Celebrate Our Revolutionary Legacy

WHO

Eugene Hough, with the Legacy Marker Memorial program of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania,
will be in Little Egg Harbor, N.J. working with Site manager, AEHHS, Inc.
to complete the weeks-long project in preparation for the
250th Anniversary of the American Revolution.
Mr. Hough is a professional Stone Mason with decades of experience.
He is also an accomplished youth educator who, being skilled and well versed
in stonework, teaches about construction at historic sites and memorial preservation.

WHAT

What is being done at the site? While no work besides cosmetic preservation
will be done to the historic 19th century Pulaski Monument itself, this project will install
a New formal Entranceway featuring granite monumental stairs bisecting a
decorative stone wall on the site.
The wall and stairs will open into a new public venue area in front of the Monument.
Most of the material was donated, including the 8 feet long Granite stairs (
from a former mansion in the Philadelphia area) as well as several tons
of 1890s-era architectural Shist Stone (from a hospital renovation also in Philadelphia).
The project will have an approximately thirty foot frontage, set back from the street
on a lower section of the site opposite the Monument..

WHY

Why is it so important to properly understand the N.J. 250th Anniversary?
The founding of our nation in 1776 will be celebrated in 2026.
The noteworthiness of this project on this project on this site at this time is
it highlights the fact that the Revolutionary War
in South Jersey didn't occur just in the year 1776. Actually,
it extended over a period of eight years, starting historically in 1775 or even earlier.
Completing the project this year will spotlight this important period in
Little Egg Harbor's history—which began a year before the signing of the Declaration of
Independence and continued through the October 1778 Defense of Little Egg Harbor
campaign and battle. So while the 250th year marking our anniversary
at the Pulaski Monument site actually doesn't occur until 2028 --there's a bigger
story to tell starting now on the 250th Anniversary calendar!

In short, the October 1778 battle and campaign saved the historical port of Little
Egg Harbor --the significance of which can only be understood by looking at
events that began years earlier. And the story is a big one!

AEHHS, Inc.

(The Project) AEHHS promotes local history. This project is a prime
opportunity for Regional and Local recognition of important history, said Dale Denda, exec.dir. adding,
'The project’s theme, and that of our 250th program, is taken from a 2023 Ocean County Commissioners'
Proclamation recognizing the actual, now research-verified history of the Pulaski Monument site.
It stated in part: "What we take from the past, will assure a better Tomorrow." 'That's our theme".

(Funding needed) While some project donations came in last year to cover the transport cost
for the large material to the site, more money is needed for equipment and materials,
according to Michael Czurlanis, President of AEHHS.
In 2024 an anonymous donor stepped forward to take the work to the next level, but only partially.
Donations are still being accepted to complete the project.

(Research) AEHHS has an active historical research program examining
traditional archives sources from Little Egg Harbor port, the campaign of
October 1778, as well as less accessible Revolutionary War Veterans pension
records of soldiers who actually fought in the October 15 battle.
The Monument marks the battlefield of that engagement.

AEHHS, Inc. is an unaffiliated, private non-profit N.J. Corporation operating as
a Historical Society which is custodian of the Pulaski Monument and
associated Willits-Andrews Farmstead site, both on the federal National
Register of Historic Places.

Contacts:
Lisa Stevens (Media logistics): lnstevens@comcast.net
Michael Czurlanis, President AEHHS, Inc. (Project superintendent): 609-709-8031
Dale Denda, Executive director (Historical research): 571-242-2197

Saturday, October 19, 2024, 1 p.m.
Pulaski Monument,
Little Egg Harbor

(Site opens early at 10:00 a.m. for Socially-distanced Public Meet & Greet and Historical background discussion,
with elementary/middle school program at 11 a.m. Ceremony at 1 p.m.)

Hear the details of how 60 American (Polish-schooled) horse cavalry
put an end to a major British amphibious invasion, saving the
port of Little Egg Harbor

The Ceremony: Solemn commemoration including flag lowering and wreath-laying. Historical narrative is offered of the context of the Battle of October 15, 1778 during the Defense of Little Egg Harbor in the American Revolution. This year’s ceremony will be preceded by an outdoor ‘open-house’ at the monument including a big update of new historical research findings about the Oct. 15th battle, as part of discussion with the public about Gen. Casimir Pulaski’s defense of the Port of Little Egg Harbor, starting at 10 A.M.

Directions: From Garden State Parkway (N.J.), take Exit 58 (Route 539) toward Tuckerton [3.3 miles] to Route 9. In Tuckerton, turn RIGHT onto Route 9; proceed one block to traffic light at Great Bay Blvd. Turn LEFT onto Great Bay Blvd and proceed one-third mile and turn RIGHT onto Radio Road. Proceed 2.25 miles down Radio Road, passing through the intersection of Harbortown Blvd/Mathistown Rd (traffic light). The Pulaski Monument is on the LEFT, just past the fire station.

The History: The Pulaski Monument marks the site where Continental Army General Casimir Pulaski successfully repulsed a brutish attack on October 15 1778 during the Defense of Little Egg Harbor. During the campaign, which began October 5, the British enemy would retreat twice in 9 days in front of the Pulaski Legion's dragoon cavalry. The British finally gave up their objective, in the week after the Battle of October 15, of reaching Batsto-at-the-Forks on the Mullica River some 18 miles away. Batsto’s warehouses, ship-fitting facilities and iron works were the heart of the port of Little Egg Harbor. General Pulaski’s defensive scheme on October 15 during a renewed British assault proved effective even though the enemy clumsily attacked and butchered an infantry outpost of the Legion (site of the Pulaski Monument). The attack betrayed a strategically envisioned, carefully-laid, but ultimately useless British plan of secret advance by 250 crack infantry, already 8 hours in execution. About 15 American infantrymen and 2 foreign-born officers were lost at the outpost.
Pulaski's ‘trap’ was then sprung in a decisive counter-attack unleashed from his 3/4 mile distant headquarters at the Willits-Andrews farm. American dragoon cavalry, some 60 horses, and a swarm of infantry, caused another panicked withdrawal of British light infantry back to an island and onto ships. The British lost 3 soldiers killed, some wounded and a dozen missing - - scattered by the charging horses. Several dozen more enemy prisoners were taken.

On October 16, a loyalty oath to the Continental Congress was also administered at the Willits- Andrews farmstead by Legion officers to area residents. The war would go on, but the enemy would never again attempt to show its flag so brazenly in South Jersey. Such were the events of October 1778 in the American Revolution during the Defense of Little Egg Harbor. May their service and sacrifice be remembered!

National Register of Historic Places: The Pulaski Monument site on Radio Road, and the associated Headquarters site ¾ mile away, is found on the historic register maintained by the U.S. Department of the Interior – NPS.