred to have thrown light upon points which 
 seemed a little doubtful ; and in this connection I gratefully 
 acknowledge my obligations to Mr. Stevens, Mr. Moore, and 
 Mr. Kelby, of our New York Historical Society, for their 
 kind assistance. 
 
 The general and deep satisfaction at the events of the day 
 was dimmed by the sorrow for those who had fallen or who 
 were suffering from their wounds. 
 
 The movements of the British left it doubtful what they 
 might intend, and Washington's order for the night of the 
 16th indicated careful preparation to meet a possible attack 
 along the whole line of heights, commanding the hollow way 
 from the North River to the main road leading from New York 
 to Kingsbridge. The parole was Beale, and the counter- 
 sign, Maryland. Gen. Clinton was to form next the North 
 River, then Gen. Scott's brigade and Lieut. Col. Sayres, of 
 Col. Griffiths' regiment, with the three companies intended 
 for a re -enforcement in the morning. 
 
 Gen. Nixon's and Col. Sergeant's division, Col. Weedon 
 and Maj. Price's regiments, were ordered to retire to their quar- 
 ter and refresh themselves, but to hold themselves in readiness 
 to turn out at a minute's warning. Gen. McDougal was to 
 establish guards against his brigade upon the heights from 
 
Commemorative Oration, 29 
 
 Morris's house to McDougall's camp, to furnish proper guards 
 to prevent surprise, not less than twenty men from each regi- 
 ment. Gen. Putnam was placed in command upon the right 
 flank for the night, and Gen, Spencer from McDougall's 
 brigade to Morris's house ; and should the enemy attempt to 
 pass during the night, Gen. Putnam was to apply to Gen, 
 Spencer for a re-enforcement. 
 
 The next day, by general order, Washington returned his 
 most hearty thanks to " the troops commanded yesterday by 
 Major Leitch, who first advanced upon the enemy^ and the 
 others who so resolutely supported them." He contrasted 
 their behavior with that of some troops the day before, as 
 showing what might be done when officers and men exert 
 themselves. Again he called upon them to act up to the 
 noble cause in which they were engaged, and to support the 
 honor and liberties of their country. In naming the officer 
 who was to take command of the party lately led by Col, 
 Knowlton, he declared that the gallant officer who had yes- 
 terday fallen while gloriously fighting would have done honor 
 to any country. The order concluded with a rebuke to the 
 inferior officers, whose ill-advised attention to unauthorized 
 orders had interfered with the orders of the Commander-in- 
 Chief and diminished their success. 
 
 The name of LEITCH was given by Washington for the 
 next day's parole — a grateful tribute to the wounded officer, 
 who lingered till the 1st of October, and for the countersign, 
 with similar significance, was given " Virginia." 
 
 Col. Knowlton — whose grandson we cordially welcome on 
 this occasion — was the favorite officer of Gen. Putnam. He 
 had distinguished himself, with Prescott, in fortifying Bun- 
 ker Hill and in holding the British at bay ; in Trumbull's 
 historic painting he stands almost alone, " the hero of the rail 
 fence," without coat or hat, grasping his bayonetless musket. 
 He became the trusted officer of Washington, and was de- 
 puted by the Commander-in-Chief to head a difficult night 
 expedition to Charlestown, which he managed with entire 
 success. He was buried by order of Washington within the 
 lines, and Leitch was presently buried by his side ; what fitter 
 
30 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 time than this, our Centennial anniversary, could a grateful 
 people select for the erection of a monument to their 
 memory ? 
 
 The result of the engagement which, commencing as a skir- 
 mish of outposts, had assumed at its close such large dimen- 
 sions that from four to five thousand troops were estimated to be 
 engaged on either side, had signally accomplished the design 
 of Washington to recover the military ardor of his troops. 
 It was; as Irving remarks in his Life of Washington , "The 
 first gleam of success in the campaign." The importance 
 attributed to it by Washington appears from the accounts 
 w r ritten by him to the President of Congress ; to the Conven- 
 tion of New York ; to Gov. Henry, Gov. Trumbull, Gen. 
 Schuyler, and his brothers Lund and John Augustine. To 
 Gen. Schuyler he said, " Our men behaved with great 
 bravery, and being supported by fresh troops, beat the 
 enemy fairly from the field." 
 
 General Greene, who at a later day, wrote of this his first 
 close fight, "I fought hard at Harlem," said, on the 4th 
 October, in a detailed account of the action: " Had all the 
 Colonies good officers there is no danger of the Troops ; 
 never were troops that would stand in the field longer than 
 the American soldiery. If the officers were as good as the 
 men, and had only a few months to form the troops by dis- 
 cipline, America might bid defiance to the whole world." 
 
 Gen. George Clinton concluded his narrative of the battle 
 to the New York Convention, with the remark: "I con- 
 sider our success in this small affair at this time almost equal 
 to a victory. It has animated our troops, given them new 
 spirits, and erased every bad impression the retreat from 
 Long Island, etc., had left on their minds. They find they 
 are able with inferior numbers to drive the enemy — and 
 think of nothing now but conquest." 
 
 This success following immediately the unfortunate affair 
 of Kip's Bay — in which, as was remarked by Heath, the 
 officers at least knew that the city was to be abandoned, — 
 warranted the opinion which Greene, who soon became the 
 first military authority in America, expressed of those stay- 
 
Commemorative Oration. 31 
 
 ing qualities of the American soldier, which in our day have 
 been recognized by high authorities in Great Britain. 
 
 The late distinguished Col. Charles Chesney, of the Royal 
 Engineers, in a review of the interesting History of our Civil 
 War by the Comte de Paris, referred to Malvern Hill as illus- 
 trating " the truth which the world is slowly realizing, that 
 the American soldier is most formidable when apparently 
 defeated, and least subject to panic when retreating before a 
 victorious enemy." 
 
 The bugle blast of the morning that had seemed to Reed to 
 liken the contest to a fox chase, had called forth a spirit and 
 a policy which resulted in a double lesson of confidence to the 
 Americans and of caution to the British. "They have ever 
 since," wrote George Clinton on the 21st of September, "been 
 exceedingly modest and quiet, not having even patrolling par- 
 ties beyond their lines." The British for a time showed no 
 desire to bring on the general engagement the American 
 officers had believed to be impending, and which Wash- 
 ington had been anxious to avoid on the policy recommended 
 by our friends in Europe, and which accorded with his own 
 conviction. So late as the 2d of October an American party 
 of four thousand men gathered in without molestation the 
 hay and corn in the Harlem Plains which each army had 
 been watching and claiming as its own. 
 
 The British order for the 17th, the day after the battle, 
 while expressing the highest opinion of the bravery of the 
 troops, who it remarked had yesterday beaten back a very 
 superior body of the rebels, and returning thanks to the 
 battalion, and the officers and men of the artillery that came 
 to their support, expressed the disapproval by the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of the light company in pursuing the rebels 
 without discretion, without support. 
 
 No similar imprudence was committed on the part of the 
 light infantry during the period of nearly four weeks that the 
 two armies remained encamped at Harlem. A brief mention 
 of the engagement is found in the Historic Record of the 
 Forty-second Highlanders, with the remark, "This being 
 
32 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 only an affair of outposts, no detailed account of it was given, 
 but it was a well contested action." 
 
 Stedman's History of the American War, says, that " the 
 action was carried on by reinforcements on both sides and 
 became very warm." It assumed that the Americans pos- 
 sessed a great advantage from the circumstance of engaging 
 within half a mile of their entrenched camp, where they could 
 be supplied with fresh troops as often as the occasion required, 
 and that victory nevertheless was on the part of the English, 
 with a loss to the rebels of three hundred. For the true 
 opinion of the affair entertained by Sir Henry Clinton, we are 
 indebted to his own copy of Stedman's History, in which 
 he had written on the margin of the passage pronouncing it a 
 victory, "The ungovernable impetuosity of the light troops 
 drew us into this scrape/' 
 
 In recalling after the lapse of a century the battle of Har- 
 lem Plains, and remembering the subsequent events of the 
 war, we see how completely those events confirm his judg- 
 ment of the importance of that day in restoring to the 
 American army confidence and self-respect, in compelling the 
 soldierly regard of their brave opponents, and in inducing on 
 the part of the British commander that caution and dilatory 
 policy which accorded with our plans and contributed to our 
 success. Excellent as was the material of the English army, 
 Washington's hasty levies were composed of men in no whit 
 inferior, save in training, discipline, and equipment, for which 
 time and opportunity were essential. 
 
 It is true that the army of Sir William Howe, which was 
 pronounced by Lord Chatham " the best appointed army 
 that ever took the field," was composed of English and Scotch 
 regiments, whose pluck and endurance have commanded the 
 admiration of the world from generation to generation, 
 as exhibited in Spain, at Waterloo, in India, and the Crimea. 
 It is true that the Hessian regiments represented the hardy 
 and warlike characteristics of its ancestral tribe, which, as 
 Bancroft tells us, the Romans could never vanquish ; a nation 
 of soldiers whose valor had been proven on the battle-fields 
 of Europe, engaged in a former century by Venice against 
 the Turks, and who had taken part in the siege of Athens. 
 
Commemorative Oration. 33 
 
 But the army of Washington came of stock equally ac- 
 customed to war and hardship, and they soon commanded 
 respect no less for their courage than for their moral traits. 
 Gen. Conway, a distinguished French officer, said to Dr. 
 Rush, that the people of no other nation were so quickly 
 transformed into soldiers as those of the United States. 
 "Those men," said Lord Chatham, in December, 1777, after 
 the surrender of Burgoyne, — "those men whom you called 
 cowards, poltroons, runaways, and knaves, are become vic- 
 torious over your veteran troops, and in the midst ofA^ictory 
 and the flush of conquest have set ministers an example of 
 moderation and magnaminity well worthy of imitation." 
 
 In the American ranks were the descendants of Hol- 
 landers and Walloons, who, in the Netherlands, had fought 
 under the Prince of Orange against Philip of Spain and the 
 Duke of Alva ; of Frenchmen who had served under Coligni 
 and Henry of Navarre, whose kinsmen had fallen in the 
 Massacre of St. Bartholomew's eve, or had passed through 
 the siege of La Rochelle, waiting in vain for the assistance 
 promised by Elizabeth and never brought by the Earl of 
 Leicester. There were the descendants of those who had 
 fought for Denmark against Tilly and Wallenstein, following 
 the banner of the great Gustavus ; of the stout Englishmen 
 who had battled for tht Parliamentarians at Naseby, and who 
 had brought the King to the block at Whitehall ; of the Swiss 
 who with pikes in their hands, and stirred by the horns of Uri 
 and Unterwalden, had defended the freedom of the Cantons in 
 the defiles of the Alps against the trained soldiers of Austria ; 
 of the sturdy Burgers who had maintained against the Duke 
 of Burgundy the liberties of Ghent and Liege ; of the heroes 
 of different nationality but similar vigor who fought under 
 Sobieski and saved Vienna from the Turks ; who stood with 
 William of Orange or with the partisans of James at the 
 Battle of the Boyne, which placed on firmer foundation the 
 unity, strength, and freedom of Great Britain ; with the Dutch 
 at La Hogue, or with that adventurous warrior, Charles the 
 XII. of Sweden, against his victorious rival, Peter the Great 
 of Russia. It might have been said of Washington's army as 
 
34 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 was well said by the poet of the Centennial of the American 
 
 people 
 
 " In one strong race all races here unite." 
 
 It is, perhaps, natural that the philosophic results of such a 
 mingling of the best blood of Europe in the American colo- 
 nies should have been less appreciated in sections that were 
 settled by a single race than in New York, whose cosmopoli- 
 tan character recalls the fact that as early as 1643 eighteen 
 languages were spoken in the New Netherlands. 
 
 Most happily for our land, the colonies were gradually 
 united under the common law and the free institutions of Eng- 
 land, and their Teutonic, Celtic, and Latin accents were 
 exchanged for the tongue of Shakespeare and of Milton. But 
 the varied elements of nationality cannot for that reason be 
 forgotten by the student if he would read aright American 
 history and trace to its sources American character. How, 
 for instance, could he ignore the fact that the New Nether- 
 lands, under the influence of the Dutch and Huguenots, 
 became a home for those seeking freedom of conscience 
 on this continent, as Holland had been the refuge of the 
 oppressed of Europe, and that the religious toleration of 
 which the New Netherlands set the example was not fully 
 enjoyed in New England till William of Orange, in whose 
 veins was blended the blood of Maurice and of Coligni, ended 
 by his veto the Massachusetts acts touching witchcraft, heresy, 
 and blasphemy. 
 
 It has been remarked of the study of history, and with 
 reference to its unity, that the entire succession of men 
 throughout the world should be regarded as one man always 
 living and incessantly learning ; in this view to how wide 
 a field of education, and through what ages of training in the 
 varied schools of Europe, may be traced the course of Ameri- 
 can culture. 
 
 There is another interesting thought suggested by the pro- 
 gress of light which has been developed in England by Mr. 
 Froude, and in France by M. Flammarion ; that to distant 
 observers the events of years and ages that are gone may 
 seem to be passing at the present moment. The light of 
 
Commemorative Oration. 35 
 
 Sinus, for instance, takes nine years to reach us. il Could 
 the inhabitants of Sirius," says Mr. Froude, in 1864, " see the 
 earth at this moment they would see the English army in the 
 trenches before Sebastopol and Florence Nightingdale watch- 
 ing at Scutari over the wounded of Inkermann ;" and Flam- 
 marion suggests that an inhabitant of the earth instantan- 
 eously transported to Capella in 1872, and looking upon the 
 stream of light reflected from our planet, could witness the 
 bloody field of Waterloo. 
 
 On a like hypothesis the unknown dwellers at further points 
 might see passing before their eyes the battle which we com- 
 memorate to-day, while yet more distant observers receding 
 into space might follow the historic panorama of our planet 
 through all the ages, not as a thing of the past but as in 
 actual progress before their eyes. 
 
 Misty as may be to us the more distant periods seen 
 through the cloudy medium of imperfect annals, we may 
 still trace the transatlantic sources of our varied civilization, 
 which, as developed in this Western Continent in our hun- 
 dredth birth year, make the American traveller, as he sets 
 foot in parts of Europe, feel, as Ticknor said when he crossed 
 the Pyrenees, " as if he had gone back two centuries in 
 time." 
 
 Whilst our progress has been respectable in the great ele- 
 ments of civilization, sundry changes have been introduced into 
 the theory and practice of our institutions since the days of 
 Washington, for which Washington and his associates should 
 not be held responsible. Among these changes are the ex- 
 tension of the suffrage, especially in municipal affairs, with a 
 total abandonment of the checks and guards provided by the 
 wisdom of our fathers : and the substitution of popular elec- 
 tion for gubernatorial or legislative appointment in the choice 
 of those officials upon the excellence and purity of whose 
 management depend the comfort, the good order, and the 
 exact economy of our cities. 
 
 Among the gravest questions presented by our centennial 
 is the question how far those changes have tended to raise or 
 to debase our moral standard ; how far it has diminished or 
 
36 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 increased waste, mismanagement, and peculation ; how far they 
 have lightened or augmented to rich and poor the burthens 
 of taxation. Upon these points we look for light and a prac- 
 tical solution from the able State Commission headed by Mr. 
 Evarts. 
 
 Another radical change in the practical working of our 
 popular institutions is exhibited in our existing machinery by 
 means of caucuses, conventions, and committees for the regu- 
 lation of the State and National elections ; a scheme outeide 
 of the Constitution, and, as regards the choice of President, 
 at variance with its intent, unsanctioned by law, and yet im- 
 mediately affecting and deciding the elections provided for by 
 law. It may deserve consideration how far this scheme, 
 whatever its advantages, tends to facilitate the people in 
 choosing candidates with the traits they require, or whether 
 it tends to transfer the choice from the people to the managers, 
 who might sometimes have views or interests adverse to those 
 of the electors at large. 
 
 Our safety and welfare depend upon the intelligent and 
 patriotic exercise by the people of the sovereign power. 
 France has taught us that a plebiscite may be invoked to sus- 
 tain imperialism ; and from Europe comes the suggestion that 
 with all our democratic forms we know something of the 
 despotism of oligarchies ; and that despite the boasted virtue 
 and cleverness of our people, they are more exposed than 
 Europeans themselves to official imbecility and corruption. 
 
 The example of Washington, whether at the head of the 
 army or in the chair of State, stands alone in history, and there 
 is scarcely an event in our annals in which that stately figure 
 is conspicuous, from which we may not learn a lesson. 
 
 Should the opening century have in store for you as the 
 sovereigns of the land, trials or difficulties like those which 
 Washington encountered at Kip's Bay ; should you chance 
 upon emergencies calling for the highest courage and devotion 
 to protect the honor of the country, and should you, finding 
 cowardice and treachery where you looked for bravery and 
 truth, be moved to exclaim, " Are these the men with whom 
 
Commemorative Oration. 37 
 
 we are to defend America ? " learn from the action of the 
 Father of his Country, as he rode down those heights and 
 looked upon those plains, how to inspire with courage your 
 demoralized forces, and to wrest victory from defeat. 
 
 Show no tenderness to those who betray their posts ; toler- 
 ate no policy of silence, concealment, or condonement of acts 
 derogatory to the national fame ; denounce openly each act 
 of infamy ; threaten official death and public disgrace in your 
 general orders against all who resist your instructions or who 
 reflect dishonor on the Republic. But at the same tfme, like 
 Washington, reanimate your forces : plan with skill your 
 schemes for the discomfiture of the enemy : call forth your 
 noblest sons from every college and academy, from the bar, 
 the pulpit, and the press, as Washington deputed his most 
 trusty officers — the Putnams, and Clintons, and Greenes, and 
 Reeds — to accompany and direct the columns against the 
 boastful foe advancing in open view, and sounding their 
 bugles in derision. 
 
 Let each man who through the coming century shall strive 
 to defend our national heights against official corruption, 
 whether it comes secrectly, in silence and in darkness, or in 
 broad day, like an army with banners, — let each man feel as 
 Washington taught his troops to feel, that behind him are the 
 entrenchments of law and the Constitution, and a watchful, 
 loyal, sustaining, and appreciative people. 
 
 We have hastily glanced at the incidents of two days in the 
 war of the revolution, and the rounding century will presently 
 embrace in turn each chief event in that memorable struggle. 
 
 As we reverently recall our colonial and revolutionary 
 fathers in the council chamber and in the field, as we cling 
 with affection and pride to the Republic which they found- 
 ed, with its widened boundaries, its welded unity, its extend- 
 ed freedom ; its relations peaceful with all the powers ; its in- 
 fluence for popular rights ; common schools without sectarian- 
 ism, and its separation of Church and State, felt in greater or 
 less degree by all governments and by all peoples : the thought 
 presses that upon us devolves the duty and the responsibility 
 of preserving all that is excellent in their work, all that is 
 
38 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 noble in their political standard, all that is heroic in their 
 fame. 
 
