Fort Delaware is a former harbor defense facility, designed by chief engineer Joseph Gilbert Totten and located on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River. During the American Civil War, the Union used Fort Delaware as a prison for Confederate prisoners of war, political prisoners, federal convicts, and privateer officers. A three-gun concrete battery of 12-inch guns, later named Battery Torbert, was designed by Maj. Charles W. Raymond and built inside the fort in the 1890s. By 1900, the fort was part of a three fort concept, the first forts of the Coast Defenses of the Delaware, working closely with Fort Mott in Pennsville, New Jersey, and Fort DuPont in Delaware City, Delaware. The fort and the island currently belong to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and encompass a living history museum, located in Fort Delaware State Park.
Fort Delaware during the American Civil War
Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island
Overlay of the three versions of Fort Delaware. The largest is Delafield's never-built design; the irregular pentagon is the fort that exists today. Drawn by Lt. Montgomery C. Meigs.
The star fort version of Fort Delaware. Army Corps of Engineers.
Joseph Gilbert Totten fought in the War of 1812, served as Chief of Engineers and was regent of the Smithsonian Institution and cofounder of the National Academy of Sciences. In 1836, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society.
Joseph Gilbert Totten
Brief Observations On Common Mortars, Hydraulic Mortars, and Concretes