You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast. Hello and thank you for joining the American Revolution.

Today episode 168, Forts Mercer and Mifflin.

Last week I went over the extensive Delaware River defenses that continued to keep the British

Army in Philadelphia from being able to connect with the British Navy further down river.

Without control of the river and with the continentals cutting off access to food and

supplies from the countryside, the British Army occupying Philadelphia faced the possible

danger of being starved out. As such, opening the Delaware River became a top priority.

All of this was happening at the end of September and early October,

while General Berghoyne was still struggling to save his army near Saratoga.

General Howell in Philadelphia would not give any consideration to that issue

until he had opened up the Delaware River and forced Washington's continentals to withdraw from their positions

threatening Philadelphia.

After the British took Fort Billingsport without much of a fight, as I discussed discussed last week the only real barrier between the

Navy and Philadelphia was forts Mercer in New Jersey and Mifflin on an island just off

the Pennsylvania side. Between the two forts, the Americans had

placed several rows of underwater chaveau de Fries, which, as I explained last week, were really

just large pointy sticks with metal tips attached to the bottom of the river by boxes of rocks.

These prevented any ships from moving up river without being punctured.

The fort cannons on both sides of the river prevented the British from trying to remove these

underwater blockages.

After the continental attack at Germantown, General Howell spent the next couple of weeks

shoring up his land defences. He pulled his army out of Germantown and moved them behind entrenched lines closer to Philadelphia.

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