 Even now, as we linger on the century that has closed, 01 
 attempt to foreshadow that which has begun, the dignity, 
 the purity, the stability of the Republic rests upon the honor 
 of the generation of to-day, as it stands " a link in the chain 
 of eternal order," between the generations that are past and 
 those that are to come. 
 
^El^ YORK ISLAND 
 
 From Morns House toM? Gowans Pass , 
 
 Redurfioru>/'- < >iiitt/iier.<>M(ipZ>raTf7iyA ? bi>r/776 
 
 CLCta* JJarradts iviltty tAe 
 Americans and burned 
 on their retreat. 
 
 : tfu of Stater X fort, /ZTAariStJtr 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 gen. washington to the president of congress. 
 
 Headquarters, at Colonel Morris's House, 
 i 6 September, 1776. 
 
 On Saturday about sunset, six more of the enemy's ships, one or 
 two of which were men-of-war, passed between Governor's Island and 
 Red Hook, and went up the East River to the Station taken by those 
 mentioned in my last. In half an hour I received two expresses, 
 one from Colonel Sargent at Horen's Hook, giving an account that 
 the enemy, to the amount of three or four thousand, had marched to 
 the river, and were embarked for Barn or Montresor's Island where 
 numbers of them were then encamped ; the other from General Mifflin, 
 that uncommon and formidable movements were discovered among 
 the enemy ; which being confirmed by the scouts I had sent out, 1 
 proceeded to Haerlem, where it was supposed, or at Morrisania oppo- 
 site to it, the principal attempt to land would be made. However, 
 nothing remarkable happened that night ; but in the morning they 
 began their operations. Three ships of war came up the North River 
 as high as Bloomingdale, which put a total stop to the removal, by 
 water of any more of our provision ; and about eleven o'clock those 
 in the East River began a most severe and heavy cannonade, to scour 
 the grounds, and cover the landing of their troops between Turtle 
 Bay and the city, where breastworks had been thrown up to oppose 
 them. 
 
 As soon as I heard the firing, I rode with all possible despatch 
 towards the place of landing, when to my great surprise and mortifica- 
 tion, I found the troops that had been posted in the lines retreating 
 with the utmost precipitation, and those ordered to support them 
 (Parsons's and Fellows's brigades) flying in every direction, and in the 
 greatest confusion, notwithstanding the exertions of their generals to 
 form them. I used every means in my power to rally and get them 
 3 
 
40 Appendix. 
 
 into some order ; but my attempts were fruitless and ineffectual ; 
 and on the appearance of a small party of the enemy, not more than 
 sixty or seventy, their disorder increased, and they ran away in the 
 greatest confusion, without firing a single shot. 
 
 Finding that no confidence was to be placed in these brigades, 
 and apprehending that another party of the enemy might pass over 
 to Haerlem Plains and cut off the retreat to this place, I sent orders 
 to secure the heights in the best manner with the troops that were 
 stationed on and near them ; which being done, the retreat was 
 effected with but little or no loss of men, though of a considerable 
 part of our baggage, occasioned by this disgraceful and dastardly 
 conduct. Most of our heavy cannon, and part of our stores and pro- 
 visions, which we were about removing, were unavoidably left in the 
 city, though every means, after it had been determined in council to 
 evacuate the post, had been used to prevent it. We are now 
 encamped with the main body of the army on the Heights of Haer- 
 lem, where I should hope the enemy would meet with a defeat in 
 case of an attack, if the generality of our troops would behave with 
 tolerable bravery. But experience, to my extreme affliction, has 
 convinced me that this is rather to be wished for than expected. 
 However, I trust that there are many who will act like men, and 
 show themselves worthy of the blessings of freedom. I have sent 
 some reconnoitring parties to gain intelligence, if possible, of the dis- 
 position of the enemy, and shall inform Congress of every material 
 event by the earliest opportunity. 
 
 [Writings of Washington, Vol. IV., p. 93.] 
 
 GEN. WASHINGTON TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. 
 
 Headquarters, at Coloimel Roger Morris's House, 
 18, September 1776. 
 
 As my letter of the 16th contained intelligence of an important 
 nature, and such as might lead Congress to expect that the evacua- 
 tion of New York and retreat to the Heights of Haerlem, in the 
 manner they were made, would be succeeded by some other inter- 
 esting event, I beg leave to inform them, that as yet nothing has 
 been attempted upon a large and general plan of attack. About the 
 time of the post's departure with my letter, the enemy appeared in 
 
Appendix, 41 
 
 several large bodies upon the plains, about two and a half miles from 
 hence. I rode down to our advanced posts, to put matters in a pro- 
 per situation, if they should attempt to come on. When I arrived 
 there I heard a firing, which, I was informed, was between a party of 
 our Rangers under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Knowlton, 
 and an advanced party of the enemy. Our men came in and told 
 me, that the body of the enemy, who kept themselves concealed, 
 consisted of about three hundred, as near as they could guess. I 
 immediately ordered three companies of Colonel Weedon's regiment 
 from Virginia, under the command of Major Leitch, an# Colonel 
 Knowlton with his Rangers, composed of volunteers from different 
 New England regiments, to try to get in their rear, while a disposi- 
 tion was making as if to attack them in front, and thereby draw their 
 whole attention that way. 
 
 This took effect as I wished on the part of the enemy. On the 
 appearance of our party in front, they immediately ran down the 
 hill, and took possession of some fences and bushes, and a smart 
 firing began, but at too great a distance to do much execution on either 
 side. The parties under Colonel Knowlton and Major Leitch 
 unluckily began their attack too soon, as it was rather in flank than 
 in rear. In a little time Major Leitch was brought off wounded, 
 having received three balls through his side ; and, in a short time 
 after, Colonel Knowlton got a wound, which proved mortal. Their 
 men however persevered, and continued the engagement with the 
 greatest resolution. Finding that they wanted a support, I advanced 
 part of Colonel Griffith's and Colonel Richardson's Maryland regi- 
 ments, with some detachments from the Eastern regiments who were 
 nearest the place of action. These troops charged the enemy with 
 great intrepidity, and drove them from the wood into the plain, and 
 were pushing them from thence, having silenced their fire in a great 
 measure, when I judged it prudent to order a retreat, fearing the 
 enemy, as I have since found was really the case, were sending a 
 large body to support their party. 
 
 Major Leitch, I am in hopes will recover; but Colonel Knowl- 
 ton' s fall is much to be regretted, as that of a brave and good officer. 
 We had about forty wounded ; the number of slain is not yet ascer- 
 tained ; but it is very inconsiderable. By a sergeant, who deserted 
 from the enemy and came in this morning, I find that their party was 
 greater than I imagined. It consisted of the second battalion of 
 Light Infantry, a battalion of the Royal Highlanders, and three com- 
 
42 Appendix. 
 
 panies of Hessian Riflemen, under the command of Brigadier- 
 General Leslie. The deserter reports that their loss in wounded 
 and missing was eighty-nine, and eight killed. In the latter, his 
 account is too small, as our people discovered and buried double 
 that number. This affair I am in hopes, will be attended with 
 many salutary consequences, as it seems to have greatly inspirited 
 the whole of our troops. The sergeant further adds, that a consider- 
 able body of men are now encamped from the East to the North 
 Rivers, between the seven and eight mile-stones under the command 
 of General Clinton. General Howe, he believes, has his quarters at 
 Mr. Apthorp's house. 
 
 P.S. — I should have wrote Congress by express before now, had 
 I not expected the post every minute, which I flatter myself will 
 be a sufficient apology for my delaying it. 
 
 The late losses we have sustained in our baggage and camp necessa- 
 ries, have added much to our distress, which was very great before. 
 I must therefore take the liberty of requesting Congress to have for- 
 warded, as soon as possible, such a supply of tents, blankets, camp- 
 kettles, and other articles as can be collected ; we cannot be over- 
 stocked. 
 
 [Force's American Archives.] 
 
 gen. washington to gen. schuyler. 
 
 Headquarters, Colonel Roger Morris's, 
 
 ten miles from New York, September 20, 1776. 
 
 I clearly see, and have severely felt the ill effects of short inlist- 
 ments, and have repeatedly given Congress my sentiments thereon. 
 I believe they are by this time convinced that there is no opposing 
 a standing, well-disciplined army, but by one upon the same plan ; 
 and I hope, if this campaign does not put an end to this contest, 
 they will put the army upon a different footing than what it has 
 heretofore been. I shall take care to remind them that the terms 
 for which De Haas's, Maxwell's, and Winds's regiments enlisted, 
 expire the beginning of October ; but if they have not already 
 thought of taking some steps to secure them a while longer, it will 
 be too late, except the officers will exert themselves in prevailing on 
 the men to stay until their places can be supplied by some means or 
 
Appendix. 43 
 
 other. If the officers are spirited and well inclined, they may lead 
 their men as they please. 
 
 I removed my quarters to this place on Sunday last, it having 
 been previously determined by a Council of General Officers on the 
 preceding Thursday to evacuate New York. The reasons that prin- 
 cipally weighed with them were, that from every information, and 
 every movement of the enemy, it was clear that their attack was not 
 meditated against the city ; their intent evidently was, to throw their 
 whole army between part of ours in New York and its environs, and 
 the remainder about King's Bridge, and thereby cut of£ our com- 
 munication with each other and with the country. Indeed, their 
 operations on Sunday last, fully satisfied the opinion of the Council, 
 and the steps taken in consequence ; for on that morning they began 
 their landing at Turtle Bay, and continued to throw over great num- 
 bers of men from Long Island, and from Montressor's and Buchanan's 
 [s lands, on which they had previously lodged them. As we had 
 exerted ourselves in removing our sick and stores of every kind, after 
 the measure of abandoning had been determined upon, very few 
 things, and but three or four men, fell into the enemy's hands. 
 
 On Monday last, we had a pretty sharp skirmish between two bat- 
 talions of Light Infantry and Highlanders and three companies of 
 Hessian Riflemen, commanded by Brigadier Leslie, and detachments 
 from our army, under the command of Lieutenant- Colonel Knowlton, 
 of Connecticut, and Major Leitch, of Virginia. The Colonel received 
 a mortal wound, and the Major three balls through his body, but he 
 is likely to do well. Their parties behaved with great bravery, and 
 being supported with fresh troops, beat the enemy fairly from the 
 field. Our loss, except in that of Colonel Knowlton, a most valu- 
 able and gallant officer, is inconsiderable — that of the enemy, from 
 accounts, between eighty and one hundred wounded, and fifteen or 
 twenty killed. This little advantage has inspirited our troops pro- 
 digiously ; they find that it only requires resolution and good officers 
 to make an enemy (that they stood in too much dread of) give way. 
 
 The British army lies encamped about two miles below us ; they 
 are busy in bringing over their cannon and stores from Long Island, 
 and we are putting ourselves in the best posture of defence that time 
 and circumstances will admit of. 
 
 [Force's American Archives.] j 
 
44 Appendix. 
 
 GEN. WASHINGTON TO THE N. Y. STATE CONVENTION. 
 
 Headquarters, at the Heights of Harlem, 
 September 23, 1776. 
 
 Sir : — Your favour of the 21st instant, enclosing the resolution of 
 the Representatives of the State of New York, has come duly to 
 hand, and will be properly attended to. I am exceedingly obliged 
 by the readiness you declare you will pay to any commands which 
 you may receive from me respecting the great cause in which we are 
 engaged. 
 
 The manoeuvres of the enemy, before their landing on Sunday last, 
 were various and perplexing; however, about eight o'clock in the 
 morning, they became extremely plain and obvious. At that time 
 they began their operations by sending three ships of war up the 
 North River as high as Bloomingdale, which put a stop to the remo- 
 val of our stores by water ; and about eleven o'clock those in the 
 East River began a constant and heavy cannonade for the purpose of 
 scouring the grounds and covering the landing of their troops, where 
 breastworks had been thrown up to oppose them. As soon as I 
 heard the firing I immediately repaired to the place of landing, when, 
 to my extreme astonishment, I discovered the troops, who were 
 posted in the lines, retreating in the greatest disorder, and Parsons' s 
 and Fellows' s brigades, who were directed to support them, retreat- 
 ing in the greatest confusion, and without making the slightest oppo- 
 sition, although only a small party of the enemy appeared in view. 
 As I perceived no dependence could be reposed in these troops, 
 and apprehending another impression might be made on the Harlem 
 plains, by which means our retreat to this place might be cut off, 
 I directed the heights to be secured, and our retreat was effected 
 with little or no loss of men, though of a considerable part of the 
 baggage, some of our heavy cannon and a part of our stores and 
 provisions, which we were about removing, was unavoidably left in 
 the city, though every means (after it had been determined in coun- 
 cil to abandon the post) had been used to prevent it. 
 
 On Monday morning last, several parties of the enemy appeared 
 on the high grounds opposite to our heights, and some skirmishing 
 had happened between our troops and those of the enemy. On 
 reconnoitring their situation, I formed the design of cutting off such 
 of them as had or might advance to the extremity of the wood. I 
 accordingly ordered three companies of Virginia riflemen, under the 
 
Appendix. 45 
 
 command of Major Leitch and Colonel Knowlton with his rangers to 
 endeavour to get in their rear, while an apparent disposition was 
 making as if to attack them in front. The enemy ran down the hill 
 with great eagerness to attack the party in front ; but unluckily, from 
 some mistake or misapprehension, the parties under Major Leitch 
 and Colonel Knowlton began the fire on their flank instead of their 
 rear. The Major was soon brought off the field wounded, and 
 Col. Knowlton soon received a wound, of which he is since dead. 
 Their men however behaved with the greatest resolution. Finding 
 that they wanted assistance, I advanced part of Colonel Griffith's 
 and Colonel Richardson's Maryland regiments, with some detach- 
 ments of Eastern troops, who charged the enemy and drove them 
 from the wood to the plain, and were still pursuing, when I judged 
 it prudent to withdraw them, fearing the enemy might be sending a 
 a large i enforcement to their troops which were engaged, which 
 was the case, as I have since understood. A sergeant who deserted 
 from the enemy has informed me their party was greater than 1 imag- 
 ined ; as it consisted of the second battalion of Light Infantry, a bat- 
 talion of Royal Highlanders, and three companies of Hessian Rifle- 
 men under the command of General Leslie. Their loss, by his 
 report amounted to eighty-nine wounded and missing, and eight 
 killed ; in the latter his account is altogether imperfect, as our people 
 discovered and buried double that number. I am in hopes this little 
 success will be productive of salutary consequences, as our army 
 seems to be greatly inspirited by it. 
 
 [Correspondence N. Y. Provincial Congress, p. 217.] 
 
 GEN. WASHINGTON TO PATRICK HENRY, GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 Headquarters, Heights of Harlem, 
 October 5, 1776. 
 
 Our retreat from Long Island, under the peculiar circumstances 
 we then laboured, became an act of prudence and necessity, and the 
 evacuation of New York was a consequence resulting from the other. 
 Indeed, after we discovered the enemy instead of making an attack 
 upon the city were endeavouring (by means of their ships and supe- 
 riour land force) either to intercept our retreat, by getting in our rear, 
 or else by landing their forces between our divisions at King's Bridge, 
 
46 Appendix. 
 
 and those in the town, to separate the one from the other, it became 
 a matter of the last importance to alter the disposition of the army. 
 
 These measures, however, although of the most evident utility, 
 have been productive of some inconvenience ; the troops having 
 become in some measure dispirited by these successive retreats, and 
 which, I presume, has also been the case among several of our 
 friends in the country. In order to recover that military ardour, 
 which is of the utmost moment to an army, almost immediately on 
 my arrival at this place I formed a design of cutting off some of the 
 enemy's light troops, who, encouraged by their successes, had ad- 
 vanced to the extremity of the high ground opposite to our present 
 encampment. To effect this salutary purpose, Colonel Knowlton 
 and Major Leitch were detached with parties of Riflemen and Rangers, 
 to get in their rear, while a disposition was made as if to attack them 
 in front. By some unhappy mistake, the fire was commenced from 
 that quarter rather on their flank than in their rear, by which means 
 though the enemy were defeated and pushed off the ground, yet they 
 had an opportunity of retreating to their main body. This piece of 
 success, though it tended greatly to inspire our troops with con- 
 fidence, has been in some measure embittered by the loss of those 
 two brave officers, who are dead of the wounds they received in the 
 action. Since this skirmish except the affair at Montressor's Island, 
 where Major Henly, another of our best officers was slain, there has 
 been nothing of any material consequence. Indeed, the advantage 
 obtained over the enemy's light troops might have been improved, 
 perhaps, to a considerable extent, had we been in a proper situation 
 to have made use of this favourable crisis, but a want of confidence 
 in the generality of the troops has prevented me from availing my- 
 self of that, and almost every other opportunity which has presented 
 itself. 
 
 I own my fears that this must ever be the case when our depend- 
 ence is placed on men inlisted for a few months, commanded by 
 such officers as party or accident may have furnished, and on Militia, 
 who, as soon as they are fairly fixed in the camp, are impatient to 
 return to their own homes ; and who, from an utter disregard of all 
 discipline and restraint among themselves, are but too apt to infuse 
 the like spirit into others. The evils of short inlistments, and em- 
 ploying militia to oppose against regular and well appointed troops, 
 I strongly urged to Congress before the last army was engaged. In- 
 deed, my own situation at Cambridge, about the close of the last 
 
Appendix. 47 
 
 campaign, furnished the most striking example of the fatal tendency 
 of such measures. I then clearly foresaw that such an armament 
 as we had good reason to expect would be sent against us, could be 
 opposed only by troops inlisted during the war, and where every 
 action would add to their experience and improvement, and of whom, 
 if they were unsuccessful in the beginning, a reasonable hope might 
 be entertained that in time they would become as well acquainted 
 with their business as their enemies. This method, I am convinced, 
 would have been attended with every good consequence ; for, besides 
 the Militia's being altogether unfit for the service when called into the 
 field, we have discovered, from experience that they are lirach more 
 expensive than any other kind of troops ; and that the war could 
 have been conducted on more moderate terms by establishing a per- 
 manent body of forces, who were equal to every contingency, than 
 by calling in the Militia on imminent and pressing occasions. 
 
 [Force's American Archives.] 
 
 ADJ. GEN. JOSEPH REED TO HIS WIFE. 
 
 Heights near Kingsbridge, 
 Sept. 17, 1776. 
 
