Fort Mercer

Built in 1777 by Thaddeus Kosciuszko on the Delaware River in Red Bank, New Jersey, Fort Mercer was used in tandem with Fort Mifflin to block the approach to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The fort was named after Brigadier General Hugh Mercer, who had died earlier that year at the Battle of Princeton, and was the site of the Battle of Red Bank, fought on October 22, 1777, where American forces successfully defended the fortifications from the British. However, the fort was abandoned after Fort Mifflin was lost in November 1777 and fell under British control until June 1778. When the British evacuated the fort, the Americans once again occupied the fort until the war moved south in 1781.