Fort Mifflin History
In the late 1760s, British engineer John Montresor was commissioned to construct a fort at the southern edge of Philadelphia on the Delaware River to protect the city. Construction of the fort, originally called Fort Island Battery (and also known as Mud Island Fort), began in 1771, but was halted in 1774, having only its granite southern and eastern walls completed.
Following the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin headed a committee to oversee the defense of Philadelphia. The colonials decided to use the unfinished Fort Island Battery, developing it into a palisaded earthen fort in the rough shape of a star. As part of the defenses, “cheveaux de fries” were sunk into the river. These were a series of wooden boxes, sunk with thirty tons of rock, with tree limbs nailed to the sides at 45-degree angles. The limbs, in turn, were outfitted with iron spikes meant to gouge the hulls of enemy ships. The first line of these defenses ran between Hog Island and a small sandbar in the middle of the channel. The second line stretched from Billings Island to Fort Billings in New Jersey.
In the fall of 1777, General George Washington had been defeated at the Battle of the Brandywine, leaving Philadelphia under British control. Philadelphia was already the most populous city in the colonies and now it held approximately 18,000 British soldiers in addition. General William Howe wanted to pursue Washington and crush him while he had the chance. But Howe needed the supplies coming up the Delaware on 200 British ships in order to pursue Washington and supply the city. The colonials still controlled the area west and north of the city and held Fort Island Battery, Fort Mercer and Fort Billings on the Delaware. The British needed to take the fort before the ships could bring the supplies safely up the river. The colonials needed to keep the fort just long enough to cover Washington’s retreat to Valley Forge. Washington, observing Howe’s situation, commented, “The acquisition of Philadelphia may, instead of his good fortune, prove his ruin.” Howe could not afford this. The news of General Burgoyne’s defeat at Saratoga, NY on October 17th at the hands of the Americans had reached the British troops in Philadelphia. Howe needed to boost the morale of his soldiers and needed good news to send back home to Britain.
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