 I wrote you yesterday p r Post giving you an Account of our leav- 
 ing New York. This had been determined on several Days ago — 
 but the Removal of the Sick & many other Circumstances prevented 
 its being done with that Expedition it ought to have been. Had 
 the landing of the Enemy been delayed one Day longer we should 
 have left them the City. But an unfortunate Idea took Place in the 
 Mind of some of our Northern Generals that it might be defended 
 or at least that some considerable Opposition might be made to the 
 Landing — they undertook it — permitted the Enemy to land without 
 even giving one Fire, could never be form'd but were drove by one 
 Tenth of their Numbers — However as I gave you a particular 
 Ace 1 , yesterday I need not repeat it — Just after I had sealed my 
 Letter & sent it away, an Ace 1 , came that the Enemy were advanc- 
 ing upon us in three large Columns — we have so many false Reports 
 that I desired the General to permit me to go & discover what Truth 
 there was in the Ace*. I accordingly went down to our most ad- 
 vanced Guard & while I was talking with the Officer, the Enemy's 
 advanced Guard fired upon us at a small Distance, our men behaved 
 
48 Appendix . 
 
 well stood & re turn' d die Fire till overpowered by numbers they 
 were obliged to retreat — the Enemy advanced upon us very fast 
 I had not quitted a House 5 minutes before they were in Possession 
 of it — Finding how things were going I went over to the General to 
 get some support for the brave Fellows who had behaved so well — 
 by the Time I got to him the Enemy appeared in open view & 
 in the most insulting manner sounded their Bugle Horns as is usual 
 after a Fox Chase. I never felt such a sensation before it seem'd 
 to crown our Disgrace. The General was prevailed on to order 
 over a Party to attack them & as I had been upon the Ground which 
 no one else had it fell to me to conduct them — an unhappy Move- 
 ment was made by a Reg*, of ours which had been ordered to amuse 
 them while those I was with expected to take them in the Rear — but 
 being diverted by this the Virginia Regim*. with which I was went 
 another course finding there was no stopping them I went with 
 them the new Way — & in a few Minutes our brave Fellows mounted 
 up the Rocks & attacked them then they ran in Turn — each Party 
 sent in more Succours so that at last it became a very considerable 
 Engagement & Men fell on every side — however our Troops still 
 press' d on drove the Enemy above a Mile & a half till the General 
 ordered them to give over the Pursuit fearing the whole of the Ene- 
 my's Army would advance upon them they retreated in very good 
 order & I assure you it has given another Face of Things in our 
 Army — the Men have recovered their Spirits & feel a Confidence 
 which before they had quite lost — We have several Prisoners & have 
 buried a considerable Number of their dead — our own Loss is also 
 considerable — the Virginia Major (Leech) who went up first with me 
 was wounded with 3 Shott in less than 3 Minutes — but our greatest 
 Loss was a brave Officer from Connecticut whose Name & Spirit 
 ought to be immortalized one Col Knowlton — I assisted him off & 
 when gasping in the Agonies of Death all his Inquiry was if we had 
 drove the Enemy. 
 
 Be not alarm' d, my dear Creature when I tell you the Horse I 
 rode received a Shot [just] behind his fore shoulder — it happened to 
 be [one] taken from a Number on the Hill — Tho' [many fell] round 
 me thank God I was not struck [by] a single Ball & I have the great 
 Happiness [to know] that I have by getting the General to [direct a] 
 Reinforcement to go over contributed in [some way] to the Benefit 
 which may result from this [action]. When I speak of its Impor- 
 tance I do not mean that I think the Enemy have suffered a Loss 
 
Appendix. 49 
 
 which will affect their operations— but it has given Spirits to our 
 Men that I hope they will now look the Enemy in the Face with 
 Confidence— but alas our situation here must soon be a very distress- 
 ing one if we do not receive much Relief in the Articles of stores, 
 Provision, Forage & c . The Demands of a large Army are very 
 great & we are in a very doubtful Condition on this Head. 
 [Reed Papers, N. Y. Historical Society.] 
 
 ADJ. GEN. JOSEPH REED TO HIS WIFE. 
 
 New York, Sept. 22. 1776. 
 I have just received yours of the 20 th by which I imagine one of 
 mine wrote the Day after the Engagement of the 17 th had not got 
 to Hand wherein I gave you the particulars which I was able to do 
 better than almost any other Person as I happened to be in it when 
 it began & assisted in calling off our Troops — when they had pursued 
 the Enemy as far as was thought proper. It hardly deserves the 
 Name of a Battle, but as it was a Scene so different from what had 
 happened the Day before it elevated our Troops very much & in 
 that Respect has been of great Service It would take up too much 
 Time & Paper to go into a minute Description of the whole Affair. 
 The Substance is, that we had a Party out under a very brave Con- 
 necticut officer Knowlton (who fell) watching the Motions of the 
 Enemy — an Ace 1 was brought up that the Enemy was advancing 
 upon us in 3 Columns — but as we had so often been deceived by 
 these Reports — I went out to see what Truth there was in it — & fell 
 in with the above Party — while I was talking with the Officer the 
 Enemy advanced & the Firing began at about 50 Yards Distance 
 as they were 10 to 1 ag* our Party we immediately retreated — I 
 came off to the General & after some ^little Hesitation prevailed on 
 him to let a Party go up — which as I had been on the Ground I led 
 myself they were Virginia Troops commanded by a brave Officer 
 Major Leech — I accordingly went with them but was unhappily 
 thwarted in my Scheme by some Persons calling to the Troops & tak- 
 ing them out of the Road I intended — however we went up both Men 
 & Officers with great spirit — at the same Time some of our Troops 
 on another Quarter moved up towards the Enemy & the Action 
 began — Major Leech fell near me in a few Minutes with 3 Balls 
 
50 Appendix. 
 
 through him but is likely to do well. Knowlton also fell mortally 
 wounded I mounted him on my Horse & brought him off — In 
 about 10 [minutes] our People pressing on with great Ardour the 
 Enemy gave Way & left us the Ground which was strew' d pretty 
 thick with dead chiefly of the Enemy tho it since turns out that 
 our Loss is also considerable — The pursuit of a flying Enemy 
 was so new a Scene that it was with Difficulty our Men could be 
 brought to retreat — which they did in very good Order — we buried the 
 Dead & brought off the wounded on both sides as far as our troops 
 had pursued. We have since learned that the main Body of the 
 Enemy was hastily advancing so that in all Probability there would 
 have been a Reverse of Things if the Pursuit had not been given 
 over as it was — You can hardly conceive the Change it made in 
 our Army — I hope its Effects will be lasting — You will probably 
 hear from other Quarters the double Escape I had — My own Horse 
 not being at Hand I borrowed one from a young Philadelphian — he 
 received a Shot just behind his fore Shoulder which narrowly missed 
 my Leg. I am told that he is since dead — But the greatest was from 
 one of our own Rascals who was running away, upon my driving 
 him back a second Time he presented his Piece & snapp'd at me 
 at about a Rod Distance — I seized a Piece from another Soldier 
 & snapp'd at him — but he had the same good Luck. He has been 
 since tried & is now under Sentence of Death — but I believe I 
 must beg him off as after I found I could not get the Gun off, I 
 wounded him in the Head & cut off his Thumb with my Hanger — I 
 suppose many Persons will think it was rash & imprudent for Officers 
 of our Rank to go into such an Action (Gen 1 Puttnam, Gen. Green, 
 many of the General's family — M r Tilghman & e were in it) but it was 
 really done to animate the Troops who were quite dispirited & would 
 not go into Danger unless their officers led the Way. 
 
 Our Situation is very much the same as it was — we are fortifying 
 Ground naturally strong. The Enemy lay about 3 Miles from us — 
 they have been very busy bringing over Cannon, & c from Long 
 Island but we cannot learn what they intend. 
 
 The Night before last there was a most dreadful Fire in the City 
 but how it happened we are quite at a Loss — There was a Resolve of 
 Congress against our injuring it, so that we neither set it on Fire or 
 made any Preparations for the Purpose — Tho I make no Doubt it 
 will be charged to us. 
 
 [Reed Papers, N. Y. Historical Society.] 
 
Appendix. 5 1 
 
 GEN. GEORGE CLINTON TO NEW YORK CONVENTION. 
 
 Kings Bridge, September 18, 1776. 
 
 Since my last, many matters of Importance to the Public, and 
 more particularly to this State, have taken place ; But I have been 
 so Situated as neither to find Leisure or Opportunity of communica- 
 ting them to Congress. I returned late last Night from the Com- 
 mand of the Picquet or Advanced Party, in the Front of our Lines, 
 and was just setting down to write to the Convention, and intended 
 sending an Express, when I was favored with yours of Yesterday. 
 
 About the middle of last Week it was determined, for many Rea- 
 sons, to evacuate the City of New York ; and accordingly Orders 
 were given for removing the Ordnance, Military, & other Stores 
 from thence, which, by Sunday morning was nearly effected. On 
 Saturday, four of the Enemy's large Ships passed by the City up the 
 North River, and anchored near Greenage, and about as many 
 more up the East River, which anchored in Turtle Bay ; and from 
 the Movements of the Enemy on Long Island and the small Islands 
 in the East River, we had great reason to apprehend they intended to 
 make a Landing, and attack our Lines somewhere near the City. 
 Our Army for some Days had been moving upwards this way, and 
 encamping on the Heights, south-west of Co 11 . Morris's, where we 
 intended to form Lines, and make our grand Stand. On Sunday 
 morning the Enemy landed a very considerable Body of Troops, 
 principally consisting of their Light Infantry & Grenadiers, near Turtle 
 Bay, under Cover of a very heavy Cannonade from their Shipping, 
 our Lines were but thinly manned as they were then intended only to 
 secure a Retreat to the Rear of our Army, & unfortunately by such 
 Troops as were so little disposed to stand in the way of Grape Shot 
 that the main Body of them almost instantly retreated, nay, fled with- 
 out a possibility of rallying them, tho' General Washington himself 
 (who rid to the spot on hearing the Cannonade) with some other 
 General Officers, exerted themselves to effect it. 
 
 The Enemy, on Landing, immediately formed a Line across the 
 Island, most of our People were luckily North of it, and joined the 
 Army. Those few that were in the City crossed the River, chiefly to 
 Powles-Hook, so that our loss in Men, Artillery, or Stores, is very 
 inconsiderable. I don't believe it exceeds 100 Men, and I fancy 
 most of them, from their Conduct, staid out of Choice. Before 
 
52 Appendix. 
 
 Evening, the Enemy landed the main Body of their Army, took 
 Possession of the City, & marched up the Island, & encamped on the 
 Heights extending from McGown'sand the Black Horse to the North 
 River. 
 
 On Monday morning, about ten o' Clock, a party of the Enemy, 
 consisting of Highlanders, Hessians, the Light Infantry, Grenadiers, 
 and English Troops (Number uncertain) attack' d our advanc'd Party, 
 commanded by Co 11 . Knowlton at Martje Davits Fly. They were 
 opposed with spirit, and soon made to retreat to a clear Field, south- 
 west of that about 200 paces, where they lodged themselves behind 
 a Fence covered with Bushes our People attacked them in Turn, 
 and caused them to retreat a second Time, leaving five dead on the 
 Spot, we pursued them to a Buckwheat Field on the Top of a high 
 Hill, distance about four hundred paces, where they received a con- 
 siderable Reinforcement, with several Field Pieces, and there made 
 a Stand a very brisk Action ensued at this Place, which continued 
 about Two Hours our People at length worsted them a third Time, 
 caused them to fall back into an Orchard, from thence across a 
 Hollow, and up another Hill not far distant from their own Lines — 
 A large Column of the Enemy's Army being at this Time discovered 
 to be in motion, and the Ground we then occupied being rather 
 disadvantageous a Retreat likewise, without bringing on a general 
 Action, (which we did not think prudent to risk,) rather insecure, 
 our party was therefore ordered in, and the Enemy was well con- 
 tented to hold the last Ground we drove them to. 
 
 We lost, on this occasion, Co 11 Knowlton a brave Officer & sixteen 
 Privates, kill'd. Major Leech, from Virginia, and about Eight or ten 
 subaltern Officers and Privates wounded. The Loss of the Enemy is 
 uncertain. They carried their Dead and wounded off, in and soon 
 after the Action ; but we have good Evidence of their having up- 
 wards of 60 kill'd, & violent presumption of 100. The Action, in the 
 whole, lasted ab* 4 Hours. 
 
 I consider our Success in this small affair, at this Time, almost 
 equal to a Victory. It has animated our Troops, gave them new 
 Spirits, and erazed every bad Impression, the Retreat from Long 
 Island, &c. had left on their minds, they find they are able, with 
 inferior Numbers, to drive their Enemy, and think of nothing now 
 but Conquest. 
 
 Since the above affair, nothing material has happened the Enemy 
 keep close to their Lines. Our advanc'd Parties continue at their 
 
Appendix. 53 
 
 former Station. We are daily throwing up Works to prevent the 
 
 Enemy advancing ; great attention is paid to Fort Washington, the 
 
 Posts opposite to it on the Jersey Shore, & the Obstructions in 
 
 the River which, I have reason to believe, is already effectual, so 
 
 as to prevent their Shipping passing ; however, it is intended still to 
 
 add to them, as it is of the utmost consequence to keep the Enemy 
 
 below us. 
 
 [Miscellaneous MSS., N. Y. Historical Society.] 
 
 y 
 
 GEN. GEORGE CLINTON TO DR. PETER TAPPEN. 
 
 King's Bridge 21st. Sept. 1776. 
 
 I have been so hurried & Fatigued out of the ordinary way of my 
 Duty by the removal of our Army from New York & great Part of 
 the public stores to this Place that it has almost worn me out tho' as 
 to Health I am well as usual ; but how my Constitution has been able 
 to stand lying out several Nights in the Open Air & exposed to Rain 
 is almost a Miracle to me — Whom at Home the least Wet indeed 
 some Times the Change of Weather almost laid me up. 
 
 The Evacuation of the City I suppose has much alarmed the 
 Country. It was judged untenable in Council of Gen 1 Officers con- 
 sidering the Enemy possessed of Long-Island &c, and was therefore 
 advised to be evacuated. The Artillery (at least all worth moving) & 
 almost all the public stores were removed out of it so that when 
 the Enemy landed & attacked our Lines near the City we had but 
 few Men there (those indeed did not behave well) our Loss however 
 by our Retreat from there either in Men or Stores is very inconsider- 
 able. I would not be understood that it is my Opinion to evacuate 
 the City neither do I mean now to condemn the Measure it is 
 done intended for the best I am certain. 
 
 The same Day the Enemy possessed themselves of the City, to 
 wit, last Sunday they landed the Main Body of their Army & en- 
 camped on York Island across about the Eight Mile Stone & between 
 that & the four Mile Stone. Our Army at least one Division of it 
 lay at Col° Morris's & so southward to near the Hollow Way which 
 runs across from Harlem Flat to the North River at Matje Davit's 
 Fly. About halfway between which two Places our Lines run across 
 the River which indeed at that Time were only began but are now in 
 a very defensible state. On Monday Morning the Enemy attacked 
 
54 Appendix. 
 
 our Advanced Party Commanded by Col° Knowlton (a brave Officer 
 who was killed in the Action) near the Point of Matje Davit's Fly 
 the Fire was very brisk on both sides our People however soon drove 
 them back into a Clear Field about 200 Paces South East of that 
 where they lodged themselves behind a Fence covered with Bushes 
 our People pursued them but being oblidged to stand exposed in the 
 open Field or take a Fence at a Considerable Distance they pre- 
 ferred the Latter it was indeed adviseable for we soon brought a 
 Couple t>f Field Pieces to bear upon them which fairly put them to 
 Flight with two Discharges only the Second Time our People pur- 
 sued them closely to the Top of a Hill about 400 paces distant where 
 they received a very Considerable Reinforcement & made their Sec- 
 ond Stand Our People also had received a Considerable Rein- 
 forcement, and at this Place a very brisk Action commenced which 
 continued for near two Hours in which Time we drove the Enemy 
 into a Neighbouring orchard from that across a Hollow & up another 
 Hill not far Distant from their own Encampment, here we found the 
 Ground rather Disadvantageous & a Retreat insecure we therefore 
 thot proper not to pursue them any farther & retired to our first 
 first Ground leaving the Enemy on the last Ground we drove them 
 to — that Night I commanded the Right Wing of our advanced Party 
 or Picket on the Ground the Action first began of which Col° Pawl- 
 ing & Col° Nicoll's Regiment were part and next Day I sent a Party 
 to bury our Dead. They found but 1 7. The Enemy removed theirs 
 in the Night we found above 60 Places where dead Men had lay 
 from Pudles of Blood & other appearances & at other Places frag- 
 ments of Bandages & Lint. From the best Account our Loss killed 
 & wounded is not much less than seventy seventeen of which only 
 dead (this Account of our Loss exceeds what I mentioned in a Let- 
 ter I wrote Home indeed at that Time I only had an account of the 
 Dead — the Wounded were removed — 12 oclock M. Sunday two 
 Deserters from on Board the Bruno Man of War lying at Morrisania 
 say the Enemy had 300 killed on Monday last,) the Rest most likely 
 do well & theirs is somewhere about 300 — upwards it is generally 
 believed — Tho I was in the latter Part indeed almost the whole of 
 the Action I did not think so many Men were engaged. It is with- 
 out Doubt however they had out on the Occasion between 4 and 
 5000 of their choicest Troops & expected to have drove us off 
 the Island. They are greatly mortified at their Disappointment & 
 have ever since been exceedingly modest & quiet not having even 
 
Appendix. 5 5 
 
 patroling Parties beyond their Lines — I lay within a Mile of them 
 the Night after the battle & never heard Men work harder I believe 
 they thought we intended to pursue our Advantage & Attack them 
 next Morning. 
 
 If I only had a Pair of Pistols I coud I think have shot a Rascal 
 or two I am sure I would at least have shot a puppy of an Officer I 
 found slinking off in the heat of the Action. 
 
 [N. Y. City during the American Revolution, published by the N. Y. Mercantile 
 Library Association.] 
 
 J 
 
 GEN. GREENE TO NICHOLAS COOKE, GOVERNOR OF RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 Camp at Harlem Heights, 
 September 17. 1776. 
 
 I suppose you have heard of the retreat from Long-Island, and the 
 evacuation of New York. The retreats were both judicious and 
 necessary, our numbers being very insufficient to hold such an extent 
 of ground. His Excellency had proposed to evacuate the city and 
 suburbs of New York some time before the enemy made their last 
 landing, and had the Quartermaster-General been able to furnish the 
 necessary wagons to remove the stores and baggage, the retreat 
 would have been effected in good order, had the enemy delayed 
 their landing twenty-four hours longer. Almost all the old standing 
 regiment was drawn out of the city, in order to oppose the enemy at 
 Hell-Gate, where they made an appearance of a very large body of 
 troops, and movements as if they intended a landing. 
 
 We made a miserable, disorderly retreat from New York, owing to 
 the disorderly conduct of the Militia, who ran at the appearance of 
 the enemy's advance guard ; this was General Fellows' s brigade. 
 They struck a panick into the troops in the rear, and Fellows' s and 
 Parson s's whole brigade ran away from about fifty men, and left his 
 Excellency on the ground within eighty yards of the enemy, so vexed 
 at the infamous conduct of the troops, that he sought death rather 
 than life. 
 
