Siege of Fort Mifflin
Encyclopedia
The Siege of Fort Mifflin or Siege of Mud Island Fort from September 26 to November 16, 1777 saw British land batteries commanded by Captain John Montresor
and a British naval squadron under Vice Admiral
Lord Richard Howe
attempt to capture an American fort in the Delaware River
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
Samuel Smith
. The operation finally succeeded when the wounded Smith's successor, Major
Simeon Thayer
, evacuated the fort on the night of November 15 and the British occupied the place the following morning. Owing to a shift of the river, Fort Mifflin
is currently located on the north bank of the Delaware adjacent to Philadelphia International Airport
.
After General Sir William Howe's
British-Hessian army occupied Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
on September 26, 1777, it became necessary to supply his troops. Fort Mifflin on Mud Island in the middle of the Delaware and Fort Mercer
at Red Bank, New Jersey
, together with river obstructions and a small flotilla under Commodore John Hazelwood
prevented the Royal Navy
from shipping provisions into the city. With Philadelphia effectively blockaded by the Americans, the Howe brothers were forced to lay siege to Fort Mifflin in order to clear the river.
A Hessian attempt to storm Fort Mercer failed with heavy losses on October 22 in the Battle of Red Bank
. Two British warships which had run aground near Mud Island were destroyed the next day.
Major General
George Washington
reinforced Fort Mifflin throughout the siege, but the garrison never numbered more than 500 men. After a few setbacks, the British finally assembled enough artillery and warships to bring Fort Mifflin under an intense bombardment beginning on November 10. No longer able to reply to the British bombardment, Thayer ordered the survivors to row across to New Jersey in the night and left the flag flying. Fort Mercer was abandoned soon afterward, opening the Delaware and permitting the British to hold Philadelphia until June 1778.
on September 11, 1777, Howe failed to follow up Washington's withdrawal to Chester, Pennsylvania
. From that town on the Delaware, the Americans marched northeast through Darby
to cross the Schuylkill River
at the Middle Ferry. From the ferry, the army moved north to present-day East Falls
and went into camp. For the next ten days, the two armies sparred while the British won the Battle of Paoli and several skirmishes. On the night of September 22, Howe outmaneuvered Washington and won an unopposed crossing of the Schuylkill near Valley Forge
. On September 26, the British army occupied the rebel capital of Philadelphia. In the face of the British advance the Second Continental Congress
fled first to Lancaster
then to York, Pennsylvania
.
During the summer of 1777, Philippe Charles Tronson du Coudray, a French artillery expert, arrived from France. Congress appointed him a major general and inspector general of ordnance, and Washington assigned him the task of strengthening Philadelphia's river defenses. His aristocratic airs soon irritated people. He began to quarrel with another French military engineer, Louis Lebègue Duportail, about how the defenses were to be prepared and even managed to anger Gilbert Motier, marquis de La Fayette. To the relief of many, Coudray drowned on September 16 after he foolishly rode his horse onto a Schuylkill ferry and the animal leaped into the river.
The Mud Island Fort was designed and begun by British engineer Captain John Montresor
in 1771. The river front was shielded by a stone face, but then the work stopped due to a shortage of money. After the outbreak of war with Britain, the rest of the fort's defenses were completed with wooden palisades and earthen ramparts, despite the infighting among the French engineer officers. There were wooden barracks for the enlisted men along the west and north sides of the fort. Nearby was a two story building to accommodate officers. According to one of the defending soldiers, a battery of 18-pound artillery pieces stood at the southeast end of Mud Island. On the southwest end, one 32-pound and four or five 12-pound and 18-pound cannons guarded the river. Three 12-pound guns covered the northwest end of the island. Another account states that ten 18-pound guns made up the main battery while each of the four blockhouses contained four cannons. A bristling set of sharpened logs surrounded the fort while the low ground along the shoreline was infested with trous-de-loups
or wolf holes. Chevaux de frise prevented the British navy from ascending the Delaware. Their iron tipped stakes threatened to tear the bottom out of any ship whose master was reckless enough to make the attempt.
Colonel Lewis Nicola
held Fort Mifflin with a party of Pennsylvania militia, mostly men unfit for field service. Among the approximately 60 militiamen present for duty, not a single one knew how to operate the cannons. On 23 September with Philadelphia about to be captured, Washington sent Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Smith
of the 4th Maryland Regiment
with a detachment of Continentals
into the fort on Mud Island. Smith's force numbered 200 soldiers plus Major Robert Ballard of Virginia, Major Simeon Thayer
of Rhode Island, and Captain Robert Treat of the Continental Artillery. However, another account stated that Thayer did not reach Fort Mifflin until October 19. With the British army closing in on Philadelphia, the small force had to reach Fort Mifflin by a circuitous route. On the last leg of their journey, reinforcements for Mud Island had to be ferried across the Delaware from Red Bank, New Jersey
under the protection of the Pennsylvania Navy
river flotilla commanded by John Hazelwood
. Washington ordered Colonel the Baron Henry Leonard d'Arendt, a six-foot tall Prussian to take charge of Fort Mifflin. Since the baron was too sick to assume his post, Smith became the effective commander. To further complicate matters, Lieutenant Colonel John Green of the 7th Virginia Regiment
, who outranked Smith, arrived with reinforcements on October 18. Smith developed an uneasy relationship with Hazelwood and their differences soon became obvious. On October 4, Washington marched against Howe's army at the Battle of Germantown
but was defeated.
