Colts Neck Township in Monmouth County is a few miles from the Jersey Shore and less than an hour's drive from Manhattan. The reason for the town's name is lost in history, but some believe it refers to the shape of the spot where two streams meet. Four Native American trails crossed through Colts Neck Township, connecting trading partners and villages. The land changed hands several times between the French, Spanish, English and Dutch, with the Dutch holding sway from 1614 to 1664, but a patent was granted in 1665 that created the current Monmouth and Ocean counties. The 1834 gazetteer noted Colts Neck contained "from fifteen to twenty dwellings, one tavern, two stores, three grist-mills and two saw-mills." On June 28, 1778, 10,000 British forces under the command of Cornwallis, Clinton and Knyphausen battled 11,000 American forces commanded by George Washington and Charles Lee near present-day Colts Neck.