The fort's site is now part of Red Bank Battlefield Historical Park, which includes a monument and museum. Several cannons attributed to British warships lost supporting the attack on the fort, and others found buried at the fort itself, are in the park.[4]
Fort Mercer was built and Fort Mifflin were rebuilt and garrisoned to protect a line of chevaux de frise obstacles across the Delaware River. Fort Billingsport was built downriver to protect another line of these obstacles. Fort Mercer had earthen walls with a surrounding ditch, topped with a log palisade. The fort was about 320 yards (290 m) long and 50 yards (46 m) wide and mounted 14 cannons, with bastions on the landward corners. A separate outer redoubt was located north of the fort, but this was not garrisoned.
The fort could accommodate a garrison of 1,500 men, but only 600 were available, mostly Rhode Island troops of the Continental Army commanded by ColonelChristopher Greene, also a Rhode Islander. French officer Thomas Duplessis made the fort more defensible by the small garrison by having a wall built inside the river side of the fort.[5]
On October 22, 1777, in the Battle of Red Bank, an attack by 900 Hessian troops under BritishMajor GeneralWilliam Howe, then occupying Philadelphia, was repelled by Fort Mifflin's defenders with heavy losses on the Hessian side, over 500 casualties including the death of their commander, ColonelCarl Emil Kurt von Donop. The defenders suffered only 40 casualties.[4]Galleys of the Continental and Pennsylvania Navies under Commodore John Hazelwood provided supporting fire. Six British warships under the command of Admiral Francis Reynolds were also involved, two of which ran aground while avoiding the chevaux de frise and were soon destroyed by fire during the battle.
Fort Mifflin and the Pennsylvania Navy engaged the stranded ships the next morning, with cannons and fire rafts, respectively. HMS Augusta of 64 guns caught fire and within an hour the fire reached the magazine and the ship exploded, though the loss was attributed to accidental ignition by the British. One account states a British Marine accidentally fired his musket into a hammock, with the fire resulting from subsequent smoldering. HMS Merlin was also lost. After the later loss of Fort Mifflin, Fort Mercer was abandoned when Lord Charles Cornwallis landed 2,000 British troops nearby on November 18, 1777.
As British artillery breached the walls, the defenders of Fort Mercer blew up their magazine before abandoning the fort.[6][7][8]
The British abandoned Fort Mercer as they evacuated Philadelphia on June 18, 1778. The Patriots retook the site and rebuilt the fort, manning it until 1781, when the fighting moved to Yorktown, Virginia, culminating in an American victory and leading to the cessation of hostilities.[9][5]
Galleryedit
During the Philadelphia Campaign, the British had several maps drafted of the Delaware River, Fort's Mifflin, and Fort Mercer, as they attempted to seize the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia.
^"Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings". National Park Service. Retrieved September 24, 2007.
^Roberts, Robert B. (1988). Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States. New York: Macmillan. pp. 511–512. ISBN0-02-926880-X.
^"The story of the battle of Red Bank". friendsofredbank. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
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Not to be confused with Fort Mercer in the video games Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 Fort Mercer was an earthen fort on the eastern shores of the Delaware River in New Jersey that was constructed by the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War The fort was built in 1777 by Polish engineer Thaddeus Kosciuszko under the command of George Washington Along with Fort Mifflin on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River to its west Fort Mercer was designed to block the British advance on the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia during the Philadelphia campaign Fort MercerNational Park New JerseyMonument in Fort Mercer dedicated 1906Fort MercerShow map of Gloucester County New JerseyFort MercerShow map of New JerseyFort MercerShow map of the United StatesTypeEarthworkSite historyBuilt1777Built byTadeusz Kosciuszko design Thomas DuplessisIn use1777 1781Materialsearth logsRed Bank BattlefieldU S National Register of Historic PlacesU S National Historic LandmarkNew Jersey Register of Historic PlacesLocation100 Hessian Ave National Park NJ 08063NRHP reference No 72000796 1 NJRHP No 1405 2 Significant datesAdded to NRHPOctober 31 1972 1 Designated NHLNovember 28 1972 3 Designated NJRHPAugust 16 1979Battles warsAmerican Revolutionary WarGarrison informationPastcommandersChristopher GreeneFort Mercer was located in an area called Red Bank in what is now the