To deny the British the use of Province and Carpenter's Islands, the Americans broke the riverside dikes. This act forced their enemies to build their batteries on top of the dikes and to labor in knee-deep water. As an example of the difficulties involved, the British lost an 8-inch howitzer and a soldier drowned when the craft carrying the gun sank in the Schuylkill. On the night of October 10, Captain John Montresor
had his crews begin work on a battery on Carpenter's Island, opposite the fort. At this time, the British already had constructed a two gun battery near the mouth of the Schuylkill River
. On the 11th, Hazelwood and Smith launched a joint attack by row galleys on the working parties. After losing one man killed and one wounded, a total of two officers and 56 enlisted men from the 1st Grenadier Battalion waved the white flag. The prisoners were quickly herded into the Americans' boats before engineer Captain James Moncrieffe could arrive with a rescue party of Hessians. The British court martialed two officers for this setback.
On October 14, French engineer Major François-Louis Teissèdre de Fleury came to the fort and proved a great help to Smith. Fleury, who had come to America with Du Coudray, set about improving the defenses. He built a firing step for the soldiers to fire over the palisades, a redan to support the main battery, constructed a last-stand redoubt at the fort's center, and corrected some of the fort's shortcomings. Thomas Paine
visited the fort on the 15th and observed that 30 enemy shells fell into the fort that day. On October 20, a British red-hot shot set off a minor explosion in the northwest blockhouse. Baron d'Arendt finally came to assume command on the 21st. While taking the Prussian on a tour of the fort, Smith and Fleury watched with shock and contempt as the terrified man ran away from the damaged blockhouse. D'Arendt announced that the fort was indefensible and left Mud Island for good on October 27, pleading "illness".
attacked Fort Mercer on October 22 in the Battle of Red Bank
. The 1st Rhode Island Regiment
under Colonel Christopher Greene
had arrived at the fort only on October 11 after leaving Peekskill, New York
on September 29. Colonel Israel Angell
's 2nd Rhode Island Regiment
reached Red Bank a week later and Major Thayer was sent with 150 soldiers to help garrison Fort Mifflin. When it became clear that the fort was about to be attacked, Thayer and his men recrossed the river to help in Fort Mercer's defense. After Donop summoned the fort to surrender twice and each time received a negative response, he resolved to storm the place. The Rhode Islanders waited until their Hessian adversaries reached the abatis and then opened fire. The result was a one-sided slaughter. Greene's garrison lost 14 killed, 21 wounded, and one captured while inflicting 90 killed, 227 wounded, and 69 captured on their foes. The Hessians lost a high proportion of officers, including Donop who was mortally wounded.
The following day saw another stunning disaster for the British. In support of the assault on Fort Mercer, a squadron from Admiral Howe's fleet moved upriver under the command of Captain Francis Reynolds in the ship of the line
HMS Augusta (64)
. Accompanying the Augusta was the sloop HMS Merlin (18) under Commander Samuel Reeve and the frigates HMS Roebuck (44), Captain Andrew Snape Hamond, HMS Pearl (32), Captain Wilkinson, and the HMS Liverpool (28), Captain Henry Bellew. A force of 200 British Grenadiers waited to make an amphibious assault on Mud Island when the fort's artillery fire was suppressed.
While bombarding Fort Mifflin, the Augusta and Merlin went aground. High tide came that evening, but contrary winds prevented sufficient depth for the ships to be freed. On October 23, the American forts concentrated their fire on the two stricken ships. HMS Isis (50)
worked its way alongside the stranded sixty-four in a rescue attempt. British accounts claimed that American gunnery did only slight damage but that flaming wads from the ships' guns caused Augusta to catch fire. The Americans asserted that a lucky hit from one of Fort Mifflin's red-hot shot or a fire ship started the blaze. An American soldier in the fort wrote that the fire started at the stern of the sixty-four and that the flames spread rapidly. At mid-day, the Augusta blew up in a tremendous blast that broke windows in Philadelphia. According to Captain Montresor, 60 sailors, a lieutenant, and the ship's chaplain died while struggling in the water. The loud explosion was heard nearly 30 miles (48 km) away in Trappe, Pennsylvania
. After the destruction of the Augusta the crew of the Merlin set their ship on fire and abandoned ship. At length the Merlin blew up in a less spectacular explosion.