 The retreat was on the 14th of this instant, from New York ; most 
 of the troops got off, but we lost a prodigious deal of baggage and 
 stores. On the 16th we had a skirmish at Harlem Heights : a party 
 of about a thousand came and attacked our advance post. They 
 met with a very different kind of reception from what they did the 
 4 
 
56 Appendix. 
 
 day before. The fire continued about an hour, and the enemy 
 retreated ; our people pursued them, and by the spirited conduct of 
 General Putnam and Colonel Reed the Adjutant General, our people 
 advanced upon the plain ground without cover, and attacked them 
 and drove them back. His Excellency sent and ordered a timely 
 retreat to our advanced post, for he discovered or concluded the 
 enemy would send a large reinforcement, as their main body lay near 
 by. I was sick when the army retreated from Long Island, which 
 by the by, was the best effected retreat I ever read or heard of, con- 
 sidering the difficulty of the retreat. The Army now remains quiet, 
 but expect an attack every day. Col. Varnum's and Col. Hitch- 
 cock's regiments were in the last action, and behaved nobly, but 
 neither of the Colonels was with them, both being absent — one sick, 
 the other taking care of the sick. 
 
 [Force's American Archives.] 
 
 LEWIS MORRIS, JR., TO HIS FATHER. 
 
 Headquarters, Septb r 18 th 177b. 
 Monday morning an advanced party, Colonel Knowlton's regi- 
 ment, was attacked by the enemy upon a height a little to the south- 
 west of Days' s Tavern, and after opposing them bravely and being 
 overpowered by their numbers they were forced to retreat, and the 
 enemy advanced upon the top of the hill opposite to that which lies 
 before Dayes's door, with a confidence of Success, and after rallying 
 their men by a bugle horn and resting themselves a little while, they 
 descended the hill with an intention to force our flanking party, 
 which extended from the North river to the before mentioned hill, but 
 they received so warm a fusilade from that flank and a party that 
 went up the hill to flank them and cut off their retreat, that they 
 were forced to give way. Their loss is something considerable, 
 ours, about forty wounded and twelve killed. The impression it 
 made upon the minds of our people is a most signal victory to us, 
 and the defeat a considerable mortification to them. 
 
 [From the original in possession of Harry M. Morris.] 
 
Appendix. 57 
 
 COL. G. S. SILLIMAN TO HIS WIFE. 
 
 Harlem Heights, 
 
 17 Sept. 1776. 2 o'cl p.m. 
 
 Yesterday at 7 o'clock in the morning we were alarmed with the 
 sight of a considerable number of the enemy on the Plains below us 
 about a mile distant. — Our Brigades which form a line across the 
 Island where I am were immediately ordered under arms — but as the 
 enemy did not immediately advance we grounded our arms & took 
 spades & shovels & went to work & before night had thrown up lines 
 across the Island — There was nothing before but three little redoubts 
 in about a mile & we are at work this day in strengthening them. 
 But yesterday a little before noon we heard a strong firing about half 
 a mile below us in the woods near where we had two Brigades lying 
 as an advanced guard. The enemy in a large body advanced in the 
 woods a little before 12 o'cl & began a heavy fire on those two Bri- 
 gades who maintained the fire obstinately for some time & then they 
 were reinforced by several regiments & the fire continued very heavy 
 from the musketry & from field pieces about two hours — in which 
 time our people drove the regulars back from post to post about a 
 mile & a half & then left them pretty well satisfied with their dinner 
 since which they have been very quiet. Our loss on this occasion 
 by the best information is about 25 killed & 40 or 50 wounded. The 
 enemy by the best accounts have suffered much more than we. 
 
 A prisoner we have I am told says that Genl. Howe himself com- 
 manded the regular & Genl. Washington & Genl. Putnam were both 
 with our Troops. They have found now that when we meet them on 
 equal ground we are not a set of people that will run from them — 
 but that they have now had a pretty good drubbing, tho' this was an 
 action between but a small party of the army. 
 
 [Notes to Jones's History of New York during the American Revolution, now 
 in press for the N. Y. Historical Society.] 
 
 GEN. KNOX TO HIS BROTHER WILLIAM KNOX. 
 
 Heights of Harlem, 8 miles from N. York, Sept. 23, 1776. 
 The affair of last Monday has had some good consequences toward 
 raising the peoples spirits — they find that if they stick to these mighty 
 men they will run as fast as other people. Our people pursued them 
 
58 Appendix. 
 
 nearly two miles — about 1,500 of our people engaged of the enemy 
 about the same number viz., the 2d. Battalion light infantry, the 
 Highlands or 42d. 6th Battalion of Grenadiers and some Hessians. 
 The grounds on which we now possess are strong. I think we shall 
 defend them — if we dont I hope God will punish us both in this World 
 and the World to come if the fault is ours. 
 
 [Knox Papers, N. Y. Historic Genealogical Society.] 
 
 MAJOR NICHOLAS FISH TO JOHN M c KESSON SECRETARY N. Y. CON- 
 VENTION. 
 
 KlNGSBRIDGE, 19 th Sept r 1 776. 
 
 Our Retreat from the City, you no Doubt must have heard of er'e 
 this. This Phoenomenon took Place on Sunday Morn? last when our 
 Brigade, who were the last in the City excepting the Guards marched 
 to the lines back of Stuyvesants, where from the Movements of the 
 Enemy it was evident was the determination for landing. — The Ene- 
 my's Ships of War being drawn up in line of Battle parallel to the 
 shore the Troops to the amount of about 4,000 being embarked in 
 flat bottom Boats, and the Boats paraded — A Cannonade from the 
 Ships began, which far exceeded my Ideas, and which seemed to 
 infuse a Panic thro' the whole of our Troops, especially the Connec- 
 ticut Troops who unfortunately were posted upon the left, where the 
 Enemy landed without the least opposition ; for upon their near 
 approach to the Shore these dastardly sons of Cowardice deserted 
 their Lines & fled in the greatest Disorder & precipitature & I know 
 not but I may venture to say Infected those upon the Right, who 
 speedily copied their vile conduct & then pursued them in their 
 flight. I am sorry to say that the Panic seized as well Officers (& 
 those of distinction) as Men, in so much that it magnified the Num- 
 ber of the Enemy to thrice the Reality & generated substances from 
 their own shadows, which greatly assisted them in their flight to the 
 Heights above Harlem. 
 
 We are now in possession of the ground from the Heights of Har- 
 lem to the Heights of West Chester, our advance Guard is posted a 
 Mile from our Lines ; here it was that our brave and heroic Mary- 
 landers, Virginians, &c. made a Noble & resolute stand against the 
 Efforts of the Enemy on Monday the 16th drove them back, pur- 
 
Appendix. 59 
 
 sued, and forced them to retire — The Conduct of our Troops on 
 this occasion was so counter to that of some others the preceding 
 Day as nearly to form a Counterprise. 
 
 Our troops were in a most desponding Condition before, but now 
 are in good spirits. 
 
 P.S. In the action of the 16th we lost about 17 killed and I 
 believe as many wounded. It is remarkable that all our killed were 
 shot thro' the Head which induces the belief that they were first 
 taken Prisoners & then massacred. — The Number of the Enemy 
 killed and wounded is not yet known, but it is generally thought, 
 they far exceed us. 
 
 [Historical Magazine, Second Series, III., 33.] 
 
 JOHN GOOCH TO THOMAS FAYERWEATHER, MERCHANT AT BOSTON. 
 
 New Jersey. Fort Constitution, Sept. 23. 1776. 
 I know you must be anxious for the certainty of events of which 
 you can have at that distance but a confused account, as I was on 
 the spot will endeavor to give you as Concise & Just account as pos- 
 sible ; on the 15th Inst we evacuated New York & took all stores of 
 every kind out of the City, and took Possession of the hights of Haer- 
 lem eight miles from the City, the Enemy encamp' d about two miles 
 from us; on the 16th the Enemy advanced and took Possession of a 
 hight on our Right Flank ab l half a mile Distance with about 3000 
 men, a Party from our Brigade of 150 men who turned out as 
 Volunteers under the command of Lieut. Col° Crary of the Regm* 
 I belong to were ordered out if possible to dispossess them, in about 
 20 minutes the Engagement began with as terrible a fire as ever 1 
 heard, when Orders came for the whole Brigade immediately to march 
 to support the first detachment, the Brigade Consisted of ab l 900 
 men, we immediately formed in front of the Enemy and march' d up 
 in good order through their fire, which was incessant till within 70 
 yards, when we Engaged them in that situation, we engaged them for 
 one hour and eight minits, when the Enemy Broke & Ran, we pur- 
 sued them to the next hights, when we were ordered to Retreat. 
 Our loss does not exceed in killed and wounded twenty five men, 
 the loss of the Enemy was very considerable but cannot be ascer- 
 tained, as we observed them to carry of their dead and wounded the 
 whole time of the Engagement, they left a Number of killed and 
 
6o Appendix. 
 
 wounded on the Field of Battle & a great number of small Armes, 
 the great Superiority of Numbers and every other advantage the 
 Enemy had, when considered makes the Victory Glorious, and tho' 
 but over a part of their Army yet the Consequences of it are at- 
 tended with advantages very great, as they immediately quited the 
 hights all round us and have not been troublesome since, our people 
 behaved with the greatest Spirit, and the New England men have 
 gained the first Lawrells. I received a slight wound in the Anckle 
 at the first of the Engagement but never quited the Field during the 
 Engagement. I'm now Ready to give them the second part when- 
 ever they have an appetite, as I'm convinced whenever stir from their 
 chips we shall drubb them. 
 
 [N. E. Historical and Genealogical Register, XXX., 334.] 
 
 EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM AN OFFICER IN OUR ARMY TO HIS 
 FRIEND IN THIS TOWN, DATED NEW HARLEM, SEPT. 2 1, 1 776. 
 
 New London, Sept 27. 
 Last Monday the Enemy landed at New York, under Cover of 
 their Shipping, when our whole Army retreated to this Place. As for 
 myself I was out on a scouting Party as far as Hunt's Point — and on 
 hearing the Cannon I immediately returned to the Regiment of Ran- 
 gers, but too late to go ii.to the City — Well, on Monday Morning 
 the General ordered us to go and take the Enemy's advanced 
 Guard ; accordingly we set out just before Day, and found where 
 they were ; at Day-brake we were discovered by the Enemy, who 
 were 400 strong, and we were 120— they march'd up within six 
 Rods of us, and there form'd to give us Battle which we were ready 
 for ; and Colonel Knowlton gave Orders to fire, which we did, and 
 stood theirs till we perceived they were getting their Flank-Guards 
 round us. After giving them eight Rounds a Piece the Colonel gave 
 Orders for Retreating, which we performed very well, without the Loss 
 of a Man while Retreating, though we lost about 10 while in Action. 
 We retreated two Miles and a Half and then made a Stand, and sent 
 orT for a Reinforcement, which we soon received, and drove the Dogs 
 near three Miles. — My poor Colonel, in the second Attack, was shot 
 just by my Side, the Ball entered the small of his Back — I took hold 
 of him, asked him if he was badly wounded ? he told me he was ; but, 
 says he, I do not value my Life if we do but get the Day : I then 
 
Appendix. 6 1 
 
 ordered two Men to carry him off. He desired me by all Means to 
 keep up this Flank. He seemed as unconcern'd and calm as tho' 
 nothing had happened to him. In the Spot where the Colonel was 
 wounded, at least within 4 Rods round him, lay 15 or 16 of the 
 Enemy dead, with 5 or 6 of our People. Several Deserters say we 
 made great Havock among them. The next Day we went to bury 
 our Dead, and found near a Dozen with their Heads split open by 
 the Hessians. 
 
 [Connecticut Gazette, Sept. 27, 1776.] 
 
 EXTRACT OF A LETTER TO A GENTLEMAN IN ANNAPOLIS, DATED 
 HEADQUARTERS, SEPT. 1 7, I 7 76. 
 
 We are now encamped between York and King's Bridge, on very 
 advantageous heights, and have formed our lines from the North 
 River to a Creek that makes out of the East River, running up to 
 King's Bridge. 
 
 Soon after we came to New York, there was a council held by the 
 General Officers, and the question was put, whether New York was 
 tenable against the King's forces. It was carried in the negative. 
 
 Three days ago the whole of our troops evacuated New York ; 
 and the day before yesterday the Kings troops landed about three 
 miles below this, where there were two brigades stationed, who aban- 
 doned their posts with precipitation. 
 
 Yesterday morning the Regulars came within half a mile of our 
 lines, and made a stand. A few of our scouts, who were out, 
 attacked and drove them off. In two hours after, two thousand of 
 them returned. Gen. Beall sent out three companies of Riflemen, 
 under the command of Major Mantz, who attacked them. Immedi- 
 ately Gen. Washington reinforced with the remainder of our brigade, 
 together with Gen. Weedon's regiment from Virginia, Major Price's 
 three independent companies, and one regiment of Rhode Islanders. 
 Never did troops go to the field with more cheerfulness and alacrity ;. 
 when there began a heavy fire on both sides. It continued about 
 one hour, when our brave Southern troops dislodged them from their 
 posts. The enemy rallied, and our men beat them the second time. 
 They rallied again ; our troops drove them the third time, and were 
 rushing on them, but the enemy had got on an eminence, and our 
 troops were ordered to retreat, the General considering there might 
 
62 Appendix. 
 
 be a large number of the enemy behind the hill concealed ; which 
 was the case. We were informed by a prisoner that our men took, 
 there were about eight or ten thousand concealed. 
 
 From the number of the enemy that I saw lay on the field dead 
 and wounded, I think their loss must be three or four times ours. 
 I have not yet been able to get a full account of our loss, only of our 
 brigade, which is as follows : Capt. Low wounded through both his 
 thighs. Twelve privates wounded, and three missing. Major Leitch, 
 of Col. Weedon's regiment received three balls through his belly. 
 More is the pity, for never was a braver hero. He stood the field, 
 with the greatest bravery, till the third shot, when he was obliged to 
 fall. He appears to be in good spirits. The Doctors are of opin- 
 ion that he will recover. Col. Knowlton from Boston, killed in the 
 field who distinguished himself at Bunker's Hill, as well as in this 
 engagement. He will be interred to-day with all the honours of war. 
 
 From our present situation, it is firmly my opinion we shall give 
 them a genteel drubbing, in case the Yankees will fight with as much 
 spirit as the Southern troops. As near as I can collect, our loss, 
 killed, and wounded, and taken, amounts to fifty men. We expect 
 every hour that the general engagement will come on ; and if we 
 prove successful, the campaign will be settled for this present year. 
 Gen. Washington gave great applause to our Maryland troops, for 
 their gallant behaviour yesterday. 
 
 [Force's American Archives.] 
 
 COL. SMALLWOOD TO THE CONVENTION OF MARYLAND. 
 
 Camp of the Maryland Regulars, Head-Quarters, Oct. 12, 1776. 
 General Washington [Sept. 15] expressly sent and drew our regi- 
 ment from its brigade, to march down towards New York, to cover 
 the retreat, and to defend the baggage, with direction to take posses- 
 sion of an advantageous eminence near the enemy, upon the main 
 road, where we remained under arms the best part of the day, till 
 Sargent's brigade came in with their baggage, who were the last 
 troops coming in, upon which the enemy divided their main body 
 into two columns, one filing off on the North River, endeavoured to 
 flank and surround us ; we had orders to retreat in good order, 
 which was done, our corps getting within the lines a little after dusk. 
 
Appendix. 63 
 
 The next day, about 1000 of them made an attempt upon our lines, 
 and were first attacked by the brave Col. Knovvlton of New England, 
 who lost his life in the action, and the Third Virginia Regiment, 
 who were immediately joined by three independent companies under 
 Major Price, and some part of the Maryland Flying Camp, who drove 
 them back to their lines, it is supposed with the loss of 400 men killed 
 and wounded ; our party had about 100 killed and wounded, of the 
 former only 15. Since which we have been viewing each other at a 
 distance, and strongly entrenching till the 9th of October, when three 
 of their men-of-war passed up the North river above King's Bridge, 
 under a heavy cannonade from our batteries, which has^ effectually 
 cut off our communication, by water, with Albany. 
 
 [Ridgeley's Annals of Annapolis, p. 261.] 
 
 CAP. BEATTY OF THE MARYLAND LINE, TO HIS FATHER COL. WIL- 
 LIAM BEATTY, FREDRICKTOWN. 
 
 Camp near Kings Bridge, Sept r 18 th 1776. 
 I have something worth telling you of what happened this week. 
 Last Sunday the Enemy landed about 3 miles below us, and at the 
 sight of 150 of them one brigade & a half of New England troops 
 ran away in the most precipitated manner & chief of them lost their 
 baggage ; if they had stood their ground they might have cut them 
 off. But by their landing they surrounded many of our troops in 
 York which had no time to get out But they have a strong fort 
 near New York where they are & have 3 months provision & am- 
 munition a plenty, & the commander declares that he will not sur- 
 render while he has either. On Monday last the enemy thought to 
 drive our troops farther, sallyed out & were attact by Major Mantz 
 with the 3 rifle companys of our battalion under his command and 
 Major Price with 3 of the independent companys of Maryland 
 troops & 3 other companys of Maryland Flying Camp & a battalion 
 of Virginians & some Northern troops the attack was very sharp on 
 both sides for one hour & a half & then the enemy retreated one 
 mile & a half to their lines — In all the action we lost but about 20 
 men killed & about as many wounded — among the dead is one Col- 
 onel of the Northern troops. The men all behaved with much 
 bravery. In Capt Goods company there was but two men wounded, 
 
64 Appendix. 
 
 Capt Reynolds one, Capt Grooh two, one of which is the blind Cup- 
 pers son in Fredktown. The other learnt the hatters trade with 
 Major Price, his wound is in the breast, the other on the back of his 
 arm above the joint of his wrist & so down to his fingers, the bone is 
 not broke Our Company lay out from our tents from Sunday morn- 
 ing till Tuesday night 
 
 [Historical Magazine, Second Series, I., 147.] 
 
 MAJOR SAMUEL SHAW TO HIS FATHER FRANCIS SHAW. 
 
 Fort Washington, Sept. 18. 1776. 
 We are now in a much more proper place for carrying on the war 
 than when in New York, as the enemy's ships can now be of no 
 service to them in attacking. The day before yesterday we had a 
 proof of this, when a part of them attempted to force a passage 
 through some woods, and to take possession of a number of heights, 
 but were repulsed with loss by an equal if not inferiour body of our 
 troops who behaved with as much bravery as men possibly could. 
 [Shaw's Journals, p. 20.] 
 
 SAMUEL CHASE TO GEN. GATES. 
 
