![]() ![]() Landing at the head of Chesapeake Bay on August 25, the British and Hessian forces commenced their march toward Philadelphia. General Howe believed that if he captured the rebel capital of Philadelphia this colonial conflict would soon end. In the summer of 1777, Sir William Howe, the Overall British commander sailed from New York with a large land force of 17,000 (British and Hessian), and with naval armament under his brother Admiral Richard Howe. To that end the army sets about changing the Fort and erecting a palisaded inner wall surrounded by abatis.īackground - Battle of Fort Mercer / Red Bank Since the Fort is designed to hold 2,000 soldiers it is decided to erect an inner wall and reduce the Fort to a defensible size. In late summer and early fall of 1777 with the constant changing of the war it becomes evident that to defend the Fort the Continental army will only be able to muster between 400 and 800 men. ![]() In the spring of 1777 General George Washington orders that the Fort at Red Bank by named in Honor of General Hugh Mercer. Because of Mercer’s courage and sacrifice, the remainder of Washington’s army is able to proceed into Princeton and defeat the British forces there. ![]() Mortally wounded Hugh Mercer dies nine days later on January 12, 1777. He is discovered later still alive by his troops and is carried to the field hospital in the Thomas Clarke House. He is beaten to the ground, bayoneted repeatedly and left for dead. Outnumbered, he draws his saber and fights back. Getting to his feet, he is quickly surrounded by British troops who order him to surrender. While leading a vanguard of 350 continental soldiers, General Hugh Mercer's brigade encounters two British regiments and a mounted unit. Work begins in April of 1777 to construct a Fort that is designed to hold up to 2,000 Continental soldiers. ![]() James refuses their request and the Congress proceeds to confiscate James’s apple orchard north of his home and orders the Continental Army to build the Fort. In late fall of 1776 James Whithall is approached by delegates of the Continental Congress with a request to erect a Fort north of his home to help defend the city of Philadelphia. ![]()
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