Beginning on October 26 a Nor'easter
struck the area and the storm lasted for three days, bringing with it high winds and torrential rain. With two feet of water over most of Mud Island and similar conditions on Province and Carpenter's Islands, the mutual cannonfire stopped as both sides tried to find a dry place. By November 1, the Americans had the British army in Philadelphia effectively under blockade. Howe's troops were short of food, rum, clothing, and money. Montresor complained that he lacked adequate artillery and ammunition. The British were compelled to send supplies into Philadelphia via convoys of flatboats. To avoid being sunk by the guns of Fort Mifflin and the Pennsylvania Navy, the boats had to make the attempt in the night and maintain total silence. Hessian Captain Johann von Ewald noted that in order to hold the sailors to their dangerous work, they were made completely drunk.
After a council of war
on October 29, Washington ordered Brigadier General
James Mitchell Varnum
to assume responsibility for the defense of the Delaware. The two Rhode Island regiments of Varnum's brigade were already manning the forts. Soon the last two units of his brigade were committed to the battle. On November 3, Varnum sent the 4th
and 8th Connecticut Regiments
to garrison Fort Mifflin.
On November 10, Montresor was finally prepared to batter down the fort. By that date he had ready for action two 32-pound, six 24-pound, and one 18-pound cannons plus two 8-inch howitzers, two 8-inch mortars, and one 13-inch mortar. On the 10th, the two sides blazed away at each other at a range of 500 yards (457 m). No casualties were suffered by the Americans but large parts of the palisades on the western side of the island were wrecked. On the 11th, Captain Treat was killed by the concussion of a near miss as he talked with Smith. Later that day as Smith was in the barracks, a cannon ball smashed through the chimney and struck him in the left hip. Though covered in bricks from the collapsed chimney and suffering from a dislocated wrist, Smith survived because the round was spent.
The wounded Smith was ferried across to Red Bank, leaving the garrison leaderless. Varnum reported that the troops would welcome a British infantry assault, but that the constant barrage was taking its toll on the men. Fleury wrote to Washington that all the guns were dismounted except two but that the soldiers of the garrison were able to repair the damage to the palisades every night. The only safe place in the fort was a ditch on the east side and Fleury would go there to round up men for work details, lashing out at the laggards with his cane. The next in command after Smith was Lieutenant Colonel Russell of Connecticut, but he declined and asked to be recalled. On November 12 Major Thayer accepted command of the fort.
Sir William Howe began assembling a detachment of light infantry and Foot Guards on November 9, placing them under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Sir George Osborn, 4th Baronet
. These troops were ready by the 13th and were to be supported by the 27th Foot and 29th Foot. By November 14, the British had planted two additional batteries containing four 32-pound guns and six 24-pound guns, which added to the furious daily bombardment. That night Fort Mifflin fired on a supply convoy but missed.
Meanwhile, the British had cut down an old East Indiaman Vigilant into a razee
and mounted a battery of 20 24-pound cannons in her. Favored by a high tide, the Vigilant worked its way into the shallow channel between Mud Island and the north bank at 8:00 AM on November 15. Accompanied by the sloop Fury with three 18-pound guns, the razee hurled a barrage at Fort Mifflin from a distance of 20 yards (18 m). Out in the main channel, the HMS Somerset (70)
, Isis, Roebuck, and Pearl added the weight of their broadsides from a greater distance.
Thayer ordered his 32-pound cannon to be moved to the place of danger. Before Vigilant reached her station, the gun crew fired 14 shots into her. After the floating battery came to anchor, the fort was subjected to a terrific point blank fire. A single shot killed five American gunners at one cannon. A defender wrote that men were, "split like fish to be broiled". Thayer ordered a distress signal to be hoisted requesting help from Hazelwood, but to do so the fort's flag had to be lowered first. When the British gunners ceased fire and began to cheer in anticipation of victory, Thayer's officers demanded that the flag be immediately raised again. The bombardment resumed and the artillery sergeant detailed to haul the flag was the next casualty, cut in half by a cannon ball. That afternoon, a chunk of wood from the smashed barracks struck artillery Captain James Lee, killing him and knocking Fleury unconscious. When Hazelwood's ships tried to attack the Vigilant and Fury, fire from the British naval squadron drove them back. By this time the interior of the fort was furrowed with the tracks of cannon balls and the barracks and blockhouses were wrecked.
Osborn planned to send eight flatboats each with 35 soldiers in the first wave of his assault. Howe declined to give the order for the 400-man storming party to attack, waiting for a high tide and hoping that the garrison would evacuate the fort. That evening, Thayer gave the order to abandon Fort Mifflin. The 300 survivors and what equipment could be salvaged were rowed across to Red Bank. Thayer held back a detail of 40 men. These troops burned down the barracks at midnight and soon joined the others in New Jersey. Thayer was the last to leave.
Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis
crossed the river with 2,000 men. In the face of this threat, Colonel Greene evacuated Fort Mercer and Cornwallis seized the place on November 20. With the forts gone, Hazelwood set his ships on fire that night to prevent their capture by the British. The Delaware was now open to the Royal Navy and the army of occupation in Philadelphia could be supplied. The next action occurred at the Battle of Gloucester
on November 25 as Cornwallis withdrew from New Jersey.