 Philadelphia, September 21. 1776. 
 On this Day Week the Enemy landed a Body of forces at Turtle 
 Bay (after a severe Cannonade from their Ships in the East River to 
 scour the Country and cover their Landing) our Troops posted in 
 Lines thrown up to oppose their Landing abandoned them at the 
 first appearance of the Enemy, in the utmost precipitation and Con- 
 fusion : Two Brigades, commanded by Generals Parsons and Fel- 
 lows, were ordered to support them, they also fled in every Direc- 
 tion, without firing a single Shot, notwithstanding the Exertions of 
 their Generals to form them, and oh, disgraceful, on the appearance 
 of only about sixty or seventy of the Enemy ! by this infamous Con- 
 duct We lost a great part of our Baggage and most of our heavy 
 Cannon which had been left at N York — our army retreated, and 
 possessed themselves of the Heights of Harlem ; our Headquar- 
 ters at Roger Morris's house. On Monday last the Enemy appeared 
 in the plains, 2J Miles from the Heights, about 400 under General 
 
Appendix. 65 
 
 Leslie A Skirmish began between them and a Party of Volunteers 
 from several New England regiments commanded by Col° Knolton. 
 our People were supported by Companies from a Virginia Battalion 
 and from two Militia Maryland Regiments. The Enemy were 
 obliged to retreat, with the Loss of about 100 killed and prisoners- 
 Col Knolton, a brave officer, was killed. Major Leitch of May d 
 was wounded and despaired of. The Enemies main Army is now 
 encamped between 7 and 8 Miles Stones General Howe's Head 
 Quarters at one M r Apthorp's. 
 
 [Gates Papers : N. Y. Historical Society.] 
 
 J 
 
 AMERICAN GENERAL ORDERS. 
 
 Headquarters, i6 ,h September, 1776. 
 (Parole, Beall) (Countersign, Maryland) 
 
 The arrangement for this Night upon the heights commanding the 
 the hollow way from the North River to the Main Road leading 
 from New York to Kingsbridge. Gen. Clinton to form next to the 
 North River, and extend to the left. Gen. Scott's Brigade next to 
 Gen. Clinton's. Lieut. Col. Sayer of Col. Griffith's Regiment, with 
 the three Companies intended for a reinforcement to day to form upon 
 the left of Scott's Brigade. Gen. Nixon's & Col. Sergeants Division, 
 Col. Weedon's & Major Price's Regiments, are to retire to their 
 Quarters and refresh themselves, but to hold themselves in readiness 
 to turn out at a minutes warning. Gen. McDougall to establish 
 proper Guards against his Brigade upon the heights from Morris's 
 House, to Gen. McDougalls Camp, to furnish proper Guards to pre 
 vent a surprise, not less than twenty Men from each Regiment, Gen. 
 Putnam commands upon the right flank to Night, Gen. Spencer from 
 McDougall's Brigade up to Morris's House. Should the Enemy at- 
 tempt to force the pass to-Night, Gen. Putnam is to apply to Gen. 
 Spencer for a reinforcement. 
 
 Headquarters, Sept. 17, 1776. 
 (Parole, Leitch) (Countersign, Virginia) 
 
 The General most heartily thanks the Troops commanded yester- 
 day by Major Leitch, who first advanced on the Enemy, and the others 
 who so resolutely supported them, the Behaviour Yesterday is such 
 a Contrast to that of some Troops the day before, as must shew 
 
66 Appendix. 
 
 what may be done where Officers and Soldiers will exert themselves. 
 Once more therefore the General calls upon Officers and Men to act 
 up to the Noble Cause in which they are engaged, and support the 
 Honour and Liberties of their Country. 
 
 The Gallant and brave Col. Knowlton who was an Honour to 
 any Country, having fallen yesterday while gallantly fighting, Capt. 
 Brown is to take the Command of the Party lately Commanded by 
 Col. Knowlton ; Officers & Men are to obey him accordingly. 
 
 The loss of the Enemy yesterday undoubtedly would have been 
 much greater, if the orders of the Commander in Chief had not in 
 some instance been contradicted by some inferior Officers, who, 
 however well they may mean, ought not to presume to direct. It is 
 therefore Ordered that no Officer Commanding a Party, and having 
 received Orders from the Commander in Chief, depart from them 
 without Counter Orders from the same Authority, and as many may 
 otherwise err thro' ignorance, the Army is now acquainted that the 
 General Orders are delivered by the Adjutant General, one of the 
 Aid de Camps, Mr Tilghman, or Col. Moylan the Quartermaster 
 General. 
 
 [MS. Orderly Book, McDougalFs Brigade, N. Y. Historical Society.] 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE MS. LITERARY DIARY AND JOURNAL OF OC- 
 CURRENCES KEPT BY EZRA STILES, D.D., NOW IN THE LIBRARY 
 OF YALE COLLEGE. 
 
 Nov. 10, 1776. General Greene's letter 4th October speaking of 
 the Enemy's Landing near Turtle Bay & tak'g possess 11 of the City 
 ofN. Y. 15th Sept r . "The Panic that struck Gen. Fellows's & 
 communicated itself to Gen. Parsons' Brigade disgraced the last 
 Retreat. The 2 Brigades run away from about 40 or fifty men, and 
 left Gen 1 Washington standing alone within an hundred yards of the 
 Enemy. This disagreeable circumstance made the last Retreat very 
 disgraceful. The Enemy next day at Harlem Heights, flushed with 
 the successes of the day before approached and attacked our Lines, 
 where I had the honor to command. The action or rather skirmish 
 lasted about two hours : our people beat the Enemy off the Ground. 
 Col. Varnum & Col. Hitchcocks Reg 1 behaved exceedingly spirited 
 and all the officers that were with the Regiments. The Colonels 
 were both absent. Had all the Colonies good officers, there is no 
 danger of the Troops : never was Troops that would stand in the 
 
Appendix. 67 
 
 Field longer than the American Soldiery. If the officers were as 
 good as the men and had only a few months to form the troops by 
 Discipline, America might bid Defiance to the whole World. Gen. 
 Putnam and the Adj* General were in the Action and behaved 
 nobly." End G. Green's Lett. 
 
 It is said in Gen 1 Mifflins Lett, of abot 23 Oct. that a Deserter 
 informs, a canon shot killed a Centinel and shattered Gen 1 Howes 
 Leg so that his Life is doubtful. 
 
 Extracts from Philad a Letters. Wm Ellery Esq " Phila Oct 5, 
 1776. Gen 1 Mifflin told me that our men behaved bravely in the 
 action (16 Sept) That we lost about one hundred killed and 
 wounded and beat the Enemy from the field of Battle & the 
 account he could rely on with about 400 killed and wounded." 
 
 Phil* 21 Sept. "The Enemy's Party consisted of Two Battalions 
 and three companies." 
 
 Phil a Oct. 11. " Some of our people did, indeed run from the 
 Enemy when they landed at Turtle Bay (Sept 15) — the very next 
 day some of those very men fought gallantly. I have this from 
 Gen. Mifflin & David Hopkins, who saw the Fight ; and they both 
 agree in saying that the last (or best) account they could get & 
 fr the appear" of the field of Battle the Enemy lost killed & wounded 
 in that fight between 4 & five hundred men : and we had K. & W. 
 the former says about 100, the latter says — not so many. Our 
 troops drove them off the Field when the numbers on both sides were 
 equal. — at present a defensive war seems to be the most prudent." 
 
 Sept. 24 1776. This morning ar Report here at Dighton of a bat- 
 tle at N. York last Wednesday. It came thus — One Clark of 
 Swanzy returned there yesterday 23 Sept p.m. from Gov. Trumbll 
 (to whom he had been sent on business about some Connecticut 
 Fire Arms.) He says Gov. Trumbull read him his Sons Letter from 
 N. York giving an acco* of an Action — that the Kings Troops 
 chiefly Hessians marched out of the City and attacked us about 
 half way between the City and Kings bridge ; that we fought and 
 repulsed them ; a 2 d Battle since Evacu 11 of N. York. 
 
 Sept 27, 1776. Last Evening a Post came into Taunton a letter 
 from L* Ephraim Crossman to his father — dated N. York almost to 
 Kings bri'ge Sept 17 (N. B. tuesday) 1776 — * * * * "They 
 attacked us next day (I suppose mondy 16 Sept) & I turned out 
 volunteer & followed them and we won the ground drove them till 
 they brought their ships to bear on us, and the grape shot flew thick 
 
68 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 eno' for once But very few in our Company or Brigade has got a rag 
 but what they have on" (Having thrown away everything in the 
 Rout of the day before). 
 
 Oct. 18, 1776. When I was at Fairfield I saw Sloss Hobart Esq 
 a sensible Gent. & a member of the New York Convention. He 
 gave me the following draught of the Action of O 16 Sept which 
 began near the 14 m Stone & ended at the 8 m Stone. 
 
 i 
 
 
 />? \\Q/oM. 
 
 ? i 
 
 9 
 
 J 
 
 y 
 
 X 
 
 EXPLANATION. 
 
 A. The North Side of a Hollow way where the Action began. 
 
 B. Fence, behind which the Enemy rallied the first time. 
 
 C. Fence, from whence our People attacked the Enemy at B. 150 yards apart. 
 
 D. No Field pieces, but Virginia Detachmt enfiladed the Enemy. 
 
 E. Buckwheat field, where the Enemy rallied a Second time & an action ensued 
 for i£ hour when the Enemy fled and attempting to rally in an orchard at. 
 
 F. Were so closely pursued, that they stood but a few minutes when the Rout 
 became general. 
 
Appendix. 69 
 
 We have two General Clinton's in our Army. From one of them 
 who was in the Action Mr. Hobart received the account. Gen. 
 Putnam & Gen. Greene commanded in the Action with about 15 to 
 eighteen hundred men, the Enemy having in the Action from 30 to 
 4500, Gen. Clinton & Gen. Mifflin were present in the Action as spec- 
 tators. Gen. Clinton said he was ordered next day to bury the dead 
 left on the field and buried 78 of the Enemy, the most of which fell 
 in the Buckwheat Field. He judged we lost 120 killed & wounded 
 — the Enemy 400 killed besides wounded : but phaps more probably 
 less. Mr Hobart saw one who escaped from Harlem who told him 
 that he counted 190 wounded of the Enemy in one barn & no in 
 another, so 300 wounded & this not all. On the whole we fought 
 well in this action. 
 
 Oct. 9. 1776. Major Lamb of N. Y. is just returned from his 
 Captivity * * * He also told me that an officer came on board 
 on Lds'dy Evening (15 Sept) damming the Yankees for runaway 
 cowards & storming that there was no chance to fight & get honor & 
 rise — he was in the Monday Action also & came again on board O 
 Evening cursing & damming the War, saying he had found the 
 Americans would fight & that it would be impossible to conquer them. 
 
 WM. ELLERY TO NICHOLAS COOKE, GOVERNOR OF RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 Philadelphia Oct r 11 th 1776. 
 
 I saw General Mifflin lately, and he informed that in the fight 
 the day after the enemy took possession of New York, by the best 
 accounts he could get, and from the appearance of the field of battle, 
 they lost between four and five hundred killed and wounded ; and 
 that we lost about one hundred killed and wounded. In the first 
 part of this account Jared Hopkins, son of the minister in Newport, 
 who saw the fight, agrees with the General, but says, that he saw our 
 killed and wounded, and that they were much short of that number. 
 They both, too, agree that some of our men who had behaved 
 shamefully the day before fought gallantly there, and that with equal 
 numbers we drove the enemy from the field. I believe they think 
 the Americans will fight notwithstanding we have retreated and 
 retreated. 
 
 General Washington, as I am told, played off a pretty manoeuvre 
 the other day. Determined to remove the grain and the furniture 
 
70 Appendix. 
 
 of the houses from Harlem, he drew out into the field a party of 
 seventeen hundred. The enemy turned out as many. They 
 approached within three hundred yards and looked at each other. 
 While they were thus opposed front to front, our wagons carried oft 
 the grain and furniture. When this was accomplished, both parties 
 retired within their lines. It is said that our men preserved very 
 good faces. It would be of use to draw out our men in battle array 
 frequently, to let them look the enemy in the face, and have frequent 
 skirmishes with them. 
 
 [Force's American Archives.] 
 
 EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM HARLEM, DATED OCT. 3. 
 
 " Yesterday morning eleven hundred men were ordered to parade 
 at daylight, to bring off the corn, hay &c which lay on Harlem plains 
 between the enemy and us. This property has lain for a fortnight 
 past unmolested, both sides looking at it, and laying claim to it until 
 to day, when it was brought off by us. A covering party were within 
 musket shot of the enemy, but they made no other movements than 
 to man their lines ; and three thousand of our man appearing, struck 
 their tents, expecting an attack. Our fatigue party finished the busi- 
 ness, and not a single shot was fired. These plains would afford an 
 excellent field for a fight. I really expected an action, but the 
 enemy declined it. 
 
 [Freeman's Journal or N. H. Gazette, Oct. 22, 1776.] 
 
 FROM GORDONS HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 Sept. 16, 1776. On the Monday there was a tolerable skirmish 
 between two battalions of light infantry and highlanders, and three 
 companies of Hessian riflemen commanded by Brigadier Leslie, and 
 detachments from the American army under the command of lieut. 
 col. Knolton of Connecticut and major Leitch of Virginia. The 
 colonel received a mortal wound, and the major three balls through 
 his body, but is likely to do well. Their parties behaved with 
 great bravery, and being supplied with fresh troops, beat the enemy 
 fairly from the field. The loss of the Americans, except in col. 
 Knolton, a most valuable and gallant officer, was inconsiderable ; 
 
Appendix. 7 1 
 
 that of the enemy between 80 and 100 wounded, and 15 or 20 killed. 
 This little advantage inspirited the Americans prodigiously. They 
 found it required only resolution and good officers to make an enemy 
 they stood too much in dread of, give way.* The men will fight if 
 led on by good officers, and as certainly run away if commanded 
 by scoundrels. Sunday was an instance of the last, and the next 
 day a confirmation of the first assertion. On Sunday, the officers, 
 instead of heading and leading the men on to attack the enemy 
 when landing, where the first to scamper off. 
 
 FROM MARSHALL S LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Sept. 15, 1776. Having taken possession of New York, Gen. 
 Howe stationed a few troops in the town ; and, with the main body 
 of his army, encamped on the island, near the American lines. His 
 right was at Horen's Hook on the East river, and his left reached 
 the North river near Bloomingdale ; so that his encampment extended 
 quite across the island, which is, in this place scarcely two miles 
 wide ; and both his flanks were covered by his ships. 
 
 The strongest point of the American lines was at Kingsbridge, 
 both sides of which had been carefully fortified. McGowan's Pass 
 and Morris's Heights were also occupied in considerable force, and 
 rendered capable of being defended against superior numbers. A 
 strong detachment was posted in an entrenched camp on the heights 
 Haerlem within about a mile and a half of the British lines. 
 
 The present position of the armies favoured the views of the 
 American General. He wished to habituate his soldiers, by a series 
 of successful skirmishes, to meet the enemy in the field ; and he per- 
 suaded himself that his detachments, knowing a strong intrenched 
 camp to be immediately in their rear, would engage without appre- 
 hension, would soon display their native courage, and would speedily 
 regain the confidence they had lost. 
 
 Opportunities to make the experiments he wished were soon 
 afforded. The day after the retreat from New York, the British 
 appeared {Sept. 16) in considerable force in the plains between the 
 two camps ; and the General immediately rode to his advanced posts, 
 in order to make in person such arrangements as this movement 
 
 * Gen. Washington's letter to Gen. Gates. 
 
72 Appendix. 
 
 might require. Soon after his arrival, Lieut Col. Knowlton of Con- 
 necticut, who, at the head of a corps of rangers, had been skirmish- 
 ing with this party, came in, and stated their numbers on conjecture 
 at about 300 men, the main body being concealed in a wood. 
 
 The General ordered Col Knowlton with his rangers, and Major 
 Leitch with three companies of the third Virginia regiment, which 
 had joined the army only the preceding day, to gain their rear, while 
 he amused them with the appearance of making dispositions to attack 
 their front. 
 
 This' plan succeeded. The British ran eagerly down a hill, in 
 order to possess themselves of some fences and bushes, which pre- 
 sented an advantageous position against the party expected in front ; 
 and a firing commenced — but at too great a distance to do any exe- 
 cution. In the meantime Colonel Knowlton, not being precisely 
 acquainted with their new position, made his attack rather on their 
 flank than rear, and a warm action ensued. 
 
 In a short time, Major Leitch, who had led the detachment with 
 great intrepiditity, was brought off the ground mortally wounded, 
 having received three balls through his body ; and soon after the gal- 
 lant Colonel Knowlton also fell. Not discouraged by the loss of their 
 field officers, the captains maintained their ground, and continued 
 the action with great animation. The British were reinforced ; and 
 General Washington ordered some detachments from the adjacent 
 regiments of New England and Maryland, to the support of the Ameri- 
 cans. Thus reinforced, they made a gallant charge, drove the enemy 
 out of the wood into the plain, and were pressing him still farther, 
 when the General content with the present advantage, called back 
 his troops to their intrenchments.* 
 
 In this sharp conflict, the loss of the Americans, in killed and 
 wounded, did not exceed fifty men. The British lost more than 
 double that number. But the real importance of the affair was 
 derived from its operation on the spirits of the whole army. It was 
 the first success they had obtained during this campaign ; and its 
 influence was very discernible. To give it the more effect, the parole 
 next day was Leitch ; and the General in his orders publicly thanked 
 the troops under the command of that officer, who had first advanced 
 on the enemy, and the others who had so resolutely supported them. 
 
 * The author received the account of this skirmish from the Colonel of the third 
 Virginia regiment, and from the Captains commanding the companies that were 
 engaged. 
 
Appendix. 73 
 
 He contrasted their conduct with that which had been exhibited the 
 day before ; and the result, he said evidenced what might be done 
 where officers and soldiers would exert themselves. Once more, 
 therefore, he called upon them so to act, as not to disgrace the noble 
 cause in which they were engaged. He appointed a successor to 
 "the gallant and brave Colonel Knowlton who would," he said, 
 u have been an honour to any country, and who had fallen gloriously, 
 fighting at his post." 
 
 FROM GEN. HEATH S MEMIORS. 
 
 Sept. 15*. About noon, the British landed at Kepps's Bay. They 
 met with but small resistance, and pushed towards the city, of which 
 they took possession in the afternoon. They availed themselves of 
 some cannon and stores ; but their booty was not very great. Here 
 the Americans, we are sorry to say, did not behave well ; and here it 
 was, as fame hath said, that Gen. Washington threw his hat on the 
 ground, and exclaimed, " Are these the men with which I am to 
 defend America?" But several things may have weight here; — 
 the wounds received on Long-Island were yet bleeding; and the 
 officers, if not the men, knew that the city was not to be defended. 
 Maj. Chapman was killed, and Brig. Maj. Wyllis was taken prisoner. 
 A few others were killed, wounded, and taken prisoners. The 
 Americans retreated up the island ; and some few, who could not 
 get out of the city that way, escaped in boats over to Paulus Hook, 
 across the river. The house, in the fort at Horn's Hook, was set 
 on fire by a shell, and burnt down. The fort was afterwards aban- 
 doned. 
 
