Harlem Heights – Day-By-Day America

Colonel Thomas Knowlton, shown here wielding a musket at the Battle of Bunker Hill, was among the handful of Americans killed in a series of skirmishes at Harlem Heights. He was “a brave & good Officer”, and some who knew him thought that his death alone was a significant loss to the army.

Harlem Heights was where the American army pulled together and dug in after their disgraceful retreat from New York. The position was strong enough that George Washington hoped they would be able to hold it against the enemy,

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 shew themselves worthy of the blessings of Freedom.

On September 16, the day after the retreat, British and Hessian troops began approaching the American fortifications at Harlem Heights. One American soldier described the action the next day:

Around midday on Sunday, September 15, 1776, British and Hessian troops invaded Manhattan Island and sent the American troops running helter-skelter for safety.

Kips Bay (here spelled “Kep’s”) was the scene of the British-Hessian landing on Manhattan (a.k.a. York Island), which caused a panic-stricken retreat among the defending Americans.

First, several British ships anchored close to the island and fiercely bombarded the American fortifications along the shore of Kips Bay. Soon the American troops abandoned their trenches and made a panic-stricken, disorganized retreat — a rout, to use the military phrase. Then the British and Hessians, who had come over in boats from Long Island, landed without opposition and started marching across the island to cut off the retreating Americans.

Tag: Harlem Heights

Harlem Heights: A Small But Important Victory

Kips Bay and the Disastrous Retreat from New York