John Montresor
Captain John Montresor was a British military engineer in North America.-Early life:Born in Gibraltar 22 April 1736 to British military engineer James Gabriel Montresor and his first wife, Mary Haswell, John Montresor spent his early life there...
and a British naval squadron under Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
Lord Richard Howe
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG was a British naval officer, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars. He was the brother of William Howe and George Howe.Howe joined the navy at the age of thirteen and served...
attempt to capture an American fort in the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
Samuel Smith
Samuel Smith (Maryland)
Samuel Smith was a United States Senator and Representative from Maryland, a mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, and a general in the Maryland militia. He was the brother of cabinet secretary Robert Smith.-Biography:...
. The operation finally succeeded when the wounded Smith's successor, Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Simeon Thayer
Simeon Thayer
Simeon Thayer fought in Rogers' Rangers during the French and Indian War and made a harrowing escape from French-allied Indians. At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, the Rhode Island assembly appointed him an officer. He quickly raised a company of soldiers and marched with them to...
, evacuated the fort on the night of November 15 and the British occupied the place the following morning. Owing to a shift of the river, Fort Mifflin
Fort Mifflin
Fort Mifflin, originally called Fort Island Battery and also known as Mud Island Fort, was commissioned in 1771 and sits on Mud Island on the Delaware River below Philadelphia, Pennsylvania near Philadelphia International Airport...
is currently located on the north bank of the Delaware adjacent to Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport is a major airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the largest airport in the Delaware Valley region and in Pennsylvania...
.
After General Sir William Howe's
William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe
William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB, PC was a British army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the American War of Independence...
British-Hessian army occupied Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
on September 26, 1777, it became necessary to supply his troops. Fort Mifflin on Mud Island in the middle of the Delaware and Fort Mercer
Fort Mercer
Fort Mercer was one of two forts constructed in 1777 on the Delaware River during the American Revolutionary War, by the Continental Army, under the command of George Washington, to block the approach to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fort Mifflin, on the Pennsylvania side, and Fort Mercer, on the New...
at Red Bank, New Jersey
Red Bank, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 11,844 people, 5,201 households, and 2,501 families residing in the borough. The population density was 6,639.1 people per square mile . There were 5,450 housing units at an average density of 3,055.0 per square mile...
, together with river obstructions and a small flotilla under Commodore John Hazelwood
John Hazelwood
John Hazelwood was an officer in the Continental Navy.Born in England, Hazelwood was appointed to superintend the building of fire rafts for the protection of Philadelphia against the British during the Revolutionary War....
prevented the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
from shipping provisions into the city. With Philadelphia effectively blockaded by the Americans, the Howe brothers were forced to lay siege to Fort Mifflin in order to clear the river.
A Hessian attempt to storm Fort Mercer failed with heavy losses on October 22 in the Battle of Red Bank
Battle of Red Bank
The Battle of Red Bank was a battle of the American Revolutionary War in which a Hessian force was sent to take Fort Mercer on the left bank of the Delaware River just south of Philadelphia, but was decisively defeated by a far inferior force of Colonial defenders...
. Two British warships which had run aground near Mud Island were destroyed the next day.
Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
reinforced Fort Mifflin throughout the siege, but the garrison never numbered more than 500 men. After a few setbacks, the British finally assembled enough artillery and warships to bring Fort Mifflin under an intense bombardment beginning on November 10. No longer able to reply to the British bombardment, Thayer ordered the survivors to row across to New Jersey in the night and left the flag flying. Fort Mercer was abandoned soon afterward, opening the Delaware and permitting the British to hold Philadelphia until June 1778.
Background
After the British defeated the American army at the Battle of BrandywineBattle of Brandywine
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of the Brandywine or the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American army of Major General George Washington and the British-Hessian army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777. The British defeated the Americans and...
on September 11, 1777, Howe failed to follow up Washington's withdrawal to Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...
. From that town on the Delaware, the Americans marched northeast through Darby
Darby, Pennsylvania
Darby is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, along Darby Creek southwest of downtown Philadelphia. It has a public library founded in 1743 and a cemetery more than 300 years old. The Quakers lived there early in the colonial era. Darby was settled about 1660 and was...
to cross the Schuylkill River
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River is a river in Pennsylvania. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.The river is about long. Its watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania. The source of its eastern branch is in the Appalachian Mountains at Tuscarora Springs, near Tamaqua in...
at the Middle Ferry. From the ferry, the army moved north to present-day East Falls
East Falls, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
East Falls is a neighborhood in the Northwest section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. East Falls is located adjacent to Roxborough, Manayunk, and Germantown, and Fairmount Park. The neighborhood runs along a stretch of Ridge Avenue that is only a few miles long, along the banks of the...
and went into camp. For the next ten days, the two armies sparred while the British won the Battle of Paoli and several skirmishes. On the night of September 22, Howe outmaneuvered Washington and won an unopposed crossing of the Schuylkill near Valley Forge
Valley Forge National Historical Park
Valley Forge National Historical Park is the site where the Continental Army spent the winter of 1777–1778 near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the American Revolutionary War. The National Historical Park preserves the site and interprets the history of the Valley Forge encampment. ...
