They raided small cargo ships in the North River of New York Harbor during the post-Civil War period of the 1860s.

After a time the ocean liners and major shipping vessels around the Manhattan west side dockyards became so well protected that the gang moved upriver.

According to newspapers of the period, Sadie the Goat allegedly had forced several male victims to walk the plank.

However, after several victims had been murdered by the gang, local Hudson Valley residents formed a vigilante group.

After a number of Charlton Street gang members were killed in a series of violent battles, the gang decided to retreat to the New York waterfront, where they returned to street crime.