Siege of Fort Mifflin

Colonel Lewis Nicola held Fort Mifflin with a party of Pennsylvania militia, mostly men untrained for field service.[8] Among the approximately 60 militiamen present for duty, not a single one knew how to operate the cannons. On September 23, 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.[9] Smith's force numbered 200 soldiers plus Major Robert Ballard of Virginia, Major Simeon Thayer of Rhode Island, and Captain Samuel Treat[10] of the Continental Artillery.[8] However, another account stated that Thayer did not reach Fort Mifflin until October 19.[11] 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.[8] 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.[12] To further complicate matters, Lieutenant Colonel John Green of the 7th Virginia Regiment, who outranked Smith, arrived with reinforcements on October 18.[13][14] Smith developed an uneasy relationship with Hazelwood and their differences soon became obvious.[15] On October 4, Washington marched against Howe's army at the Battle of Germantown but was defeated.[3]

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.[16] 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.[17]

Commodore John Hazelwood

Samuel Smith in middle age. He was only 25 when he commanded Fort Mifflin

On October 14, French engineer Major François-Louis Teissèdre de Fleury came to the fort and proved a great help to Smith.[12] 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.[18] 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.[19] D'Arendt announced that the fort was indefensible and left Mud Island for good on October 27, pleading "illness".[20]

Carl von Donop

A Hessian force under Colonel Carl von Donop attacked Fort Mercer on October 22 in the Battle of Red Bank.[21] 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. This was the first black unit in the Continental Army. Colonel Israel Angell's 2nd Rhode Island Regiment reached Red Bank a week later[22] 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.[11] 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.[23]

The British naval action off the Mud Fort

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 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 HMS Liverpool (28), Captain Henry Bellew.[24] A force of 200 British Grenadiers waited to make an amphibious assault on Mud Island when the fort's artillery fire was suppressed.[25]

While bombarding Fort Mifflin, 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 Augusta 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.[24] 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 Augusta and that the flames spread rapidly. At mid-day, 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.[26] The loud explosion was heard nearly 30 miles (48 km) away in Trappe, Pennsylvania. After the destruction of Augusta the crew of Merlin set their ship on fire and abandoned ship. At length Merlin blew up in a less spectacular explosion.[27]

James Mitchell Varnum

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 cannon fire stopped as both sides tried to find a dry place.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30]

A French 12-pound cannon from a later period (1794–1795)

After a council of war on October 29, Washington ordered Brigadier General James Mitchell Varnum to assume responsibility for the defense of the Delaware.[20] The two Rhode Island regiments of Varnum's brigade were already manning the forts.[31] Soon the last two units of his brigade were committed to the battle.[32] On November 3, Varnum sent the 4th and 8th Connecticut Regiments to garrison Fort Mifflin.[33]

On November 10, Montresor was finally prepared to batter down the fort. By that date he had ready for action two 32-pounder, six 24-pounder, and one 18-pounder cannon 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.[34] 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 cannonball 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.[35]

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.[36] The next in command after Smith was Lieutenant Colonel Giles Russell of Connecticut, but he declined and asked to be recalled. On November 12 Major Thayer accepted command of the fort.[37][38]

American soldiers painted by a Frenchman at Yorktown in 1781. The African-American at left is from the 1st Rhode Island Regiment.

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-pounder guns and six 24-pounder guns, which added to the furious daily bombardment.[39] That night Fort Mifflin fired on a supply convoy but missed.[40]

The British brought HMS Vigilant (20) upriver to attack the fort. Vigilant was originally the naval transport Empress of Russia. She had been converted in June 1777 into a vessel designed for shore bombardment. For this purpose, the ship carried 14 24-pounder cannon, two 9-pounders, and four 6-pounders.[41] Before the attack, the British strengthened the vessel's sides, added 24 sharpshooters and 50 gunners to the crew, and transferred two extra guns to her starboard side. To maintain the ship's stability, water casks were positioned on the port side. Lieutenant John Henry was the commanding officer.[42] Favored by a high tide, 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-pounder guns, the converted transport hurled a barrage at Fort Mifflin from a distance of 20 yards (18 m).[43][44] Out in the main channel, HMS Somerset (70), Isis, Roebuck, and Pearl added the weight of their broadsides from a greater distance.[45]

Thayer ordered his 32-pounder cannon to be moved to the place of danger. Before Vigilant reached her station, the gun crew claimed to have 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".[46] 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 cannonball. That afternoon, a chunk of wood from the smashed barracks struck down artillery Captain James Lee and knocked Fleury unconscious. When Hazelwood's ships tried to attack 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 cannonballs and the barracks and blockhouses were wrecked.[47][48]

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 at around 11:30 PM, Thayer gave the order to abandon Fort Mifflin.[49] 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 one to leave.[50]