. On September 26, the British army occupied the rebel capital of Philadelphia. In the face of the British advance the Second Continental Congress
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting on May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. It succeeded the First Continental Congress, which met briefly during 1774,...
fled first to Lancaster
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
then to York, Pennsylvania
York, Pennsylvania
York, known as the White Rose City , is a city located in York County, Pennsylvania, United States which is in the South Central region of the state. The population within the city limits was 43,718 at the 2010 census, which was a 7.0% increase from the 2000 count of 40,862...
.
The Mud Island Fort was designed and begun by British engineer Captain John Montresor
John Montresor
Captain John Montresor was a British military engineer in North America.-Early life:Born in Gibraltar 22 April 1736 to British military engineer James Gabriel Montresor and his first wife, Mary Haswell, John Montresor spent his early life there...
in 1771. The river front was shielded by a stone face, but then the work stopped due to a shortage of money. After the outbreak of war with Britain, the rest of the fort's defenses were completed with wooden palisades and earthen ramparts, despite the infighting among the French engineer officers. There were wooden barracks for the enlisted men along the west and north sides of the fort. Nearby was a two story building to accommodate officers. According to one of the defending soldiers, a battery of 18-pound artillery pieces stood at the southeast end of Mud Island. On the southwest end, one 32-pound and four or five 12-pound and 18-pound cannons guarded the river. Three 12-pound guns covered the northwest end of the island. Another account states that ten 18-pound guns made up the main battery while each of the four blockhouses contained four cannons. A bristling set of sharpened logs surrounded the fort while the low ground along the shoreline was infested with trous-de-loups
Trou de loup
In medieval fortification, a trou de loup was a type of booby trap or defensive obstacle. Each trou de loup consisted of a conical pit about 2 m deep and 1.2 to 2 m wide at the top...
or wolf holes. Chevaux de frise prevented the British navy from ascending the Delaware. Their iron tipped stakes threatened to tear the bottom out of any ship whose master was reckless enough to make the attempt.
Preparations
Lewis Nicola
Lewis Nicola was an army officer in the American army during the American Revolutionary War. He was brevetted brigadier general in 1783...
held Fort Mifflin with a party of Pennsylvania militia, mostly men unfit for field service. Among the approximately 60 militiamen present for duty, not a single one knew how to operate the cannons. On 23 September with Philadelphia about to be captured, Washington sent Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Smith
Samuel Smith (Maryland)
Samuel Smith was a United States Senator and Representative from Maryland, a mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, and a general in the Maryland militia. He was the brother of cabinet secretary Robert Smith.-Biography:...
of the 4th Maryland Regiment
4th Maryland Regiment
The 4th Maryland Regiment was organized on 27 March 1776 with eight companies from Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Somerset counties in the colony of Maryland. It was authorized on 16 September 1776 for service with the Continental Army and assigned to the main on 27 December 1776. It was assigned to...
with a detachment of Continentals
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
into the fort on Mud Island. Smith's force numbered 200 soldiers plus Major Robert Ballard of Virginia, Major Simeon Thayer
Simeon Thayer
Simeon Thayer fought in Rogers' Rangers during the French and Indian War and made a harrowing escape from French-allied Indians. At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, the Rhode Island assembly appointed him an officer. He quickly raised a company of soldiers and marched with them to...
of Rhode Island, and Captain Robert Treat of the Continental Artillery. However, another account stated that Thayer did not reach Fort Mifflin until October 19. With the British army closing in on Philadelphia, the small force had to reach Fort Mifflin by a circuitous route. On the last leg of their journey, reinforcements for Mud Island had to be ferried across the Delaware from Red Bank, New Jersey
Red Bank, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 11,844 people, 5,201 households, and 2,501 families residing in the borough. The population density was 6,639.1 people per square mile . There were 5,450 housing units at an average density of 3,055.0 per square mile...
under the protection of the Pennsylvania Navy
Pennsylvania Navy
The Pennsylvania Navy served as the naval force of Pennsylvania during the American Revolution and afterward, until the formation of the United States Navy...
river flotilla commanded by John Hazelwood
John Hazelwood
John Hazelwood was an officer in the Continental Navy.Born in England, Hazelwood was appointed to superintend the building of fire rafts for the protection of Philadelphia against the British during the Revolutionary War....
. Washington ordered Colonel the Baron Henry Leonard d'Arendt, a six-foot tall Prussian to take charge of Fort Mifflin. Since the baron was too sick to assume his post, Smith became the effective commander. To further complicate matters, Lieutenant Colonel John Green of the 7th Virginia Regiment
7th Virginia Regiment
The 7th Virginia Regiment was raised on January 11, 1776 at Gloucester, Virginia for service with the Continental Army. The regiment would see action at the Battle of Brandywine, Battle of Germantown , Battle of Monmouth and the Siege of Charleston...
