Other detachments were engaged in various parts of a held that embraced woodland, hill, and valley. The centre of the battle was in a buckwheat field that appears to have been midway between Columbia Uni\'ersity and Grant's tomb. The main engagement lasted from eleven o'clock till about half-past two, and was participated in l:)y more than four thousand out of the eight thousand men comprising the American army, while a superior body of British opposed them. The American forces were completely victorious, finally chasing the King's troops down a hill and being recalled with difficulty by order of the Commander-mchief. This necessarily brief account of the famous battle of Harlem Heights has followed what seems to be the most rational exposition of the perplexing and frequently contradictory records that have reached us. It is greatly to be regretted that for many years no effort was made to fix beyond question the scene of this important engagement. That it was important

I So The Hudson River

a glance at the correspondence of the time will show. The Americans, recently disheartened by defeat, found their confidence restored and the British had received a wholesome check that influenced many a subsequent plan.

Chapter XII Forts Washington and Lee

FOR a month after the battle of Harlem Heights the Americans held possession of the northern end of the island, with the works they had erected there. There were three main lines in the Heights. The first was at 147th Street, the second, with four redoubts, along 153d to 155th Street, and the third, incomplete and with no redoubts, was at i6ist Street. Mount Washington, as it was then called, was substantially fortified, the defences there covering several acres between what are now i8ist and i86th Streets. The armament of this citadel consisted of thirty-two pieces of heavy ordnance.