On the afternoon of Sept. 11, 1777, General William Howe and the British Army defeated General Washington and the Rebels along the foggy banks of Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania. Washington was forced to retreat towards Philadelphia. The Reverend Frederick Schmidt recorded in his diary that during the battle the cannonading could clearly be heard at his Moravian Church near Oldman’s Creek in Woolwich Township.
Unable to defend Philadelphia, Washington abandoned the city, allowing the British to march into the Patriot capital accompanied by the cheers of a large crowd of delighted Loyalist citizens on Sept. 26. Thus began an occupation that would last until the following summer.
In order to keep his army fed and supplied in Philadelphia, Howe would need to open up the Delaware River to British shipping by neutralizing three nettlesome forts still tenaciously held by the Americans: Billingsport, Mifflin, and Mercer. Fort Billingsport was the first target on Howe’s hit list.
On Oct. 1, British ships landed troops near the mouth of Raccoon Creek below Billingsport. Howe’s plan was for a detachment of infantry to capture the redoubt from the rear. Rather than attack the fort from the river, the British would approach from the undefended landside.
General Washington had long been aware of this fatal flaw in the design of Fort Billingsport. Back on July 31, 1777, the Commander in Chief of the Army had inspected the fort and reported to Congress:
“If the enemy were in possession of the commanding ground on the Jersey side… we would be obliged with the loss of our cannon at least to abandon the defense, and leave it to the power of the enemy to remove or destroy the chevaux de frize at pleasure….”
But there had not been enough time or resources to redesign the fort nor nearly enough men for a proper garrison. Washington predicted that the fort would not be able to hold out for more than “fifteen or twenty days at most” if attacked, which, as it turned out, was an overly optimistic estimate.
A small force of about 300 men along with a couple of field pieces under command of American General Silas Newcomb marched south from the fort to intercept the British detachment on Kings Highway near present-day Kingsway High School in Woolwich. The Americans were opposed by about 1,500 British troops—two seasoned regiments of Scottish Highlanders commanded by Colonel Thomas Sterling. (Some historians believe the skirmish that ensued occurred further north on Kings Highway near what is now East Greenwich.)
The skirmishing continued from the intersection of modern Route 322 with Kings Highway north along the pike, and continued all the way to the Mantua Creek Bridge. There the British made an abrupt left turn onto Berkley Road, which led to Fort Billingsport about three miles away. Newcomb’s men had kept up a brisk skirmish with their British adversary but were forced to continually fall back in the face of superior numbers.
Meanwhile at Fort Billingsport, a frantic Colonel William Bradford and the fort’s garrison of approximately 250 men had just enough time to burn the barracks, a bakehouse, and other structures within the fort, rather than let them fall into British hands. The Americans destroyed whatever else the defenders could not take with them upon the approach of the enemy.
After spiking the guns, the garrison fled in small boats across the river to Fort Mifflin on Mud Island after exchanging a few parting shots with the foe.
With Fort Billingsport secured by the British, the redcoats could now concentrate their efforts on removing the obstructions from the river and reducing Forts Mifflin and Mercer. A task that would prove far easier said than done.
But as long as the British occupied Philadelphia, Fort Billingsport would remain in enemy hands. The fort had been restructured by British engineers to accommodate a garrison of about 150 Loyalist troops and British Marines.
The Loyalists would use the fortification as a base for foraging raids into the country in order to plunder the Whigs. The Jersey militiamen were largely ineffective in preventing these forays.
The fort was too strong for the militia to attack, and the Loyalist troops were too well-organized and equipped to be overtaken. Out of frustration, the Patriots would retaliate against any Loyalists suspected of trading with the enemy. Consequently, many local Tories would seek refuge at Fort Billingsport from their vengeful Patriot neighbors.
On March 20, 1778, General Washington wrote to General John Cadwallader regarding the possibility of retaking the post:
“The importance of the place you speak of [Billingsport] is obvious; it has engrossed much of my thoughts; but in our present situation and under our present prospects it is one of those things that is more likely to become an object of our desire than attainment.”
However, with the entry of the French into the war on the American side, the British would finally leave Philadelphia in June 1778 to consolidate their position at New York City. Fort Billingsport would be abandoned by the enemy, and it would once again belong to the Americans.
by Bennett Carlton, Swedesboro-Woolwich Historical Society