, who outranked Smith, arrived with reinforcements on October 18. Smith developed an uneasy relationship with Hazelwood and their differences soon became obvious. On October 4, Washington marched against Howe's army at the Battle of Germantown
Battle of Germantown
The Battle of Germantown, a battle in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War, was fought on October 4, 1777, at Germantown, Pennsylvania between the British army led by Sir William Howe and the American army under George Washington...
but was defeated.
To deny the British the use of Province and Carpenter's Islands, the Americans broke the riverside dikes. This act forced their enemies to build their batteries on top of the dikes and to labor in knee-deep water. As an example of the difficulties involved, the British lost an 8-inch howitzer and a soldier drowned when the craft carrying the gun sank in the Schuylkill. On the night of October 10, Captain John Montresor
John Montresor
Captain John Montresor was a British military engineer in North America.-Early life:Born in Gibraltar 22 April 1736 to British military engineer James Gabriel Montresor and his first wife, Mary Haswell, John Montresor spent his early life there...
had his crews begin work on a battery on Carpenter's Island, opposite the fort. At this time, the British already had constructed a two gun battery near the mouth of the Schuylkill River
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River is a river in Pennsylvania. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.The river is about long. Its watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania. The source of its eastern branch is in the Appalachian Mountains at Tuscarora Springs, near Tamaqua in...
. On the 11th, Hazelwood and Smith launched a joint attack by row galleys on the working parties. After losing one man killed and one wounded, a total of two officers and 56 enlisted men from the 1st Grenadier Battalion waved the white flag. The prisoners were quickly herded into the Americans' boats before engineer Captain James Moncrieffe could arrive with a rescue party of Hessians. The British court martialed two officers for this setback.
On October 14, French engineer Major François-Louis Teissèdre de Fleury came to the fort and proved a great help to Smith. Fleury, who had come to America with Du Coudray, set about improving the defenses. He built a firing step for the soldiers to fire over the palisades, a redan to support the main battery, constructed a last-stand redoubt at the fort's center, and corrected some of the fort's shortcomings. Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine
Thomas "Tom" Paine was an English author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States...
visited the fort on the 15th and observed that 30 enemy shells fell into the fort that day. On October 20, a British red-hot shot set off a minor explosion in the northwest blockhouse. Baron d'Arendt finally came to assume command on the 21st. While taking the Prussian on a tour of the fort, Smith and Fleury watched with shock and contempt as the terrified man ran away from the damaged blockhouse. D'Arendt announced that the fort was indefensible and left Mud Island for good on October 27, pleading "illness".
October 22-23
A Hessian force under Colonel Carl von DonopCarl von Donop
Count Carl Emilius von Donop was a Hessian colonel who fought in the American Revolutionary War.-Origins and ambitions:...
attacked Fort Mercer on October 22 in the Battle of Red Bank
Battle of Red Bank
The Battle of Red Bank was a battle of the American Revolutionary War in which a Hessian force was sent to take Fort Mercer on the left bank of the Delaware River just south of Philadelphia, but was decisively defeated by a far inferior force of Colonial defenders...
. The 1st Rhode Island Regiment
1st Rhode Island Regiment
The 1st Rhode Island Regiment was a Continental Army regiment from Rhode Island during the American Revolutionary War . Like most regiments of the Continental Army, the unit went through several incarnations and name changes. It became well-known as the "Black Regiment" because, for a time, it had...
under Colonel Christopher Greene
Christopher Greene
Christopher Greene was a US legislator and soldier.-Home life:Christopher Greene was born 12 May 1737 at Occupessatuxet, a village of the town of Warwick, Rhode Island, to Judge Phillip Greene and Elizabeth Greene...
had arrived at the fort only on October 11 after leaving Peekskill, New York
Peekskill, New York
Peekskill is a city in Westchester County, New York. It is situated on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across from Jones Point.This community was known to be an early American industrial center, primarily for its iron plow and stove products...
on September 29. Colonel Israel Angell
Israel Angell
Israel Angell was a soldier of the American Revolutionary War.He was born to Oliver and Naomi Angell in Providence, Rhode Island. He was a descendant of one of the original settlers in Rhode Island. He had a good education and developed an early interest in scientific matters...
's 2nd Rhode Island Regiment
2nd Rhode Island Regiment
The 2nd Rhode Island Regiment also known as Hitchcock's Regiment was authorized on 6 May 1775 under Colonel Daniel Hitchcock in the Rhode Island Army of Observation and was organized on 8 May 1775 as eight companies of volunteers from Providence County of the colony of Rhode Island...
reached Red Bank a week later and Major Thayer was sent with 150 soldiers to help garrison Fort Mifflin. When it became clear that the fort was about to be attacked, Thayer and his men recrossed the river to help in Fort Mercer's defense. After Donop summoned the fort to surrender twice and each time received a negative response, he resolved to storm the place. The Rhode Islanders waited until their Hessian adversaries reached the abatis and then opened fire. The result was a one-sided slaughter. Greene's garrison lost 14 killed, 21 wounded, and one captured while inflicting 90 killed, 227 wounded, and 69 captured on their foes. The Hessians lost a high proportion of officers, including Donop who was mortally wounded.
