After British general William Howe had driven George Washington out of New York City, the Continental army occupied the northern end of Manhattan Island. This position centered on Fort Washington, which controlled the Hudson River along with Fort Lee on the Palisades in New Jersey. Fort Washington was little more than earthworks but derived its greatest defensive asset from its height 230 feet above the river. Despite this advantage, the revolutionaries confronted a difficult situation: The perimeter entrenchments spread along five miles needed a force of 8,000-10,000 men to be properly defended, while Fort Washington itself could hold a garrison of about 1,400 men. Moreover, just to the north of the fort was a hill of almost the same height which, if occupied by the enemy, could rain deadly fire on the defenders. Washington thought that it might be best to withdraw from Manhattan, but he deferred to General Nathanael Greene, who was closer to the scene at Fort Lee. Greene believed Fort Washington could withstand an attack by the British army and funneled 2,800 men onto Manhattan--too few to successfully man all the outer defenses and too many to be stationed in Fort Washington alone.

Howe decided to attack the Manhattan outpost after the Battle of White Plains (October 28, 1776) and Washington's retreat further into New York State. In early November an officer from the fort deserted to the British and provided them with detailed plans of the defensive works. Howe concentrated 8,000 men around northern Manhattan in mid-November and demanded that Colonel Robert McGaw, who commanded the revolutionary troops in and around Fort Washington, surrender. McGaw refused.

On the morning of November 16, 1776, Howe launched a four-pronged attack. In the early morning, General Von Knyphausen crossed the Harlem River with 3,000 Hessians to advance on Fort Washington from the north, while Lord Percy approached with 2,000 men from the south, and Lord Cornwallis and General Edward Mathew crossed the Harlem River near Laurel Hill to the west of the Fort with 3,000 soldiers. The fourth prong, a regiment of 800 Highlanders under Colonel Thomas Sterling, landed closer to the Morris Mansion, intending to cut off the Continentals manning the lines to the south. The coordination did not work quite as planned, and both Knyphausen and Percy had to delay their advance until Cornwallis and Mathew were in position. Moreover, most of the revolutionaries were able to withdraw to Fort Washington by late afternoon. But eluding early capture did not help the defenders. Hessian and British troops seized the hill just to the north of the fort, leaving the revolutionaries crowded into the earthworks in a hopeless situation. With the enemy in such a commanding position, and British troops approaching in vastly superior numbers from all directions, McGaw had no choice but to surrender or see his men slaughtered. In the fighting, which was very intense, the British lost 78 killed and 378 wounded. The Continental army lost 59 killed and 96 wounded (this number probably only counts the seriously wounded), but 230 officers and 2,600 enlisted men surrendered. The British also seized 146 cannons and a great deal of other military equipment and supplies. In addition, they crossed the Hudson and scaled the Palisades on November 20 to capture Fort Lee. To avoid another disaster, however, Washington had ordered the Continentals in the fort to abandon their heavy equipment and withdraw before the British could surround them.

The capture of Fort Washington is also noteworthy because of two incidents. After the fighting began, Washington, Greene, and several other officers crossed the Hudson River to access the situation. They arrived at the Morris Mansion, which had a commanding view of the Harlem River and the advancing British soldiers. Seeing the imminent danger, the officers urged Washington to withdraw, which he did, insisting that they accompany him. Fifteen minutes later, Colonel Sterling's men arrived at the mansion, just missing capturing Washington and several of his general officers. At Fort Washington, a different kind of drama unfolded. After Margaret "Molly" Cochran Corbin's husband was killed by Hessian fire, she replaced him at his cannon and continued fighting until she was wounded in the shoulder.

Bibliography:

Barnet Schecter, The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution (New York: Walker & Company, 2002)

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