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The Battle of Harlem Heights was fought during the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War. The action took place in what is now the Morningside Heights and east into the future Harlem neighborhoods of northwestern Manhattan Island in New York Town on September 16, 1776. The Continental Army, under Commander-in-Chief General George Washington, Major General Nathanael Greene, and Major General Israel Putnam, totaling around 1,800 men, held a series of high ground positions in upper Manhattan against an attacking British Army division totaling around 5,000 men under the command of Major General Alexander Leslie. British troops made a tactical error by having their light infantry buglers sound a fox hunting call, "gone away," while in pursuit. This was intended to insult Washington, himself a keen fox hunter, who learned the sport from his neighbor and mentor near Alexandria, Virginia, the Sixth Lord Fairfax (Thomas Fairfax) during the French and Indian War. "Gone away" means that a fox is in full flight from the hounds on its trail. The Continentals, who were in orderly retreat, were infuriated by this and galvanized to hold their ground. After flanking the British attackers, the Americans slowly pushed the British back. After the British withdrawal, Washington had his troops end the pursuit. The battle went a long way to restoring the confidence of the Continental Army after suffering several defeats. It was Washington's first battlefield victory of the war. After a month without any major fighting between the armies, Washington was forced to withdraw his army north to the town of White Plains in southeastern New York when the British moved north into Westchester County and threatened to trap Washington further south on Manhattan. Washington suffered two more defeats, at White Plains and Fort Washington. After these two defeats, and also with the evacuation of Fort Lee (named after his deputy, General Charles Lee) across the Hudson River guarding the western shore in New Jersey, Washington and the army retreated across New Jersey to Pennsylvania. The New York and New Jersey campaign ended after the subsequent American Christmas victories at Trenton and Princeton, which reinvigorated the Continental Army and the new nation. ==Background== On August 27, 1776, British troops under the command of General William Howe flanked and defeated the American army at the Battle of Long Island.〔McCullough p.166〕 Howe moved his forces and pinned the Americans down at Brooklyn Heights, with the East River to the American rear. On the night of August 29, General George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, evacuated his entire army of 9,000 men and their equipment across the water to Manhattan.〔McCullough p.191〕 On September 15, Howe landed his army in an amphibious operation at Kip's Bay, on the eastern shore of Manhattan, along the East River.〔McCullough p.209〕 After a bombardment of the American positions on the shore, 4,000 British and Hessian troops landed at Battle of Kip's Bay. The American troops began to flee at the sight of the enemy, and even with Washington's arrival on the scene and taking immediate bold command, demanding his soldiers to fight, they refused to obey orders and continued to flee.〔McCullough p.212〕 After scattering the Americans at Kip's Bay, Howe landed 9,000 more troops, but mysteriously did not immediately cut off the American retreat from New York Town in the south of the island.〔Lengel p.154〕 Washington had all of his troops in the city on their way to north along the westside of Manhattan to Harlem Heights by 4:00 pm and they all reached the fortifications on the Heights by nightfall.〔Lengel p.155〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Harlem Heights」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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