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
HMS Augusta (64)
HMS Augusta (1763)
HMS Augusta was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 24 October 1763 at Rotherhithe.She was accidentally destroyed by fire on 22 October 1777 during the Battle of Red Bank....
. Accompanying the Augusta was the sloop HMS Merlin (18) under Commander Samuel Reeve and the frigates HMS Roebuck (44), Captain Andrew Snape Hamond, HMS Pearl (32), Captain Wilkinson, and the HMS Liverpool (28), Captain Henry Bellew. A force of 200 British Grenadiers waited to make an amphibious assault on Mud Island when the fort's artillery fire was suppressed.
While bombarding Fort Mifflin, the Augusta and Merlin went aground. High tide came that evening, but contrary winds prevented sufficient depth for the ships to be freed. On October 23, the American forts concentrated their fire on the two stricken ships. HMS Isis (50)
HMS Isis (1774)
HMS Isis was a 50-gun Portland-class fourth-rate of the Royal Navy. She saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
worked its way alongside the stranded sixty-four in a rescue attempt. British accounts claimed that American gunnery did only slight damage but that flaming wads from the ships' guns caused Augusta to catch fire. The Americans asserted that a lucky hit from one of Fort Mifflin's red-hot shot or a fire ship started the blaze. An American soldier in the fort wrote that the fire started at the stern of the sixty-four and that the flames spread rapidly. At mid-day, the Augusta blew up in a tremendous blast that broke windows in Philadelphia. According to Captain Montresor, 60 sailors, a lieutenant, and the ship's chaplain died while struggling in the water. The loud explosion was heard nearly 30 miles (48 km) away in Trappe, Pennsylvania
Trappe, Pennsylvania
Trappe is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,509 at the 2010 census. Augustus Lutheran Church, built in 1743, is the oldest unchanged Lutheran church building in the United States in continuous use by the same congregation...
. After the destruction of the Augusta the crew of the Merlin set their ship on fire and abandoned ship. At length the Merlin blew up in a less spectacular explosion.
Climax
Nor'easter
A nor'easter is a type of macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada, so named because the storm travels to the northeast from the south and the winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada...
struck the area and the storm lasted for three days, bringing with it high winds and torrential rain. With two feet of water over most of Mud Island and similar conditions on Province and Carpenter's Islands, the mutual cannonfire stopped as both sides tried to find a dry place. By November 1, the Americans had the British army in Philadelphia effectively under blockade. Howe's troops were short of food, rum, clothing, and money. Montresor complained that he lacked adequate artillery and ammunition. The British were compelled to send supplies into Philadelphia via convoys of flatboats. To avoid being sunk by the guns of Fort Mifflin and the Pennsylvania Navy, the boats had to make the attempt in the night and maintain total silence. Hessian Captain Johann von Ewald noted that in order to hold the sailors to their dangerous work, they were made completely drunk.
Council of war
A council of war is a term in military science that describes a meeting held to decide on a course of action, usually in the midst of a battle. Under normal circumstances, decisions are made by a commanding officer, optionally communicated and coordinated by staff officers, and then implemented by...
on October 29, Washington ordered Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
James Mitchell Varnum
James Mitchell Varnum
James Mitchell Varnum was an American legislator, lawyer and a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.-Early life:James Mitchell Varnum was born in Dracut, Massachusetts...
to assume responsibility for the defense of the Delaware. The two Rhode Island regiments of Varnum's brigade were already manning the forts. Soon the last two units of his brigade were committed to the battle. On November 3, Varnum sent the 4th
4th Connecticut Regiment
The 4th Connecticut Regiment was raised on April 27, 1775 at Hartford, Connecticut. The regiment would see action in the Invasion of Canada. After which the regiment was disbanded on December 20, 1775 and reformed on September 16, 1776 to fight in the Battle of Brandywine, Battle of Germantown and...
and 8th Connecticut Regiments
8th Connecticut Regiment
The 8th Connecticut Regiment also known as 17th Continental Regiment was raised on September 16, 1776 at Danbury, Connecticut. The regiment would see action in the Battle of Brandywine, Battle of Germantown and the Battle of Monmouth. The regiment was merged into the 1st Connecticut Regiment on...
to garrison Fort Mifflin.
On November 10, Montresor was finally prepared to batter down the fort. By that date he had ready for action two 32-pound, six 24-pound, and one 18-pound cannons plus two 8-inch howitzers, two 8-inch mortars, and one 13-inch mortar. On the 10th, the two sides blazed away at each other at a range of 500 yards (457 m). No casualties were suffered by the Americans but large parts of the palisades on the western side of the island were wrecked. On the 11th, Captain Treat was killed by the concussion of a near miss as he talked with Smith. Later that day as Smith was in the barracks, a cannon ball smashed through the chimney and struck him in the left hip. Though covered in bricks from the collapsed chimney and suffering from a dislocated wrist, Smith survived because the round was spent.
