[Footnote 199: It is quite clear that Knowlton and Leitch did not form two parties, as some accounts state, one moving against the right flank of the enemy and the other against the left. They acted as one body, the Virginians marching in front, having been ordered on to "reinforce" Knowlton. Thus Captain Brown writes that after retreating they "sent off for a reinforcement," which they soon received; and Colonel Reed confirms this in his testimony at the court-martial of a soldier who acted a cowardly part in the fight. "On Monday forenoon," he says, "I left Colonel Knowlton with a design to send him a reinforcement. I had accordingly ordered up Major Leitch, and was going up to where the firing was," etc. (_Force_, 5th Series, vol. ii. p. 500.) Reed's letters to his wife show that Leitch and Knowlton fell near him, within a few minutes of each other, which could not have been the case had they been on opposite flanks. The accounts of Tilghman, Marshall, the soldier Martin, and others, leave no doubt as to this point that there was but one flanking party, and that Knowlton commanded it.]
It was right here, now, just on the crest of the ridge, and when our gallant advance was turning the tide against the enemy, that we suffered the loss of those two noble leaders whose memory is linked with this day's action. In a very short time after the first rush, Leitch was severely wounded not far from Reed, having received three balls in his side in as many minutes; and in less than ten minutes after a bullet pierced Knowlton's body, and he too fell mortally wounded. We can identify the spot where the fall of these brave officers occurred as on the summit of the Bloomingdale Heights below One Hundred and Nineteenth Street, and about half way between the line of Ninth and Tenth Avenues. The site is included within the limits of the proposed "Morningside Park," which will thus have added to its natural attractiveness a never-fading historical association.[200]
[Footnote 200: Judge Burnham refers to the flank attack briefly as follows: "Passing over we met the enemy's right flank which had been posted out of our sight on lower ground. They fired and killed Colonel Knowlton and nearly all that had reached the top of the height." This reference to the _top of the height_, taken in connection with Reed's statement that "our brave fellows mounted up the rocks and attacked them as they ran in turn," goes to confirm the selection of the spot where Leitch and Knowlton fell. Burnham states that he was within a few feet of the latter when he was shot.]