 Sept. 16 th . A little before noon, a smart skirmish happened on 
 the heights west of Haerlem Plain, and south of Morris's house, 
 between a party of Hessian Yagers, British Light-Infantry and High- 
 landers, and the American riflemen and some other troops, which 
 ended in favour of the latter. The troops fought well, on both sides, 
 and gave great proof of their markmanship. The Americans had 
 several officers killed and wounded ; among the former, Lieut. Col. 
 Knoulton, of the Connecticut line, and Capt. Gleason, of Nixon's 
 Massachusetts regiment, two excellent officers ; and Maj. Leech, of 
 one of the southern regiments, a brave officer, was among the latter. 
 This skirmish might have brought on a general action ; for both 
 
74 Appendix. 
 
 armies were then within supporting distance of the troops which were 
 engaged. 
 
 FROM DR. THACHERS MILITARY JOURNAL. 
 
 Sept. 20, 1776. We have the information, that before our army 
 evacuated the city of New York, General Howe's army landed, under 
 cover of five ships of war, the British und Hessians in two separate 
 divisions. So soon as this was announced to our Commander in 
 Chief, by a heavy cannonade from the men of war, he instantly rode 
 toward our lines, but he was astonished and mortified to find that the 
 troops which had been posted there, and also two brigades which 
 had been ordered to support them, were retreating in great confusion 
 and disorder. He made every effort to rally them, but without suc- 
 cess ; they were so panic struck that even the shadow of an enemy 
 seemed to increase their precipitate flight. His Excellency, dis- 
 tressed and enraged, drew his sword and snapped his pistols to check 
 them ; but they continued their flight without firing a gun ; and the 
 General, regardless of his own safety, was in so much hazard, that 
 one of his attendants seized the reins, and gave his horse a different 
 direction. 
 
 The following fact is of considerable interest. When retreating 
 from New York, Major General Putnam, at the head of three thous- 
 and five hundred continental troops, was in the rear, and the last 
 that left the city. In order to avoid any of the enemy that might be 
 advancing in the direct road to the city, he made choice of a road 
 parallel with and contiguous to the North River, till he could arrive 
 at a certain angle, whence another road would conduct him in such 
 a direction as that he might form a junction with our army. It so 
 happened that a body of about eight thousand British and Hessians 
 were at the same moment advancing on the road, which would 
 have brought them in immediate contact with General Putnam, before 
 he could have reached the turn into the other road. Most fortu- 
 nately, the British generals, seeing no prospect of engaging our 
 troops, halted their own, and repaired to the house of Mr. Robert 
 Murray, a quaker and friend of our cause ; Mrs. Murray treated them 
 with cake and wine, and they were induced to tarry two hours or 
 more, Governor Tryon frequently joking her about her American 
 friends. By this happy incident, General Putnam, by continuing his 
 march, escaped a recounter with a greatly superior force, which must 
 
Appendix. 75 
 
 have proved fatal to his whole party. Ten minutes, it is said, would 
 have been sufficient for the enemy to have secured the road at the 
 turn, and entirely cut off General Putnam's retreat. It has since 
 become almost a common saying among our officers, that Mrs. 
 Murray saved this part of the American army. 
 
 FROM CAPT. GRAYDON's MEMIORS. 
 
 It was now November. I was on guard at a place distinguished 
 by the appellation of The point of roeks, which skirted the road lead- 
 ing to Kingsbridge. This was our most advanced picket towards 
 New York, and only separated from that of the enemy by a valley 
 a few hundred yards over. One stormy night I went for shelter to a 
 deserted house on the low ground directly across the road about 
 thirty or forty yards from our post — a deserter who was brought in 
 who informed us that the house was a very unsafe situation as the 
 British patroles passed very near it, and might very easily sweep 
 us off. 
 
 SIR WILLIAM HOWE TO LORD GERMAIN. 
 
 Head Quarters, York Island, Sept. 21, 1776. 
 
 Mv Lord — I have the satisfaction to inform your Lordship of his 
 Majesty's troops being in possession of the city of New York. 
 
 Upon the rebels abandoning their lines at Brooklyn, the King's 
 army moved from Bedford, leaving Lieut. Gen. Heister encamped 
 upon the heights of Brooklyn with two brigades of Hessians, and 
 one brigade of British at Bedford, and took five positions in the 
 neighbourhood of Newtown, Bushwick, Hell Gate, and Flushing. 
 
 The two islands of Montresor and Buchannan were occupied, and 
 batteries raised against the enemy's work at Home's Hook, com- 
 manding the passage at Hell Gate. 
 
 On the 15th inst. in the morning three ships of war passed up the 
 North River as far as Bloomingdale, to draw the enemy's attention 
 to that side ; and the first division of troops consisting of the light 
 infantry, the British reserve, the Hessian grenadiers and chasseurs, 
 under the command of Lieut. Cren. Clinton, having with him Lieut. 
 Gen. Earl Cornwallis, Major Gen. Vaughan, Brig. Gen. Leslie, and 
 Colonel Donop, embarked at the head of New Town Creek, and 
 
y6 Appendix. 
 
 landed about noon upon New York Island, three miles from the town, 
 at a place called Kepp's Bay, under the fire of two forty gun ships 
 and three frigates, viz. Phoenix, Roebuck, Orpheus, Carysfort, and 
 Rose, Commodore Hotham having the direction of the ships and 
 boats. 
 
 The rebels had troops in their works round Kepp's Bay ; but their 
 attention being engaged in expectation of the King's troops landing 
 at Stuyvesant's Cove, Horen's Hook, and at Harlem, which they had 
 reason fo conclude, Kepp's Bay became only a secondary object of 
 their care. The fire of the shipping being so well directed and so 
 incessant, the enemy could not remain in their works, and the descent 
 was made without the least opposition. The conduct of the officers 
 of the navy do them much honor ; and the behaviour of the seamen 
 belonging to the ships of war and transports employed to row the 
 boats, was highly meritorious. Much praise in particular is due to 
 the masters and men of six transports, that passed the town on the 
 evening of the 14th under a heavy fire, being volunteers, to take 
 troops on board for the more speedy disembarkation of the second 
 division. 
 
 The British immediately took post upon the commanding height 
 of Inclenberg, and the Hessians moving towards New York, fell 
 in with a body of the rebels that were retiring from Stuyvesant's 
 Cove, some firing ensued, by which a Brigadier General, other offi- 
 cers, and several men of the rebels were killed and wounded, with 
 the loss of four men killed, and eight wounded on the part of the 
 Hessians. As soon as the second embarkation was landed, the troops 
 advanced towards a corps of the enemy upon a rising ground three 
 miles from IncleVo^rg, towards Kings-bridge, having McGowan's 
 pass in their rear, upon which they immediately retired to the main 
 body of their army upon Morris's Height. The enemy having evac- 
 uated New York soon after the army landed, a brigade took posses- 
 sion of the works in the evening. The prisoners made in the course 
 of this day were about 20 officers and 300 men. 
 
 The position the King's army took, on the 15th in the evening, 
 was with the right to Horen's Hook, and the left at the North River 
 near to Bloomingdale ; the rebel army occupying the ground with 
 extensive works on both sides of King's bridge, and a redoubt with 
 cannon upon a height on the west side of the North River opposite 
 to the Blue Bell, where the enemy have their principal work ; in 
 which positions both armies still continue. 
 
Appendix. 77 
 
 On the 1 6th in the morning a large party of the enemy having 
 passed under cover of the woods near to the advanced posts of the 
 army by way of Vanderwater's Height, the 2 d and 3 d battalions of 
 light infantry, supported by the 42 nd regiment pushed forward, and drove 
 them back to their entrenchments, from whence the enemy observ- 
 ing they were not in force, attacked them with near 3000 men, which 
 occasioned the march of the reserve with two field pieces, a bat- 
 talion of Hessian grenadiers and a company of chasseurs, to prevent 
 the corps engaged from being surrounded ; but the light infantry and 
 42 nd regiment with the assistance of the chasseurs and field pieces 
 repulsed the enemy with considerable loss, aud obliged them to retire 
 within their works. The enemy's loss is not ascertained ; but from 
 the accounts of deserters it is agreed, that they had not less than 300 
 killed and wounded, and among them a colonel and a major killed. 
 We had eight officers wounded most of them very slightly ; fourteen 
 men killed and about 70 wounded. 
 
 Maj. Gen. Vaughan was slightly wounded in the thigh on the 15 th 
 by a random shot, as he was ascending the heights of Jnclenberg 
 with the grenadiers ; and I have the pleasure of informing your Lord- 
 ship that Lieut. Col. Monckton is so well recovered, he has been 
 walking about some days. 
 
 [Upcott Collection, IV., 410, N. Y. Historical Society.] 
 
 EXTRACT FROM MS. ORDER-BOOK OF BRITISH FOOT GUARDS. 
 
 Sept. 17, 1776. The Commander in Chief entertains the highest 
 opinion of the bravery of the few troops that yesterday beat back a 
 very superior body of the Rebels, and desires to return thanks to 
 the Battalion and the officers and men of the Artillery that came 
 to their support and disproves the conduct of the light company in 
 pursuing the Rebels without proper discretion without support — 
 expresses satisfaction at the behaviour of Gen. Clinton's troops who 
 took possession of this Island on the 15th inst. 
 
 FROM STEWART'S SKETCHES OF THE HIGHLANDERS. 
 
 After the escape of the enemy, active operations were resumed on 
 the 15th of September; and the reserve, which the Royal High- 
 
78 Appendix. 
 
 landers had rejoined after the action at Brooklyn, crossed over the 
 island to New York, three miles above the town, and, after some 
 opposition, took post on the heights. The landing being completed, 
 the Highlanders and Hessians, who were ordered to advance to 
 Bloomingdale, to intercept the enemy, now retreating from New 
 York, fell in with and captured a corps of New England men and 
 Virginians. That night the regiment lay on their arms, occasionally 
 skirmishing with the enemy On the 16 th the light infantry were 
 sent out-to dislodge a party of the enemy, which had taken posses- 
 sion of a wood facing the left of the British. The action becoming 
 warm towards the evening, and the enemy pushing on reinforce- 
 ments, the Highlanders were sent to support the light infantry, 
 when the Americans were quickly driven back to their entrench- 
 ments. Perceiving that our force was small, they returned to the 
 attack with 3000 men ; but these were likewise repulsed, with con- 
 siderable loss. In this affair our loss was 14 killed, and 5 officers 
 and 70 men wounded. 
 
 FROM HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE FORTY-SECOND, OR, THE ROYAL 
 HIGHLAND REGIMENT OF FOOT. 
 
 Having completed the capture of Long Island, the army crossed 
 the river in the middle of September ; the Royal Highlanders being 
 with the leading division, landed above New York, and made a move- 
 ment towards Bloomingdale, to intercept the retreating Americans, 
 when a corps of Virginians and New England men were captured. 
 The Highlanders passed the night under arms, occasionally skirmish- 
 ing with the enemy ; and the commanding officer Major William Mur- 
 ray, narrowly escaped being made prisoner. He was passing from 
 the light infantry battalion, to the regiment, and was beset by an 
 American officer and two soldiers, whom he kept at bay some time, 
 but they eventually closed upon him and threw him down ; he was a 
 stout man of great strength of arm, and he wrenched the sword out 
 of the American officer's hand, and made so good use of it that his 
 antagonists fled, before several men of the regiment, who heard the 
 noise could come to his assistance. 
 
 On the following day the regiment was ordered to support the light 
 infantry engaged in a wood, and took part in driving a numerous body 
 of Americans to their intrenchments. The enemy renewed the con- 
 flict with augmented numbers, and sustained another repulse with 
 
Appendix. 79 
 
 a severe loss in killed and wounded. This being only an affair of 
 out-posts, no detailed account of it was given ; but it was a well- 
 contested action. The Forty-second had one Serjeant and three 
 rank and file killed ; Captains Duncan McPherson and John Mc- 
 intosh, Ensign Alexander McKenzie (who died of his wounds), three 
 Serjeants, one piper, two drummers, 47 rank and file wounded. 
 
 LIEUT. GEORGE HARRIS OF THE FIFTH REGIMENT OF FOOT TO HIS 
 
 UNCLE. j 
 
 After landing in York Island, we drove the Americans into their 
 works beyond the eighth mile-stone from New York, and thus got 
 possession of the best half of the island. We took post opposite to 
 them, placed our picquets, borrowed a sheep, killed, cooked, and ate 
 some of it, and then went up to sleep on a gate, which we took the 
 liberty of throwing off its hinges, covering our feet with an American 
 tent, for which we should have cut poles and pitched, had it not 
 been so dark. Give me such living as we enjoy at present, such a 
 hut and such company, and I would not care three farthings if we 
 stayed all the winter, for though the mornings and evenings are 
 cold, yet the sun is so hot as to oblige me to put up a blanket as 
 a screen. Tell my best of mothers that my compass has been of the 
 greatest use in enabling me to ascertain the proper aspects for our 
 houses, and has gained me, in fine, the thanks of all parties. 
 
 The 1 6th of September we were ordered to stand to our arms at 
 eleven a.m. and were instantly trotted about three miles (without a 
 halt to draw breath), to support a battalion of light infantry, which 
 had imprudently advanced so far without support as to be in great 
 danger of being cut off. This must have happened, but for our 
 haste. So dangerous a quality is courage without prudence for its 
 guide ; with it, how noble and respectable it makes the man. But to 
 return to our narrative. The instant the front of our columns 
 appeared, the enemy began to retire to their works, and our light 
 infantry to the camp. On our return we were exposed to the fire of 
 the Americans. A man in my company had his hat shot through 
 nearly in the direction of my wound, but the ball merely raised the 
 skin ; and in the battalion on our left a man was shot so dead when 
 lying on the ground, that the next man did not perceive it, but when 
 he got up to stand to his arms, kicked his comrade, thinking he was 
 
80 Appendix. 
 
 asleep, and then found, to his great surprise that he was quite dead, 
 a ball having entered under the ear, and very little blood having 
 issued from it. 
 
 Before we started in the morning, our dinner, consisting of a goose 
 and piece of mutton had been put on the fire. The moment we 
 marched, our domestic deposited the above named delicacies on a 
 chaise, and followed us with it to our ground. When the fight was 
 over, he again hung the goose to the fire, but the poor bird had been 
 scarcely half done, when we were ordered to return to our station. 
 There again we commenced cooking, and though without dish, plate, 
 or knife did ample justice to our fare, which we washed down with 
 bad rum and water, and then composed ourselves to rest on our 
 friendly gate. Our baggage joined us the next day. 
 [Lushington's Life of Lord Harris, p. 78.] 
 
 EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM NEW YORK, DATED SEPT. 23, 1 776. 
 
 About four days since the light infantry, who are the van of our 
 army, pressed too gallantly upon a very superior body of the rebels, 
 and drove them off, but with the loss of 125 killed and wounded. 
 [Upcott Collection, IV., 391, N. Y. Historical Society.] 
 
 FROM STEDMAN S HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 On the morning of the 16th September, a detachment was sent 
 out from the main body of the Americans to a wood facing the left 
 flank of the English army. Three companies of our light infantry 
 were dispatched to dislodge them. The enemy, with a seeming 
 intention of retreating to the main body, retired into the interior 
 parts of the wood, where they were reinforced by another detach- 
 ment \ which made it necessary that the remainder of the light in- 
 fantry, with the 42nd regiment should be sent to support the companies 
 that were engaged. The action was carried on by reinforcements 
 on both sides, and became very warm. The enemy, however, pos- 
 sessed a great advantage from the circumstance of engaging within 
 half a mile of their intrenched camp, whence they could be supplied 
 with fresh troops as often as occasion required. Victory, neverthe- 
 
Appendix. 8 1 
 
 less, was on the part of the loyalists ; and the Americans retreated 
 with the loss of three hundred killed and wounded. 
 
 Note. — Manuscript note by Sir Henry Clinton in his Copy of Stedman, now 
 in the Library of John Carter Brown of Providence, R. I. : " The ungovernable 
 impetuosity of the light troops drew us into this Scrape. C." 
 
 FROM BRIGADE LIST OF BRITISH ARMY AS ARRANGED AT STATEN 
 ISLAND, JULY, 1 7 76. * 
 
 Four Battalions of Light Infantry, commanded by Brig. Gen. 
 Alexander Leslie. i st Battalion Major Thomas Musgrave. 2 d Bat- 
 talion Major Turner Straubenzee. 3 d Battalion Major Hon. John 
 Maitland. 4 th Battalion Major John Johnson. 
 
 Corps de Reserve, commanded by Lieut. Gen. Earl Cornwallis, 
 having under him Major Gen. Vaughan. 33 d Regiment Lieut. Col. 
 James Webster. 42 d Royal Highlanders Lieut. Col. Thomas Stir- 
 ling. i st Battalion of Grenadiers Lieut. Col. Hon. Henry Monck- 
 ton. 2 d Battalion Lieut. Col. William Medows. 3 d Battalion Major 
 James Marsh. 4th Battalion Major Charles Stuart. 
 
 Corps of Artillery, commanded by Brig.-Gen. Cleavland. 
 [Beatson's Military Memoirs of Great Britain, VI., 49.] 
 
 HESSIAN ACCOUNT OF THE ACTION. 
 
 On the 16th of September quite a brisk tight took place on York 
 Island. The Americans on the morning of this day sent from their 
 camp a strong detachment which came out of the wood and attacked 
 our left wing. The second and third regiments of Light Infantry 
 supported by the 42 d Regiment (Highlanders) moved out and 
 drove the enemy back into their entrenchments. The latter did this 
 intentionally to entice the pursuers deeper into the wood where a 
 stronger division was already concealed for their support, computed 
 at three thousand men. Gen. Leslie, who was in command of the 
 British, soon encountered a severe resistance. Col. von Donop as 
 well as the British Regiments next in line to him received orders to 
 move up to their support ; the former moved up with his Yagers and 
 the Grenadier battalion of Linsingen, while he sent off the two other 
 
82 Appendix. 
 
 grenadier battalions of von Block and von Minnigerode to occupy 
 the defile on the road to King's Bridge. 
 
