Is it true that the Battle of Harlem Heights was fought on the current Columbia campus? Yes, on September 16, 1776, General George Washington’s troops met with the British forces in what is now known as Morningside Heights. In fact, the heaviest fighting of the day took place in a buckwheat field by what is now 120th Street and Broadway. The Battle of Harlem Heights was the Continental Army’s first victory since the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775 and the first after the Declaration of Independence. While this was not a major conflict, it came a day after the soul-crushing defeat at Kip’s Bay. As Washington wrote to John Hancock, “this affair … seems to have greatly inspirited the whole of our Troops.” It was a much needed morale boost.
The actual location of the Battle of Harlem Heights was for a long time under dispute, with some placing the conflict further uptown, anywhere from 130th to 155th Streets. But it was the meticulous work of Columbia College alum Lincoln Diamant CC 1943 that conclusively settled the argument. Diamant brought to light an unpublished map found in the Henry Clinton papers at the University of Michigan’s Clements Library. Yes, a map kept at the headquarters of the British forces. Diamant was able to bring together topography, battle troop movements with a present-day City map. His findings were featured in an exhibition in Butler Library in 1944 and were later published in Military Affairs in 1951.
A monument on campus
In October 1897, the Sons of the Revolution presented Columbia with a plaque commemorating the Battle of Harlem Heights, which now stands on the west wall on Broadway by Mathematics. This five-by-six-foot bronze tablet features Colonel Thomas Knowlton’s Rangers fighting the British regulars. In the scene, the second-in-command Major Andrew Leitch (bottom left) has just fallen. Knowlton, with his arm raised, exhorts his men to fight, where he too will soon be shot. The monument is the work of James Edward Kelly, who also designed the Soldiers and Sailors Monument (1902) on Riverside Drive. The Department of Art Properties looks after the campus artworks and it worked with Conservation Solutions/EverGreene Architectural Arts Inc. in the summer of 2018 to clean the plaque. (You can even take a look at a video of this preservation work).
A missed opportunity
In 1917, Columbia was in the process of building its first dormitory with a dining hall and dedicated spaces for student activities. The project was originally known under the very generic term: Students Hall. In what seems a patriotically and geographically inspired choice, the Clerk of the Board of Trustees J.B. Pine suggested that the building should be named Knowlton Hall, in honor of the hero of the Battle of Harlem Heights. Alas, the building opened in October 1926 (yes, shortly after the 150th anniversary of the Battle) under the name John Jay Hall.
A ringing endorsement
In 1976, Columbia marked the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Harlem Heights by having the bells of St. Paul’s Chapel ring out 200 times at 12:00 noon. We’ll have to wait until this fall to find out if they will ring the bells 250 times.