The wounded Smith was ferried across to Red Bank, leaving the garrison leaderless. Varnum reported that the troops would welcome a British infantry assault, but that the constant barrage was taking its toll on the men. Fleury wrote to Washington that all the guns were dismounted except two but that the soldiers of the garrison were able to repair the damage to the palisades every night. The only safe place in the fort was a ditch on the east side and Fleury would go there to round up men for work details, lashing out at the laggards with his cane. The next in command after Smith was Lieutenant Colonel Russell of Connecticut, but he declined and asked to be recalled. On November 12 Major Thayer accepted command of the fort.
Sir George Osborn, 4th Baronet
Sir George Osborn, 4th Baronet was born into the British aristocracy. He fought in the American Revolutionary War as a British officer. He served as a Member of Parliament before, during, and after that conflict. In 1777 he led a detachment of the Guards Brigade at the battles of Brandywine and...
. These troops were ready by the 13th and were to be supported by the 27th Foot and 29th Foot. By November 14, the British had planted two additional batteries containing four 32-pound guns and six 24-pound guns, which added to the furious daily bombardment. That night Fort Mifflin fired on a supply convoy but missed.
Meanwhile, the British had cut down an old East Indiaman Vigilant into a razee
Razee
A razee or razée is a sailing ship that has been cut down to reduce the number of decks. The word is derived from the French vaisseau rasé, meaning a razed ship.-Sixteenth century:...
and mounted a battery of 20 24-pound cannons in her. Favored by a high tide, the Vigilant worked its way into the shallow channel between Mud Island and the north bank at 8:00 AM on November 15. Accompanied by the sloop Fury with three 18-pound guns, the razee hurled a barrage at Fort Mifflin from a distance of 20 yards (18 m). Out in the main channel, the HMS Somerset (70)
HMS Somerset (1748)
HMS Somerset was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 18 July 1748. She was the third vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name. Somerset was involved in several notable battles of the...
, Isis, Roebuck, and Pearl added the weight of their broadsides from a greater distance.
Thayer ordered his 32-pound cannon to be moved to the place of danger. Before Vigilant reached her station, the gun crew fired 14 shots into her. After the floating battery came to anchor, the fort was subjected to a terrific point blank fire. A single shot killed five American gunners at one cannon. A defender wrote that men were, "split like fish to be broiled". Thayer ordered a distress signal to be hoisted requesting help from Hazelwood, but to do so the fort's flag had to be lowered first. When the British gunners ceased fire and began to cheer in anticipation of victory, Thayer's officers demanded that the flag be immediately raised again. The bombardment resumed and the artillery sergeant detailed to haul the flag was the next casualty, cut in half by a cannon ball. That afternoon, a chunk of wood from the smashed barracks struck artillery Captain James Lee, killing him and knocking Fleury unconscious. When Hazelwood's ships tried to attack the Vigilant and Fury, fire from the British naval squadron drove them back. By this time the interior of the fort was furrowed with the tracks of cannon balls and the barracks and blockhouses were wrecked.
Osborn planned to send eight flatboats each with 35 soldiers in the first wave of his assault. Howe declined to give the order for the 400-man storming party to attack, waiting for a high tide and hoping that the garrison would evacuate the fort. That evening, Thayer gave the order to abandon Fort Mifflin. The 300 survivors and what equipment could be salvaged were rowed across to Red Bank. Thayer held back a detail of 40 men. These troops burned down the barracks at midnight and soon joined the others in New Jersey. Thayer was the last to leave.
Result
At 6:00 AM on the morning of November 16, the Vigilant launched a boat manned by marines to haul down the American flag, which had been left flying. Two hours later, Osborn's troops landed amid snow flurries and took possession of the ruined fort. They were greeted by a lone American deserter who told them that Thayer's men suffered about 50 killed and 70 to 80 wounded. Historian Mark M. Boatner III estimated total American casualties at 250 from a garrison that counted 450 men plus reinforcements. British losses in the last phase of the siege were seven killed and five wounded. The victors were appalled at the damage and at the blood and brains strewn about the fort's interior. While the needy enlisted men were busy looting the corpses for shoes and clothing, a few of the British officers admitted in their letters that the defenders had been brave.Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis KG , styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as The Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator...
crossed the river with 2,000 men. In the face of this threat, Colonel Greene evacuated Fort Mercer and Cornwallis seized the place on November 20. With the forts gone, Hazelwood set his ships on fire that night to prevent their capture by the British. The Delaware was now open to the Royal Navy and the army of occupation in Philadelphia could be supplied. The next action occurred at the Battle of Gloucester
Battle of Gloucester
The Battle of Gloucester may refer to:*Siege of Gloucester, a siege in England in 1643 during the First English Civil War*Battle of Gloucester , a land-sea engagement in the harbor of Gloucester, Massachusetts during the American Revolutionary War...
on November 25 as Cornwallis withdrew from New Jersey.