New Jersey - Fort Mercer

Fort Mercer




The 1748 James A. Whitall House greets visitors to Red Bank Battlefield Park. It was a makeshift hospital during the Battle of Red Bank, the only action seen at the fort.


The only legitimate part of the fort, as far as I can tell, is the trench line running around the center monument. I wonder if the admonition against playing in the trench is because of the potential for unexploded munitions.


Details of the fort's monument and some more history, if you can read it. Colonel Carl Emil Kurt von Donop led an ill-fated Hessian battalion (on behalf of the British) across the river from Philadelphia on October 22, 1777. They lost despite numeric superiority and he died, although Lord Cornwallis soon seized the fort with superior numbers without a shot fired.


Not sure what these cairns are about.


To learn more about Brigadier General Hugh Mercer's life, click on each half of this image.


The view across the river at Interstate 95's Girard Point Bridge. There was a twin fort, Fort Mifflin, on what was then Mud Island and is now part of Philadelphia's airport, south (left) of this photo. It's in rather better shape than Fort Mercer but hard to get to.

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