The bluff on which Fort Hamilton was built in the 1820s was occupied at this time by the houses of Denyse Denyse, Abraham Bennett, and Simon Cortelyou. In the bombardment from the British ships, on August 26, 1776, the Bennett and Denyse dwellings were struck by their shots. From 1776 to the end of the British occupation, sympathizers with the Patriot cause traveled by fishing boats at night across The Narrows to meet with compatriots in Staten Island and New Jersey.