This same night a division of the British soldiers occupied New York.  The others, close on the heels of the American army, waited for the morning.

CHAPTER XXVII

The battle of Harlem heights

When the sun rose next morning (it was September 16th), the American army and the British army lay encamped each on a highland close beside one another separated by a valley.

The ground occupied by the British soldiers was then Vandewater Heights.  Much of this high ground still remains and is now called Columbia Heights, and Columbia University and Grant’s Tomb are upon it.  The American forces were scattered over what was then Harlem Heights, as far as Washington’s head-quarters in the country mansion overlooking the Harlem River above Harlem Plains.  It was the house of Roger Morris, a royalist who had fled at the approach of the American soldiers, and it still stands at 160th Street close by St. Nicholas Avenue.  On the heights and in the valley a battle was fought, beginning with a light engagement quite early in the day, with more and more men of both armies gradually joining in until there were 5,000 Americans against 6,000 British, with several thousand of each side held in reserve.

[Illustration:  Map of Manhattan Island in 1776, Showing the American Defences &c.]

The battle ended in the afternoon with the defeat of the British, who lost 200 of their number.

This was a great victory for the Americans, who fought against superior numbers—­great because the men had lost heart after the defeat on Long Island, and the forced retreat from the city.  There was sorrow for the dead, for even victories have a sad side.  Every one of the 100 American soldiers who were killed that day were brave men, and though all their names are not written in history, the manner of their death urged on their companions in the days that followed.

CHAPTER XXVIII

The British Fail to sweep everything before them

On the fourth day after the battle of Harlem Heights the soldiers of England were making themselves comfortable in New York when a great fire broke out.  It swept over the city and 500 houses crumbled and fell in ashes before it was controlled.  Almost the entire western part of the city was consumed, St. Paul’s Chapel being the only building of importance that was saved.  Almost all who favored the American cause had fled.  But a few remained, and there was a hint that these had started the fire.  The British soldiers were angered when they saw the city they had just entered burning, and while the flames roared and the houses fell they rushed about and in their rage dashed out the brains of the citizens who sought to beat back the flames from their homes.  But it was afterward learned that the fire had started in quite an accidental manner.