But the odds against them were too great, and after holding their ground valiantly for a while, losing about ten men, they fell back, the line of their retreat being along the old Bloomingdale road "As it was subsequently extended through Manhattanville to the Kingsbridge road above." Close to where Columbia University and Barnard College now stand the British light troops pushed the Rangers till they reached the site of Grant's tomb, where they halted. Beyond that point the ground was probably more open and the pursuers could get a view of General Greene's force; but they sent after the retreating Connecticut men a message that made their

The Island and the River in 1776 177

very ears tingle. The bugle rang out the notes of the fox-chase, a call which to the men of that day needed no interpreter. As the trees and rocks echoed back those derisive notes it seemed as if the cup of humiliation had 1 )een drained to its dregs. How many of the King's trooj^s joined in that ])ursuit is not definitely known. At the first sound of the firing the Second and Third Battalions of Light Infantr}', with the Forty-second Highlanders, began to move up; and it is probable that Knowlton and his Rangers did not retire till these reinforcements commenced to appear upon the scene. Washington, on the other hand, put Spencer's and Putnam's men in readiness along the line of 147th Street, where they seem to have been immediatelv engaged in throwing up earthworks. It is doubtful if General Putnam could have rested for half an hour in any position without leaving something in the nature of a redoubt to mark the spot. Adjutant-General Reed, who joined Knowlton before the retreat, reported the affair to Washington, asking for reinforcements. The Commander-in-chief was then upon the brow overlooking Manhattan ville (the " Hollow Way ' ') from the north.