The battles for our nation’s independence that took place along the New Jersey coast have been given the title of “the War at the Shore.” Just what does that mean?

The story can start at Sandy Hook, where in the 1760s the colony of New York built and operated a lighthouse. In March of 1776, as George Washington was still besieging the British army at Boston, word leaked that New York City was a possible target for a seaborne invasion by Great Britain’s forces.

On March 4, the rebel New York Provincial Congress ordered Maj. William Malcolm to go to the Sandy Hook lighthouse.