On February 1, 1782, Captain Huddy of the New Jersey Militia was given command of the blockhouse, or small fort, at the village of Dover on the Toms River. It had been built to protect the local salt works. On March 24, an expedition of 80 Loyalists, who sailed over from New York, joined forces with 40 local Loyalists to overwhelm Huddy's small band of Patriots. They captured and burned the fort, the salt works, wharves and all but two houses in the village. Huddy and two of his men were captured and imprisoned in New York. William Franklin, the former Royal Governor of New Jersey who was the leader of the Board of Associated Loyalists, approved Huddy's execution without trial. He was found on a gallows erected on the beach on the southern coast of Sandy Hook Bay on April 13, nearly six months after the British surrender at Yorktown. Patriot outrage over Huddy's death threatened the Paris peace talks. Both Washington and the commander of British forces in New York, General Henry Clinton, condemned the hanging, and the British disbanded the Board of Loyalists. "e park, created in 1931, includes a replica of the blockhouse and a memorial.

Nearby is the Ocean County Historical Society Museum [26 Hadley Ave., Toms River 08753; Hours Tuesday and Thursday, 1 to 3 p.m.; (732) 341-1880]. Its collection contains local Revolutionary War memorabilia.



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