 The Yagers who swarmed forward soon came into a hot contest 
 on Hoyland's Hill — when, however, the Linsingen battalion moved 
 up to their support the Americans retired. The Yagers had eight 
 wounded, among them Lt. Heinrichs. The Yagers and the bat- 
 talions of Grenadiers bivouacked in the wood not far from Bloom- 
 ingdale, and when the next morning the two other grenadier battalions 
 came up Donop with his brigade encamped here. The Hessians 
 here helped the British out of the mire. Donop, usually so modest, 
 says in his report to General von Heister : 
 
 " But for my Yagers, two Regiments of Highlanders and the 
 British infantry would have all, perhaps, been captured, for they were 
 attacked by a force four times their number ; and Gen. Leslie had 
 made a great blunder in sending these brave fellows so far in ad- 
 vance in the woods without support." 
 
 On this occasion Capt s Wredon and Lorey especially distinguished 
 themselves — the former went twenty paces in advance of the Yagers 
 in the firing line, and the latter shot down the leader of the hostile 
 battalion, upon which they turned their backs and fled. 
 
 The enemy lost about three hundred killed and wounded, among 
 whom were Colonel Knowlton and Major Leitch both of whom died 
 soon after of their wounds. Our loss amounted to 14 dead and 78 
 wounded — among the latter, 7 English officers.* 
 
 [Translated from Die deutschen Hulfstruppen im nordamerikanischen Befreiung- 
 skiiege, 1776 bis 1783. Von Max von Elking, corresponding member N. Y. His- 
 torical Society.] 
 
 FROM REPORT OF MAJOR C. L. BAURMEISTER. 
 
 In detached Camp near Hell Gate, 24 Sept. 1776. 
 On the 16th (Sept) the enemy encamped before Fort Washington 
 in pretty good order ; the left wing extending to Harlem. From 
 Fort Washington an entrenchment to King's Bridge, by which they 
 secured a further retreat under the protection of the said fort. The 
 English Light Infantry advanced too quickly on the retreat of the 
 enemy and at Bruckland Hill fell into an ambuscade of four thousand 
 
 * From the Journal of General von Heister and the Diary of Captain von 
 Walzburg. 
 
AppC7idix. 83 
 
 men, and if the Grenadiers and especially the Hessian Yagers had 
 not arrived in time to help them no one of these brave Light In- 
 fantry would have escaped. They lost 70 dead and 200 wounded — 
 the enemy must have lost very severely, because no Yager had any 
 ammunition left, and all the Highlanders had fired their last shot. 
 A lieutenant of the Yagers, Heinrichs, was wounded in the left side 
 and also four Yagers. By the Parole of the 17 th Genl. Howe, notic- 
 ing his satisfaction on the happy landing, found it necessary to recom- 
 mend the corps under the command of General Leslie to be not 
 only brave but more prudent. The British at Bloomingdale en- 
 camped in two lines. Some of the enemy's baggage jmd waggons 
 with flour were taken. 
 
 [Translated from original MSS. in possession of Hon. George Bancroft.] 
 
 LIEUT. JOHN HEINRICHS TO A. L. SCHLOZER. 
 
 New York Island, in the district of Harlem, 5 English miles from the City 
 of New York, and 100 yards from Hornhogk on the East River, Sept. 18, 1776. 
 
 Last Sunday (Sept 15) we landed under the thundering rattle of 
 5 men-of-war, in flat boats from Long Island, on New York Island, 
 about 4 miles from New York city. As skirmishers we usually 
 formed the advance-guard, etc. Briefly ; in the afternoon this part 
 of the island was ours. But just as we were about going into quar- 
 ters, the rebels caused a new alarm, and we were obliged to turn out. 
 I had the right wing of the out-posts; we marched towards King's 
 Bridge, consequently I came close on the East River, which is lined 
 with the finest houses. I had the pleasure of taking possession of all 
 these houses, together with the hostile battery, where I found 5 can- 
 nons ; the rebels all fled. All the houses were crammed with furni- 
 ture, rural riches, and jewels ; the people however had all fled, and 
 left their slaves behind. But the next day one proprietor after another 
 came back and joyful tears of gratitude rolled down the faces of these 
 formerly happy people, when they found again their houses, fruits, cat- 
 tle, and all their furniture, and heard from one that I had merely taken 
 possession for them, and delivered their property back to their hands. 
 
 The next day the rebels 4000 men strong advanced against our 
 out-posts, and we sustained a severe fire, until towards the afternoon, 
 when they were driven away, as I afterwards heard ; for at one 
 o'clock I was compelled to withdraw, as I was shot by a rifle-ball in 
 
84 Appendix. 
 
 the left side of the breast 4 fingers distant from the heart. To whom 
 could I more safely go, and who would receive me in a more friendly 
 manner than they who had but yesterday called me their benefactor, 
 their preserver ? As I do not like noise, now still less than ever ; 
 I selected for myself, although I could have chosen palaces, a small 
 house on the East River, to which the widow of a New York preacher, 
 Oglyby, had fled with a numerous family of children and step-children. 
 Not far distant was the house or rather the palace of her old father, 
 who had a storehouse full of porcelain, wine, and brandy, but had 
 lost nothing from it. 
 
 All these people came back last evening ; and the emotion I felt 
 on seeing mother and children, grandfather and grandchildren, &c. 
 down to the black children of the slaves, hugging and kissing each 
 other, so affected my wound, that I got a fever in the night. Not 
 to be thought of are the flatteries the good people showered on me 
 which I did not deserve, as I acted only according to orders. 
 
 [Translated from Schlozer's Briefwechsel meist historischen und politischen 
 Inhalts, Vol. II., Part vii., p. 99.] 
 
PROCEEDINGS 
 
 NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 IN COMMEMORATION 
 
 BATTLE OF HARLEM PLAINS 
 
 ON ITS 
 
 ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY 
 
 September 16, 1876. 
 
At a stated meeting of the New York Historical Society, held 
 in its Hail on Tuesday evening, June 6, 1876, the President, Fred- 
 eric de Peyster, in the chair — 
 
 The Executive Committee submitted the following communication : 
 
 The Executive Committee take leave to remind the Society of the approaching 
 Centennial Aniversary of the Battle of Harlem Plains, fought on the 16th of Sep- 
 tember, 1776. The action, though of minor importance, was one of the most 
 brilliant exploits of the Revolutionary War. In a close conflict, the most cele- 
 brated of the British regiments, after an unsuccessful effort to break the American 
 lines, were repulsed and driven in confusion by the Continental troops. This suc- 
 cess restored confidence to the patriot forces demoralized by the retreat from Long 
 Island and the subsequent landing of the British at Kip's Bay. 
 
 Such an incident in the annals of New York should not pass unnoticed in this 
 year of historic commemoration, and it is fitting that this Society should formally 
 celebrate the occasion in an appropriate manner. 
 
 A special Committee on Celebrations has recently been appointed by the Execu- 
 tive Committee, and authority is asked of the Society to carry out such programme 
 as may be by them proposed. 
 
 Mr. James W. Beekman, 2d Vice-President, after some remarks, 
 submitted the following resolution, which was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That the communication of the Executive Committee be referred back 
 to the same Committee, with power. 
 
 Extract from the Minutes, 
 
 ANDREW WARNER, 
 
 Recording Secretary. 
 
NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 COMMEMORATION 
 
 of tup: 
 
 BATTLE OF HARLEM PLAINS 
 
 Saturday, September 16, 1876. 
 
 A special meeting of the New York Historical Society was this 
 day held, pursuant to its order, to celebrate the One Hundredth Anni- 
 versary of the action known as the Battle of Harlem Plains, fought 
 on Monday, September 16th, 1776. To this meeting, on the heights 
 of Bloomingdale, the crest of the hill overlooking Harlem Plains, 
 between 117th and 119th streets, and the Ninth and Tenth avenues, 
 the Governors of all States whose troops were engaged in the battle, 
 our State and City officials, representative regiments of the city mili- 
 tary, and numerous distinguished guests were invited. 
 
 The proceedings were under the charge of a Committee of One 
 Hundred of the members of the Society. The guests were received 
 at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, where a collation was provided, and were 
 escorted by the officers of the Society to the ground, where platforms, 
 gaily decorated with the Continental, Union, State, and City flags, 
 were arranged for their reception. The ground, covered with tents, 
 presented the appearance of an encampment, and from its elevated 
 position commanding extensive views of the North and East Rivers, 
 was visible from a great distance, presenting a scene of rare and 
 animated beauty. 
 
 The officers and their guests arrived upon the field at the appointed 
 
 hour, three o'clock in the afternoon, and were closely followed by the 
 
 Seventh Regiment, N. Y. S. Militia, who marched past to the position 
 
 assigned them, where they halted in military formation. In their 
 
 6 
 
88 Commemoration of the 
 
 rear a large tent had been set up where a generous lunch was pro- 
 vided. At this moment there were not less than ten thousand people 
 present, including a large number of ladies, for whom ample accom- 
 modation in seats had been arranged, and the carriage enclosure was 
 also full of gay equipages. 
 
 The meeting was called to order by Frederic de Peyster, LL.D., 
 the President of the Society, who introduced the Rev. Morgan Dix, 
 D.D., Rector of Trinity Church, who invited the Divine blessing. 
 
 Almighty God, Whose kingdom is everlasting, and Whose power is infinite : 
 Have mercy upon all Thy people, and so rule their hearts, that they may above all 
 things seek Thy honor and glory, and faithfully obey all in authority, according to 
 Thy word and ordinance, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 Almighty God, Who hast in all ages showed forth Thy power and mercy in the 
 protection of every nation and people putting their sure trust in Thee : we yield 
 Thee our unfeigned thanks and praise for all Thy public mercies, and more especi- 
 ally for the signal and wonderful manifestations of Thy providence which we com- 
 memorate this year. Wherefore, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy 
 Name be ascribed all honor and glory from generation to generation. 
 
 Behold, O God our defender, and give peace in our time ; let the invincible 
 defence of Thy power be the bulwark of Thy faithful people ; give us rest evermore 
 from the storm of war, that we may continually serve Thee in all godly quietness 
 and rejoice in giving praise to Thee, Who livest and reignest, Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost, world without end. 
 
 Our Father, Who art in heaven, f I allowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom 
 come. Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily 
 bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against 
 us. And lead us not into temptation ; But deliver us from evil : For Thine is the 
 kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 The President, Mr. de Peyster, then addressed the meeting, intro- 
 ducing the Hon. John Jay, the orator of the day. 
 
 In the name of the New York Historical Society, of which I have the honor to 
 be President, and in the exercise of my prerogative, I welcome you all this day to 
 this memorable spot upon which was fought the action, the hundredth anniversary 
 of which we are assembled to celebrate. Especially I welcome the distinguished 
 officials from neighboring States, as well as of our own City, who grace the occa- 
 sion with their presence, and the officers and men of the gallant Seventh Regiment, 
 who have so cordially and patriotically responded to our invitation, and now clothe 
 this peaceful scene with the bright panoply of war. 
 
 We are standing upon the very ground where the hottest of the Battle of Harlem 
 Plains was fought ; and from the crest of this hill we may see to the northward 
 the Point of Rocks, and to the southward McGowan's Pass, whence the rival 
 armies surveyed the field of contest, the struggle, the flight, and the victory. 
 
 It is neither my purpose nor within the range of my duty to touch even lightly 
 
Battle of Harlem Pla ns. 89 
 
 upon this historic theme; the battle and its consequences will be related to you by 
 the distinguished gentleman whom the Society has selected as the orator of the 
 day, whose name you will recognize as one familiar in New York annals. But I 
 may call your attention to the fact, that this is the only day which we of New 
 York may properly celebrate in this year of Centennial rejoicing, if we except the 
 clay of our National Independence. But you and the orator of the day will par- 
 don me, if I submit one historic reflection, and at the same time answer a not 
 uncommon inquiry : Why does this great city, with its enormous population, 
 celebrate an action which was after all rather a skirmish of outposts than in any 
 true sense a battle ? Why dignify with military show, the raising of banners, and 
 the assemblage of this mass of patriotic citizens an action which would seem at 
 first sight worthy of hardly more than a village parade ? 
 
 In the scale of history events are not measured by ordinary standards.^ They are 
 great and memorable in proportion to their consequences. Montaigne, the pro- 
 found observer, of whom it has been well said that he not only depended on 
 the natural force of his own vast and penetrative powers, but that he made of 
 all that he committed his own, referring to the extraordinary combat in which 
 Leonidas with his immortal band defended the passes of his country, remarked that 
 the four famous victories of Greece, the fairest the sun ever shone on— Salamis, 
 Platea, Mycale, and Sicily, never opposed all their united glories to the single 
 glory of Thermopylae. Yet, this battle — if battle it may be called, the glory of 
 which still shines with undiminished lustre after the lapse of twenty three centuries, 
 — was but the struggle of three hundred men ; the death roll of three hundred men 
 and their gallant king, of whom our own Anthon (my dear personal friend), 
 profound classical scholar, has observed, with a knowledge of Grecian character all 
 his own, that " they no doubt considei"ed their persevering stand in the post en- 
 trusted to them not as an act of high and heroic devotion, but of simple and indis- 
 pensable duty." Looking upon the intelligent faces and martial forms of the gal- 
 lant regiment, to whom not only our City and our State, but the whole country 
 owes so heavy a debt of gratitude, I am forcibly reminded by this illustration of 
 the ennobling sentiment that duty to country is the one distinguishing trait, em- 
 bracing all other qualities in itself, of the true soldier. 
 
 At the entrance of the pass of Thermopylae a monument stood in antiquity, 
 bearing only the simple inscription : " Go, traveller, tell at Sparta that we died 
 here in obedience to the laws." I do not propose to establish a comparison be- 
 tween the action of Harlem Plains and the Spartan fight, save to claim for 
 the one as for the other the glory of its consequences far out of proportion to its 
 own immediate importance. The Persian hosts learned the lesson that Sparta 
 might be annihilated, but never conquered, and the proud veterans of England 
 and the continent, rudely awakened from their dream of easy conquest, on this 
 our battle-field first saw the magnitude of their undertaking, and in their 
 sharp repulse were made to know the temper and the character of the American 
 soldier. A century has passed since the prudent voice of Washington recalled 
 the troops, flushed with victory, from their eager pursuit of the flying foe. A 
 hundred years — the little city which the patriots defended has overrun the island 
 and climbed the very heights whereon they made their last stand, yet this spot, 
 this ridge of hill and yonder plains are all unchanged. The rocks behind which 
 
90 Commemoration of the 
 
 the flying troops sought shelter are still here to-day, and the grass still grows 
 upon the rich plain below, while all around, northward and southward, east and 
 west, stately buildings show the development of our city, a noble testimony to 
 the wisdom of our fathers. The patriotic enthusiasm which beams upon me 
 from this audience assures me that here at least there is no want of reverence for 
 the past, or love for our country. Our country ! well may we exclaim with 
 Cicero: "O! jus eximium nostras civitatis ! " (Oh! matchless right of our 
 country !) All that we are and have is hers of right. 
 
 I am glad that the narration of the events of September 16, 1776, has fallen to 
 a son of New York — a gentleman who worthily upholds the honor of his ances- 
 tral name — a grandson of that pure, patriotic, and elevated man, the friend of 
 Washington, the first Chief-Justice of the United States, of whom Webster so 
 beautifully said that when the ermine of justice fell on his shoulders it touched 
 nothing less spotless than itself. I beg to introduce to you the Honorable John 
 Jay. 
 
 On the conclusion of the oration the Rev. Richard S. Storrs, 
 D.D., rising to move a resolution of thanks, made the following 
 remarks : 
 
 Mr. President : — I rise to offer a resolution, which, I am glad to know, has 
 already been anticipated in the judgment and the feeling of every one in this vast 
 and most respectable assemblage who has been able to hear the admirable address 
 to which we have been listening. We must all feel, I am sure, that it has been 
 good to stand together upon these heights, consecrated by the courage and the 
 devotion, and signalized by the success of a hundred years ago. If it be true, as 
 has been said, as has been repeated in the address to which we have listened, that 
 one could not stand at Iona without having his piety revived, or at Marathon with- 
 out feeling a fresh glow of patriotic impulse, we must all agree that it is still better 
 for us, American citizens, to stand where we are ; where no mere picture of distant 
 or ancient battle has been engaging our thoughts ; where a fierce struggle, fought 
 to a successful issue, became, as has been shown, a principal condition of our 
 present, permanent, and glorious American liberty. We must rejoice that the 
 defeat and the dismay, the massacre and the retreat of Brooklyn Heights gave 
 place to the success and the victory of Harlem Plains. It is every way ennobling to 
 stand upon these summits, where, through the enveloping murk and gloom, shone 
 forth the transfiguring light of the wisdom and the courage of Washington and his 
 comrades, and to be reminded of the precious blood by the shedding of which free- 
 dom and hope were purchased for us. 
 
 It is good to remember, too, as we have been told to-day, that not only the men 
 whom history celebrates contributed to the success which we commemorate ; that a 
 woman's hand turned the poised scales of destiny, and that to a woman's wit and 
 patriotic courage was due the rescue of Putnam and his division from the troops of 
 General Howe. We do not care to know henceforth the name " Incleberg ! " 
 Let it sleep in the historic page ! Let it linger only amid the records which eager 
 and patient eyes, like those of our orator, shall explore ! Let us rejoice that it 
 
Battle of Harlem Plains. 91 
 
 has been swept from present American remembrance by the superseding name of 
 that noble woman which shall cling as now to " Murray Hill," and make it her 
 monument, while New York continues. Let us gratefully remember that to that 
 bright woman, and to the soldiers whose escape she secured, we owe the liberties 
 which we to-day enjoy and boast ! Let us not forget, as we go from these heights, 
 that the artisan pursues his peaceful industry, because the soldier fought here be- 
 fore him ; that this holiday assembly, these holiday flags, the commerce which seeks 
 yonder liquid highways, on the right hand and the left ; all the manifold industries 
 of the city and of the land ; these asylums, our churches and newspapers, our 
 schools and courts, yonder splendid mansions, that beauteous pleasure ground — 
 these all are now possible to us because the soldiers of a hundred years since stood 
 fast and died in our behalf! And, as we remember this indebtedness \j/> the past, 
 let us honor those who represent those soldiers in the present, with an equal readi- 
 ness to do and to die ; and let us determine for ourselves, that each of us, by life 
 and labor, will contribute in our peaceful individual ways, as far as it is given us 
 to do it, to the furtherance of the liberty for which they died, the memory of whose 
 sacrifice hallows this ground, to the maintenance of that Republican civilization to 
 whose early beginnings their names and work still give renown ! 
 
 Mr. President: We have been instructed by the careful and various know- 
 ledge of our distinguished orator. We have been charmed by the vivid and pic- 
 turesque grace with which he has unrolled before us this memorable panorama of 
 battle. We have been quickened and inspired by his thoughtful and patriotic elo- 
 quence. We shall all, I am sure, rejoice together that the Committee of Arrange- 
 ments entrusted this office to one of whom it has already been well said that he 
 worthily bears an illustrious name — a name which is so great an inheritance that it 
 takes a good man and a strong man to bear it worthily ! And I know that I 
 simply utter the feeling of all present, when, in behalf of the Society, which has 
 done me the honor to count me among its honorary members, I offer the following 
 resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be and are hereby tendered to the 
 Honorable John Jay for his interesting and instructive address of this day, in 
 commemoration of the historic event which took place on this spot a hundred 
 years ago ; and that a copy be requested for publication. 
 