borough of National Park in Gloucester County New Jersey The fort was named in honor of Brigadier General Hugh Mercer who died earlier that year in fighting at the Battle of Princeton The fort s site is now part of Red Bank Battlefield Historical Park which includes a monument and museum Several cannons attributed to British warships lost supporting the attack on the fort and others found buried at the fort itself are in the park 4 Contents 1 Background 2 Gallery 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksBackground edit nbsp Map with detail of Fort Mercer Red Banke nbsp Fort Mercer FlagFort Mercer was built and Fort Mifflin were rebuilt and garrisoned to protect a line of chevaux de frise obstacles across the Delaware River Fort Billingsport was built downriver to protect another line of these obstacles Fort Mercer had earthen walls with a surrounding ditch topped with a log palisade The fort was about 320 yards 290 m long and 50 yards 46 m wide and mounted 14 cannons with bastions on the landward corners A separate outer redoubt was located north of the fort but this was not garrisoned The fort could accommodate a garrison of 1 500 men but only 600 were available mostly Rhode Island troops of the Continental Army commanded by Colonel Christopher Greene also a Rhode Islander French officer Thomas Duplessis made the fort more defensible by the small garrison by having a wall built inside the river side of the fort 5 On October 22 1777 in the Battle of Red Bank an attack by 900 Hessian troops under British Major General William Howe then occupying Philadelphia was repelled by Fort Mifflin s defenders with heavy losses on the Hessian side over 500 casualties including the death of their commander Colonel Carl Emil Kurt von Donop The defenders suffered only 40 casualties 4 Galleys of the Continental and Pennsylvania Navies under Commodore John Hazelwood provided supporting fire Six British warships under the command of Admiral Francis Reynolds were also involved two of which ran aground while avoiding the chevaux de frise and were soon destroyed by fire during the battle Fort Mifflin and the Pennsylvania Navy engaged the stranded ships the next morning with cannons and fire rafts respectively HMS Augusta of 64 guns caught fire and within an hour the fire reached the magazine and the ship exploded though the loss was attributed to accidental ignition by the British One account states a British Marine accidentally fired his musket into a hammock with the fire resulting from subsequent smoldering HMS Merlin was also lost After the later loss of Fort Mifflin Fort Mercer was abandoned when Lord Charles Cornwallis landed 2 000 British troops nearby on November 18 1777 As British artillery breached the walls the defenders of Fort Mercer blew up their magazine before abandoning the fort 6 7 8 The British abandoned Fort Mercer as they evacuated Philadelphia on June 18 1778 The Patriots retook the site and rebuilt the fort manning it until 1781 when the fighting moved to Yorktown Virginia culminating in an American victory and leading to the cessation of hostilities 9 5 Gallery editDuring the Philadelphia Campaign the British had several maps drafted of the Delaware River Fort s Mifflin and Fort Mercer as they attempted to seize the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp See also edit nbsp New Jersey portalFort Billingsport Fort Mifflin List of coastal fortifications of the United States National Register of Historic Places listings in Gloucester County New Jersey Seacoast defense in the United StatesReferences edit a b National Register Information System National Register of Historic Places National Park Service July 9 2010 New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places Gloucester County PDF New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Historic Preservation Office April 1 2010 p 6 Archived from the original PDF on August 18 2011 Retrieved September 28 2010 Red Bank Battlefield National Historic Landmark summary listing National Park Service June 23 2008 Archived from the original on February 25 2009 a b Fort Mercer RevolutionaryWarNewJersey com a b Fort Mercer FortWiki com Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings National Park Service Retrieved September 24 2007 Roberts Robert B 1988 Encyclopedia of Historic Forts The Military Pioneer and Trading Posts of the United States New York Macmillan pp 511 512 ISBN 0 02 926880 X The story of the battle of Red Bank friendsofredbank Retrieved December 12 2018 Fort Mercer American Forts Network External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Mercer New Jersey Forts and Fortifications at PhiladelphiaEncyclopedia org39 52 09 N 75 11 15 W 39 8692 N 75 1874 W 39 8692 75 1874 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fort Mercer amp oldid 1204951939, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
