On October 6, 1778, the British sent a naval expedition and 300 troops to wipe out the privateering center at Little Egg Harbor and destroy Batsto Iron Works. Unable to reach Batsto, the raiders, joined by 100 local Loyalists, instead destroyed two landings and three salt works. Some 150 Patriot militiamen were forced to retreat in the face of the superior British force, which torched the privateering village of Chestnut Neck and its port. In 1910, the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a 50-foot monument, topped by the statue of a Minuteman, to commemorate the battle. In 1988, the Sons of the American Revolution added a monument to the memory of 34 New Jersey privateering captains, responsible for capturing 195 prize vessels, which were brought into New Jersey ports between 1776 and 1783.



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