[1] They fortified the property, erecting a stockade 12 feet (3.7 m) high in a roughly triangular shape around the manor house.

[2] Major Benjamin Tallmadge led a force of about 80 men (drawn from his 2nd Continental Light Dragoons) that crossed Long Island Sound in whaleboats from Fairfield, Connecticut on November 21, 1780, landing at present-day Mt.

Ordering his men to leave their muskets unloaded and with bayonets fixed, Tallmadge divided his force into three, with each unit to attack one of the stockade's sides.

Tallmadge's party was not spotted in the early dawn light until it was within 40 yards (37 m) of the stockade, and a sentry fired his weapon to raise the alarm.

The Smith Estate and its 127 acres (51 ha) grounds are now a museum and public park operated by the township of Brookhaven.