 The Hon. James W. Keekman seconded the resolution. 
 
 Mr. President : — In seconding the resolution which has just been so eloquently 
 offered by the Rev. Dr. Storrs, I propose to point out, as a peculiar reason for 
 its adoption, the justice done to New York by this celebration. 
 
 I venture to claim for Manhattan more honor for patriotic devotion and courage 
 than it has been usual to accord her. We are accustomed to hear the praises of 
 New England ; and Bunker Hill has eclipsed in fame, by reason of its priority of 
 occurrence, all the other considerable battles of the war of Independence. Yet 
 New York began resistance to British aggression in the street battle of Golden 
 Hill, at the corner of the present John and Pearl streets. The first blood of the 
 American Revolution was there shed, on the iSth of January, 1770 (as has been 
 
92 Commemoration of the 
 
 pointed out by the historian Dawson), two months before the famous "massacre " 
 in King street, Boston, and five years and four months before the affair of Lexing- 
 ton. Liberty of conscience, which was the later boast of Rhode Island and 
 Maryland, always prevailed in New York from its foundation ; liberty of the 
 press was maintained in the acquittal of John Peter Zenger, in 1745. In October, 
 1764, New York appointed the first Committee of Correspondence, which was 
 also the first step towards resistance and union, six years before Massachusetts, 
 and nine years before Virgina imitated her example. When an attempt was made 
 to put the Stamp Act in force, in 1765, the merchants of New York organized the 
 non-importation agreement, and executed it faithfully. There was a tea-party 
 here as well as in Boston ; but what was done there by a small body of men by 
 night and under the disguise of Mohawks, was done here in broad daylight by the 
 citizens in mass-meeting and without concealment. And when hostilities had 
 commenced, New York overturned the King's authority in the city, and estab- 
 lished a governing Committee of One Hundred, April 24th, 1775, long before such 
 action was taken by any other colony or community in America. During that 
 critical night, on which Washington withdrew his army silently across the East 
 River, after the defeat on Brooklyn Heights, not a single spy was able to carry 
 tidings of what was going on to the British on Long Island. The secret was 
 kept by New York, and the patriot army was saved. 
 
 On the spot where we now stand the first repulse of the war was sustained by the 
 British arms. As we have just heard, the insulting bugle blast, the fox hunter's 
 "gone away," given by the bugles of the enemy from the upper slope of this hill, 
 as the dashing light infantry drove in our pickets, stung with shame the veteran 
 officers, some of whom had seen service in the French war of 1756. The Com- 
 mander-in-Chief seized the favorable moment to turn the retreat into success, and 
 by a well-concerted move, to raise the morale of our troops disheartened by the 
 precipitate flight of the preceding day. A rally of our men took place — of men 
 from every colony — and the result was the repulse of the British, which we com- 
 memorate now. The American arms had never before been successful : for Bunker 
 Hill was a defeat — so was the battle of Long Island. Here was their first 
 success. 
 
 Although the battle of Harlem Plains has been called only a skirmish, its im- 
 portance in a military sense was great. Had the British advance not been thus 
 checked, the army of Independence would have been enveloped by superior 
 numbers, Fort Washington and our incomplete defences captured, and our entire 
 army destroyed. The British plans were very simple. They desired to cut off the 
 New England from the other colonies, by seizing the passes of the Hudson, and to 
 occupy Albany by an invasion from Canada. The success of the British campaign 
 depended, therefore, upon the destruction of the army of Washington. By its 
 grim and slow withdrawal into the Jerseys, time was gained to fortify the High- 
 lands, and that severing of the colonies, which was aimed at, was finally made 
 impossible by the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga in the next year. 
 
 All this resulted from the cheering inspiration and hope which the joy of success 
 gave to our forces at the battle of Harlem Plains. Wet, sick, disheartened by 
 the retreat from Long Island, and by the rout at Kip's Bay, they learned here 
 that British regulars were not invincible. 
 
Battle of Harlem Plains. 93 
 
 I advocate most heartily, therefore, the adoption of the resolution of thanks to 
 the orator, who has commemorated so worthily this eventful day. 
 
 The question was put by the President, and the resolution un- 
 animously adopted. 
 
 Mr. John Austin Stevens, on behalf of the Committee on the 
 Celebration, offered the following resolutions, which were unani- 
 mously adopted : — 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be and are hereby tendered to His 
 Excellency the Governor of the State of Rhode Island, and His Honor the Mayor 
 of New York, for the signal honor they have done us this day by their presence 
 on the battle-field where the sons of the sister colonies stood shoulder to shoulder 
 with those of New York a century ago. 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be and are hereby tendered to the 
 Reverend Clergy for their cordial and grateful presence on this occasion. 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be and are hereby tendered to the 
 distinguished assemblage who have so cordially responded to its invitation, and are 
 gathered here to unite with it in its commemoration of a day eventful in New York 
 annals and glorious in the history of the struggle for Independence. 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the Society and of this meeting be and are hereby 
 tendered to the officers and gentlemen of the Seventh Regiment, New York State 
 Militia, for their generous and patriotic response to the invitation of the Society 
 to be present on this occasion, adding to its interest in a manner so conspicuous 
 and so appropriate. 
 
 Resolved, That the Society cheerfully acknowledge their obligations to the 
 owners of the ground upon which this celebration is held, Messrs. Drexel and 
 Olmstead, for its free use, and to Mr. Henry Tone, the present owner of the old 
 De Peyster House, for the obliging manner in which he has placed it at the dispo- 
 sition of the Committee of Arrangements. 
 
 Rev. William Adams, D.D., pronounced a benediction — 
 
 God save and bless our country ; enabling us, like our fathers, to "withstand 
 in the evil day, and having done all to stand. " The blessing of Almightly God, 
 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost be with you all, now and for ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 The Society then adjourned. 
 
 ANDREW WARNER, 
 
 Recording Secretary. 
 
94 Commemoration of the 
 
 NEWSPAPER NOTICES OF THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 From the New York Times of Sunday, September 17, 1870. 
 
 " Another of the one hundred years old exploits of the Revolutionary War was 
 commemorated yesterday on the high grounds of Harlem, lying between One 
 Hundred and Tenth and One Hundred and Twenty-fifth streets and Ninth and 
 Tenth Avenues. The event was historic, and was celebrated upon historic ground. 
 The battle of Harlem Plains, as a battle, was on a comparatively small scale, but 
 its value was positive and emphatic. It brought no actual disaster to the British 
 arms — it resulted in a little more than a check to their pretensions — but it gave 
 new ardor and confidence to the American troops, and removed the depression 
 which since the battle of Long Island had brooded over the army. The story of 
 the conflict was told by the orator of the day, and, therefore, it needs no recapi- 
 tulation here. Suffice it to say that the trained veterans of Britain assailed the 
 American position, were driven back by the raw levies of Washington, and re- 
 treated from the field. But out of the slight conflict came a bolder bearing, an 
 intrepidity of purpose, to the revolutionary soldiers. They had fought and con- 
 quered, and might not the victory be multiplied? The day on which the battle 
 was fought was the birthday of an ardor and energy which culminated in the 
 loftiest triumph, and accordingly it was deemed worthy of commemoration. The 
 Historical Society took the matter in hand, and drew the bright record of the time 
 from the archives of the dead century. Success crowned their undertaking. The 
 demonstration was unique, simple, and patriotic. Some of the best names in the 
 country lent to it their prestige ; the people came to the celebration to the number 
 of nearly five thousand ; the military were represented by the Seventh Regiment ; 
 Rev. Drs. Storrs, Adams, and Dix were among the representatives of the clergy, 
 and in all respects the conflict of a century ago was loyally commemorated. That 
 a Marathon should fire the patriotism of one who stood upon the classic ground, 
 or an Iona make his piety burn with a brighter ray, was the text of the hour, and 
 it was well borne in mind by the assemblage. They stood, after all, on classic 
 ground themselves, and they needed no better reminder of their loyalty. Beneath 
 their eye lay ' a country well worth fighting for ' indeed. To the south was the 
 great emporium of the country's commerce and industry ; its freighted argosies 
 went by within their view on the waters of the East River and Long Island Sound ; 
 the ground sloped away to the distant High Bridge on the north, and a little to 
 
Battle of Harlem Plains. 95 
 
 the left they caught a glimpse of the noble Hudson and the Palisades through two 
 dark-green clumps of woodland. All around was something to suggest historic 
 memories. The yellow gable of the old De Peyster House, near which the battle 
 of one hundred years ago was fought, was hard by, and on the broken ground in 
 the valley stood the stone fence behind which the British had made their most 
 desperate stand. It was the spot where the battle was most hotly waged. 
 
 " The ceremonial of the day took place on the slope of the hill overlooking the 
 Harlem Plains. A handsome stand had been erected for the members of the Soci- 
 ety and their invited guests, and close by was another stand for the Band of the 
 Seventh Regiment. Both were handsomely draped with red cloth, and above 
 them waved the American ensign. Flags displaying the city arms were also flung 
 to the winds. The slopes of the hill were clotted with tents, above all of which 
 waved the Stars and Stripes. The ground was partially enclosed, roe fence around 
 being draped in red, white, and blue, and having flags displayed at short intervals. 
 It had been decided to begin the ceremonies at 2.30 o'clock, but matters were not 
 quite in train at that time. It was nearly an hour later when the members of the 
 Historical Society and their guests arrived from the city in carriages, and about 
 the same time the sounds of a military band were heard, and the Seventh Regi- 
 ment came marching up One Hundred and Tenth street, not far from the spot 
 where, a century before, the British troops had passed. The regiment looked 
 splendidly as it moved along. There was just a flash of sunlight needed to glint 
 back from their bayonets, for the day was dull and sombre, but for all that the 
 pageant was excellent. The regiment drew up on the northern slope of the hill, 
 and the bandsmen in their gay uniforms took their place on their stand. The 
 crowd was now compact and attentive. Ladies were present in large numbers, 
 and most of them were provided with seats. Police were in attendance from the 
 Twenty-second, Thirtieth, Thirty-first, Thirty-second, and Thirty-fifth Precincts, 
 under command of Inspector Speight, but where there was so much disposition 
 toward order there was but small need for their service. On the outer edge of 
 the inclosure space was provided for a band of boys and girls from a neighboring 
 institution, each one of whom carried a miniature American flag. Various trifles 
 indicating the patriotism of the people were to be seen. Among others was a medal 
 commemorative of the occasion, which was largely circulated. It bore on one 
 side the inscription, ' The Centennial year of our national independence.' Be- 
 neath this was a portrait of Washington and the date ' 1876.' On the revers 
 side was inscribed, ' Battle of Harlem Plains, September, 1776.' Among those 
 taking part in the ceremonies of the day or approving of it by their presence were : 
 Gov. Henry Lippitt, of Rhode Island, and staff, including Col. Charles Warren 
 Lippitt, Chief of Personal Staff; Col. Edward Eames; Col. Theodore M. Cook ; 
 Gen. Heber Le favour, Adjutant-General of the State of Rhode Island; Col. J. 
 C. Knight, Paymaster-General; Hon. John Jay; Frederic De Peyster, President 
 of the Historical Society ; James W. Beekman, Vice-President ; Rev. Dr. Rich- 
 ard S. Storrs, of Brooklyn ; Rev. Dr. Adams, Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix, E. F. De- 
 lancey, John Austin Stevens, C. H. Ward, Mayor Wickham, ex-Commissioner 
 Van Nort, George H. Moore, Fordham Morris, Col. Warner, Charles O'Conor, 
 Judge Larremore, Gen. Kilburne Knox, Major Gardner, United States Army ; 
 George W. McLean, Major of the Old Guard ; County Auditor Earle, Col. 
 
g6 Commemoration of the 
 
 Clarke and Lieut. Col. Fitzgerald, of the Seventh Regiment, and Hosea B. Per- 
 kins. The orator of the day was Hon. John Tay, who in eloquent terms told the 
 story of the American triumph on Harlem Plains, and inculcated the virtue of 
 patriotism ; while a few words, magnetic, however, in their effect, were addressed 
 to the assemblage by Rev. Dr. Storrs, of Brooklyn. 
 
 From the Evening Telegram of Septe?nber 16, 1876. 
 
 "This afternoon the one hundredth anniversary of the battle of Harlem 
 Plains was celebrated on the very ground where the action took place. On 
 Thursday afternoon the Telegram gave a resume - of the leading features in that 
 brilliant engagement, and therefore no necessity exists for our now referring to 
 them save in a general way. The locality where the battle was fought lies be- 
 tween 110th and 125th streets, and between Ninth and Tenth avenues, and is one 
 of the very few places which is both near the heart of New York City and cele- 
 brated in the history of the American Revolution. For the celebration of this 
 event the day did not dawn as auspiciously as could have been desired. The 
 sunshine ; lternated too frequently with shadow, and a rainstorm seemed imminent. 
 The arrangements, however, were made with sense and taste, and carried out in a 
 spirit of good discipline. The plateau upon which the exercises were held is 
 nearly five hundred feet long, and lies between Riverside Park and Harlem Lane. 
 Here a platform and music stand were erected, and tents were pitched for the 
 accommodation of guests. The whole place was alive with flags and gay with 
 bunting. An immense concourse of people were present. These came in car- 
 riages, on foot, by the Second, Third, and Eighth avenue cars, and by the 
 Elevated and the Harlem railroads. At the intersection of 118th street and 
 Tenth avenue a carriage-way and a station for teams. Opposite this carriage-way 
 the Seventh Regiment took its stand. The platform was occupied by the mem- 
 bers of the New York Historical Society (among whom are to be found some of 
 the most cultured gentlemen of New York), Mayor Wickham, various city 
 authorities, and a number of invited guests, and the orator of the day, the Hon. 
 John Jay. This gentleman is the grandson of John Jay, the first Chief- Justice of 
 the United States. He is now in the prime of his physical and mental powers, 
 and by descent, by wise scholarship, by reverence for historical traditions, and by 
 a rare gift of eloquence, he is peculiarly fitted for the grateful task which devolved 
 upon him. These qualifications were recognized by the vast assembly, for when 
 Mr. Jay came forward he was received with loud and long reverberating 
 applause. After a brief but felicitous preface, he defined the real importance of 
 the battle or skirmish known as that of Harlem Plains. He touched upon the 
 defeat which the Americans had experienced in Brooklyn on August 27th, on the 
 subsequent evacuation of New York, and on the final landing of Howe near Kip's 
 Bay, three miles from the city. He gave a magnificent view of the gallant con- 
 duct of Washington, who, reduced to desperation by what he thought the coward- 
 ly conduct of his troops, perilled his life by rushing madly into action. Pie de- 
 scribed how, on September 16, 1776, exactly a hundred years ago, the advanced 
 guard of the American line had been driven in by a superior English force. 
 
Battle of Harlem Plains. 97 
 
 Washington determined to attack in front, as a feint to draw the enemy down, 
 while Col. Knowlton, gaining the high rocks on the Hudson River side, would 
 attack in the rear. Finally, the orator, in a burst of impassioned rhetoric, 
 related how the English were driven from their successive positions, and took 
 shelter behind a fence about two hundred yards distant, where they were rein- 
 forced by a body of Hessians. Mr. Jay drew several brilliant and thrilling 
 pictures complimentary to the patriotic fidelity of the American forces. While 
 doing this, however, he carefully avoided bombast and spread-eagleism. His 
 speech was a fitting embodiment of the centennial spirit, devoid of everything 
 like turgidity and ranting. The whole affair was one of the most thrilling and 
 picturesque of the many commemorations this season has drawn forth. The 
 music, the speech, the applause, the flowers, the green sward, the rjpe foliage, the 
 waving handkerchiefs, the equipages, the superb toilets, the gay military trap- 
 pings, and the beautiful national flags waving over all, made up a scene not soon 
 to be forgotten." 
 
 From the New York Herald of September 17, 1876. 
 
 "Yesterday, at one o'clock, there was a meeting of the Committee of Recep- 
 tion of the Historical Society of the State of New York, at the Fifth Avenue 
 Hotel. The guests received were Governor Henry Lippitt, of Rhode Island ; 
 Colonel Charles Warren Lippitt, chief of the personal staff; Colonel Edward 
 Eames, Colonel Theodore M. Cook, General Heber Lefavour, Adjutant-General 
 of the State, and Colonel Jabers C. Knight, Paymaster-General. The reunion, 
 it is hardly necessary to state, was for the purpose of arranging the proceedings to 
 take place later in the day, on the site of the battle of Harlem Plains, on which 
 historic spot Hon. John Jay was to deliver an oration. 
 
 "On arriving at the place of celebration, a scene of unrivalled beauty was 
 unfolded. Upon a large plateau upon the edge of a bluff extending from 115th to 
 125th street, were erected two large covered platforms, festooned in an elaborate 
 manner with American flags ; tents were pitched upon the ground, from which 
 floated the national colors ; the fences and trees were likewise decorated, and 
 from every point — not excepting the Bloomingdale Lunatic Asylum — there seemed 
 to be a spontaneous display of red, white, and blue. In front stretched the low- 
 lands, now teeming rich with the autumnal vegetation ; to the left, the low brick 
 houses of Harlem, seeming almost a phototype of that ancient city in Holland 
 from which it takes its name. Far in the distance the sparkling waters of Long 
 Island Sound laved the dim shores ; and, city- ward, the spires of the churches 
 pierced the dull September sky like lances. The only glittering object, however, 
 shining through the ether was the great Cathedral in distant Fifth avenue, whose 
 marble fretwork seemed to be mirrored against the heavens and reflect its glory 
 on the landscape. In gazing westward the winding Hudson was seen washing the 
 feet of the Palisades, and, way beyond, steamers were plying from shore to shore 
 as peacefully as if never battles had been lost or won. 
 
 "About three o'clock the Historical Society arrived upon the ground and took 
 possession of the main stand. They were accompanied by the following gentle- 
 men : Governor Lippitt and staff, Mayor W. H. Wickham, Charles O'Conor, 
 
98 Commemoration of the Battle of Harlem Plains. 
 
 Judge Larremore, ex-Mayor Tiemann, Major Gardner, United States Army ; 
 Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix, General Kilbourne Knox, Senator Beekman, Colonel 
 Warner, Major George W. McLean, of the "Old Guard;" Rev. Dr. Richard 
 S. Storrs, Rev. Dr. Adams, ex-Commissioner Van Nort, County Auditor Earle, 
 James Russell Lowell, Benjamin H. Field, Hosea B. Perkins, Fordham Morris, 
 Henry A. Oakley, G. H. Moore, and F. de Peyster." 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY