History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 43

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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on the wharf of William Atwood, then mayor of the city. It was probably situated between Lombard and Cedar [South] Streets, or below the latter. It was built in two days. "The breastwork is eight or ten feet thick, composed of timber and plank filled in with earth, and rammed down. The building of the breastwork and merlons, laying the platforms, etc., was done by a number of the house-carpenters of this city, who voluntarily and generously offered their labor gratis, and performed the work with the greatest alac- rity and surprising dispatch." This battery mounted thirteen guns, but there was no occasion to use them.

FORT CHRISTIANA was built in 1748, about the same time as the Association and Society Hill Bat- teries. It was begun and finished in a few days on the presumed site of the old Fort Christina, "on the rocks of Christiana (near Wilmington, Del.), with a bomb-proof magazine, and calculated for mounting ten guns." This was in July, 1748.

BATTERY AT NEW CASTLE .- This was erected in 1748. In May of that year a Spanish privateer with fourteen carriage-guns came up the Delaware as far as Elsinborough, and caused much alarm. Capt. Balliet, of H. M. S. " Otter," which had been sent for the defense of the Delaware, was appealed to, but un- luckily his ship was unrigged, and his cannons were on shore. A battery was thrown up and the guns placed upon it, so that when the privateer approached New Castle many shot were fired at her from four mounted guns, " most of which passed her." Imme- diately afterward a fine battery was erected " a little below the town of New Castle."

FORT AT BILLINGSPORT .- In 1776, under the sanc- tion of the Committee of Safety of Philadelphia, Robert Smith, carpenter and builder, commenced to build a fortification at Billingsport on the Jersey side, about twelve miles below Philadelphia. Thad- deus Kosciusko, the celebrated Polish patriot, drew the plan of the works, and arranged the means of de- fense, for which service he was paid fifty pounds. One of the principal objects of this work was to protect the chevaux-de-frise which were sunk in the Delaware River, to prevent hostile vessels from passing up to the city. The Continental Congress sanctioned, Feb- ruary, 1777, the building of the fortifications at Bil- lingsport under direction of the Council. Col. John Bull and Blathwaite Jones, who had previously been superintending the construction of the work, were appointed to command, the former as colonel, and the latter as chief engineer with the rank and pay of lieutenant-colonel. A considerable number of men were employed in building these works, but they had not been finished in June, 1777. Gen. Mifflin and M. Du Coudray, who were appointed at that time to examine the work, reported that six or eight weeks might be sufficient to finish it. Those officers were authorized to complete the works, and there were a considerable number of soldiers and garrison.

SOCIETY HILL BATTERY was built in April, 1748, Col. Jehu Eyre was ordered to Billingsport in Sep-

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tember, 1777, with two companies of militia artillery. attempt to carry the works by storm, but was repulsed In October, Col. William Bradford and Col. Will and his men slaughtered, principally by the effects of were at the fort with about two hundred and sixty- , grape-shot and musketry. The conflict was short. two men. On the 3d the British landed from five The Hessians were defeated, leaving three or four hundred of their comrades behind them. The Amer- ican loss within the fort was eight men killed, twenty- nine wounded, and a captain taken prisoner while reconnoitering. The Hessians retreated to Haddon- field. Donop was mortally wounded, and died the next day. Congress highly applauded the gallantry of Col. Greene, and voted that a sword should be pre- sented to him. He did not live to receive it. He was murdered at his quarters, near the Croton River, in New York, by Tories and British dragoons, under Col. De Lancey, who surprised the post. After the death of Donop, Gen. Varnum commanded at the fort, with supporting troops at Woodbury. After Fort Mifflin was evacuated, the British sent five thousand men against Fort Mercer. They were commanded by Cornwallis and Gen. Sir Thomas Wilson. They occu- pied Billingsport without resistance, and Varnum, whose force was far inferior, prudeutly withdrew from Red Bank. hundred to one thousand men on Raccoon Creek, and on news of their coming Bradford evacuated the fort, ordered the people to Fort Island (Mud Fort or Fort Mercer), carried off some of the cannon spiked, the rest took off the ammunition, and set the barracks and bake-house on fire. The British Highlanders and Marines took possession of the works, and set fire to them as well as to all houses that were left, and abandoned the premises on the 7th of October. After the British army evacuated Philadelphia in 1778, Col. Bull was ordered by Council to erect a bat- tery of eleven guns at Billingsport, and temporary barracks for the accommodation of the garrison. A force was maintained there during the remainder of the war. In 1784 there were five eighteen-pounders, one twelve-pounder, and one four-pounder mounted and four other guns dismounted. At that time the keeper of the fort desired the privilege of establish- ing a public-honse there.

FORT MERCER (Red Bank) was constructed under authority of the Council of Safety of Pennsylvania for the protection of the city of Philadelphia. It was on the east side of the Delaware River, in the State of New Jersey, north of Billingsport, and was con- structed for the purpose of defending the chevaux-de- frise. The work was commenced by recommendation of Maj. Thomas Proctor, of artillery, given to the Council of Safety Dec. 23, 1776, under the authority of Maj .- Gen. Putnam, of the Continental army. The engineer by whose direction the fortifications were laid was the Polish patriot, Kosciusko. It was built principally by Col. Bull in 1777. Monsieur Du Cou- dray, while commending, with few exceptions, the manner in which the fort was built, was of opinion that it could not be made of much use in obstructing the passage of the river, and recommended that nearly all the guns should be carried to Billingsport, leaving two or three cannon at Red Bank as sufficient. When Gen. Howe got into Philadelphia, in 1777, he consid- ered the reduction of the Red Bank fort as a matter of importance. Col. Count Donop was sent, with from two thousand to two thousand five hundred troops, chiefly Hessians, across the river Delaware, and marched to the fort on the 23d of October, this oper- ation being part of a combined attack to be made by the troops on land, and the " Augusta" frigate, of sixty- four guns, with the frigates "Merlin," "Roebuck," and others. The American galleys, under Commno- dore Hazelwood, contested the passage of the ships. Mud Fort (Mifflin) engaged in the cannonade. Donop, on arriving before the Red Bank fort, summoned the commander, Col. Christopher Greene, of Rhode Island, and his little garrison of four hundred men to surrender. They refused, although they had but fourteen guns mounted for defense. Donop made an

On the 22d of October, 1829, several uniformed volunteer companies of Philadelphia and New Jersey erected a monument on the ground occupied by the fort at Red Bank in remembrance of the patriotism and gallantry of Lieut .- Col. Christopher Greene and bis men.

Exactly when this fort was called Mercer is not known. It must have borne the name before the attack by Donop. On the 18th of November, 1777, a com- munication to Commodore Hazelwood by Maj .- Gen. Arthur St. Clair and Baron De Kalb and Brig .- Gen. Henry Knox, of the artillery, is dated at Fort Mercer.

MUD FORT, afterward called FORT MIFFLIN, was situate upon Mud Island, "about eight miles down the river" Delaware. This work was commenced before the Revolution, without anticipating the use to which it would be put in resisting the power of Great Britain. The General Assembly of Pennsylvania, in 1773, ap- pointed commissioners " to apply and dispose of fifteen thousand pounds toward the building of such fortifi- cations as might be necessary for the security and defense of the city of Philadelphia." With a portion of this money they purchased Mnd Island, which immediately became known as Fort Island. Askillful engineer, recommended by Gen. Gage, planned the works, and some portion of the fortifications was com- pleted before the beginning of the year 1774. The fact that the fort had already been commenced natu- rally seemed to render the sinking of the chevaux-de- frise in this portion of the Delaware a matter of ne- cessity. In the operations of the 21st of October, when Donop was killed, the British frigates " Roe- buck," " Augusta," and " Merlin" were engaged by the fort at Mud Island, as well as by the Pennsylvania galleys, floating batteries, and fire-ships. The loss of two of these vessels somewhat crippled the attacking

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force. Being in possession of the city, a regular siege was attempted. The British erected batteries on the east and west banks of the Schuylkill River near the mouth. They mounted twenty guns,-twenty-four- and twenty-two-pounders, which had been borrowed from ships belonging to the British fleet. About the 27th of September the attack commenced. Mud Fort was gallantly defended by Lieut .- Col. Samuel ; Capt. Jacob H. Fisler, with one hundred and sixty Smith, of Maryland, with his small garrison.

On the 10th of November the British batteries on the Schuylkill, with six frigates belonging to the fleet, with galleys and smaller vessels, commenced the bombardment. There were but three hundred men in the fort. The force against them was at least two hundred and sixty-three guns. Mud Fort answered gallantly. The Pennsylvania armed boats and State vessels assisted. Fort Mercer, at Red Bank, and a new American battery, built on the Jersey shore, took part in the fight. Col. Smith, being wounded on the 11th, was succeeded by Lieut .- Col. Russel, of the Connecticut troops, who resigned the command after one day's fighting. During six days it was computed that ten hundred and thirty cannon- shot had been fired at the fort by the British. The worst destruction was made by the " Vigilant," an East India ship, which was razeed, and turned into a floating battery, carrying sixteen twenty-four-pound guns. This vessel, with another hulk, armed with three guns, managed to get on the west side of the fort, between the island and the shore. Here, where no attack was expected, the works were weak, and the execution of the enemy's guns was most severe. The palisades were beaten down, the parapet de- stroyed, the guns dismounted, and the block-house leveled. Of the three hundred men, two hundred and fifty were killed and wounded, and on the night of the 16th of October, Maj. Simeon Thayer, with forty men, the remainder of his garrison, embarked in boats, set fire to the barracks and buildings which remained, and gained the shelter of Red Bank.

After the evacuation of the city by the British, Col. Bull was sent to Mud Island with workmen and laborers to repair the banks and sluices, and com- plete barracks sufficient for fifty men. It was occu- pied by various officers with small numbers of men during the Revolutionary war. The fort remained under the jurisdiction of the State of Pennsylvania until April 15, 1795, when an act of Assembly was passed, ceding the fort and island to the United States, provided the same should be accepted within one year ; also that the State might at all times oc- cupy the island and fort whenever the same should not be held by a military force under the United States. The gift was ratified, and Mud Fort passed under the jurisdiction of the Federal government; about this time it began to be called Fort Mifflin. Money was appropriated to make the work strong for defense. Maj. Peter Charles L'Enfant was appointed temporary engineer, and the design for the new Fort

Mifflin was furnished by Col. Tousard. In 1806 the fort was described as "a regular inclosed work, with batteries, magazines, and barracks, principally erected in 1798, 1799, and 1800. During the war of 1812 with Great Britain Fort Mifflin was occupied, during March and April, 1813, by the Independent Blues, Capt. William Mitchell, and the Junior Artillerists,

men. Capt. James N. Barker, of the United States army, commanded at the fort in 1813. From 1844 to 1853 there was a company of United States artillery stationed at the fort, which mounted fifty-three guns.

LIBERTY ISLAND .- In 1776 the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania authorized the building of a fort on Liberty Island, which was in the Delaware River. Robert Allison and George Worell undertook the work. It is probable that this island was afterward called Bush Island.

CONTINENTAL FORTS AND BATTERIES .- In the latter part of 1776, when the movements of the British army in New Jersey menaced the city of Philadelphia, there was considerable alarm because there were no defenses which would prevent the enemy from marching into the city by a northern route. Maj .- Gen. Israel Putnam was therefore sent by Gen. Washington to Philadelphia, it being the opinion of the commander-in-chief that a line of defenses might be thrown up, reaching from the heights at Fairmount and Springettsbury, on the Schuylkill River, over to the Delaware. The lines were marked out, and work commenced in December, but in consequence of the defeat of the Hessians at Trenton, on Christmas-day, and the retreat of the royal troops, but little could have been done to the fortifications except preliminary work.

FORT AT DARBY CREEK .- A battery seems to have been erected near this stream, in 1777, for the defense of the city. The exact location is unknown. It was probably south of the creek, and below Mud Fort. Dr. Smith is of opinion that it was built on the island of Tinicum. In September, 1777, the State Navy Board recommended that ninety or one hundred men should be placed in this fort.

BRITISH BATTERIES DURING THE REVOLUTION .- As soon as Lord Howe and the royal army entered the city of Philadelphia, on the 26th of September, 1777, immediate measures of defense against the American fleets and galleys were undertaken. A battery was commenced near the shores of the Dela- ware, one redoubt being in the vicinity of the present Reed and Swanson Streets. The old Association Battery was utilized by the mounting of three guns. Another wharf-battery was built near Swanson and Christian Streets. At Kensington a battery was built on a wharf above Cohocksink Creek. All these bat- teries were brought into effectual use on the 27th of September, when the "Delaware," frigate, Capt. Charles Alexander, mounting twenty guns, the frig- ate " Montgomery," the " Fly," sloop, with a number

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

of galleys and boats, appeared before the city. The "Delaware" anchored within five hundred yards of the lower battery and opened fire. The " Montgom- ery" and other vessels engaged the Association Bat- tery and that at Christian Street. The result was unfortunate. The "Delaware" grounded, and was forced to strike her flag. A schooner was disabled and run ashore. The "Montgomery," "Fly," and the gondolas attempted to pass up the Delaware River, when they were forced to abandon the attempt, the "Montgomery" and a schooner having their masts carried away. The others succeeded in making their way to Mud Fort, under the guns of which they were in safety.

As soon as Gen. Howe had recovered from the effect of the battle of Germantown, and had withdrawn his troops to the city and liberties, intrenchments and field-works were constructed on the lines laid out by Gen. Putnam, between the Delaware and the Schuylkill. There were ten redoubts with small batteries between the lines, being further defended by abatis and stockades constructed of apple-trees and other timber cut down in the neighborhood. In many places there were lines of intrenchment and ditches behind the abatis. Taking present localities as ready means of location, the principal British works were as follows :

Battery No. 1, east of Front Street, above Cohock- sink Creek, of a square shape, commanding the river and the Front Street road, with a small two-gun battery south of it. Intrenchments and abatis ex- tended nearly along the line of the present Maiden Street to Germantown road. Saw-shaped redans, each calculated to hold three men, were at the north- west angle of the Germantown road and Maiden Street.

No. 2, square redoubt, west of the Germantown road, little north of Poplar Street.

No. 3, between Third and Fourth above Poplar Street.

No. 4, northwest of No. 3, but near Poplar and west of Fourth.

No. 5, near southwest corner of Sixth and Poplar, as at present open. There were no streets between Fourth Street and the Wissahickon or Ridge road, but beyond No. 4 was a small redan which would hold a few men.

No. 6, east of Ridge road, and not far from Coates Street.

No. 7, north of the Hlamilton Mansion at Bush Hill, and near Eighteenth and Coates Street.

No. 8, near Twentieth Street and Francis Lane or Coates Street now called Fairmount Avenue]. This was the most northerly of all the redoubts.

No. 9, near Lemon Hill. A short distance above where the Reading Railroad crosses Coates Street.

No. 10, on the northwest side of Fairmount IIill, and on a line with Green Street. Also a small bat- tery on the northeast slope of the hill, and a barbed

battery of three guns on the west side which com- manded the Upper Ferry.

HALF-MOON BATTERIES .- In advance of the main line of redoubts and abatis were batteries of observa- tion near the great roads. One of these was on the west side of old York road, below the upper branch of Cohocksink Creek, and probably between Fifth and Sixth, and near Germantown Avenue. A larger half- moon was on the east side of Ridge Avenue a little below Girard College, near Thompson Street.

In the western part of the city a faseine redonbt of six brass guns was built near the foot of Chestnut Street, Schuylkill, which commanded the Lower Ferry. A fascine redoubt was built on the hill above Market Street, and near the Schuylkill. A redoubt was placed on the hill on the west side of the river Schuylkill, near the old graveyard above Market Street, somewhere about the western end of the Penn- sylvania Railroad bridge. The Middle Ferry floating bridge, which had been built by the British to replace the old bridge which had been removed by the Amer- icans, was also defended by the British with eight iron cannon mounted on the ferry wharf.

FORT DELAWARE (Peapatch) .- In 1813, during the excitement arising from the fact that the Delaware was blockaded by British ships, the United States government purchased the Peapatch Island in the river Delaware below New Castle for the defense prin- cipally of the city of Philadelphia. The Secretary of War then addressed the City Councils and prom- ised that fortifications should be erected on the island if the city of Philadelphia would loan the United States government fifteen thousand or twenty thou- sand dollars for that purpose. An ordinance was ac- cordingly passed, despite the opposition of Select Council, making the appropriation. In 1814 the city asked that a battery of thirty-two twenty-four pound- ers should be erected on the Peapatch and suitable fortifications at Newbold's Point and Red Bank. Capt. Babcock, of the engineer corps, was of opinion that he had no greater authority than to erect two martello towers. Councils were averse to the towers. Plans were adopted subsequently for fortifications and for the inclosure of the islands; but one of the towers was built in the Northern Liberties in the course of the year. Subsequently the United States built a very strong and formidable-looking fortification there. During the war of the Rebellion Fort Delaware was used as a place of confinement of Confederate prisoners.

FORTIFICATIONS IN THE WAR OF 1812 .- In Au- gust, 1814, the Committee of Defense of Philadelphia, appointed at town-meeting, resolved that it was neces- sary to " immediately erect field fortifications on the heights and most important passes to the entrances of the city, to wit, from the west side of the Schuyl- kill." Gen. Jonathan Williams was requested to act in connection with the United States engineers in locating the proper places. Under this resolution

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the able-bodied citizens of Philadelphia marched daily in great numbers to the ground marked out for the forts, where they entered upon the most laborious service, digging, carrying away dirt, and other hard work. Masters and journeymen in the various me- chanical trades marched out together. Societies, persons of various nationality, together with physi- cians, artists, clergymen, and church-members assisted in this work. Between the 3d of September and the 1st of October, when the works were finished, it was es- timated that fifteen thousand persons had contributed their labors toward their completion. These forti- fications were principally laid out and directed by Col. L. Foncin, a French officer, who had lived in Phila- delphia for many years. The forts were as follows :

Gray's Ferry, on the east side of the Schuylkill, on Gray's Ferry road, commanding the floating bridge.

Fort Hamilton, at junction of Gray's Ferry and Darby roads.

Redoubt on the west side of Schuylkill, on the Gray's Ferry road, opposite Hamilton's Grove.

Redoubt upon the Lancaster road, west of Market Street bridge.

Redoubt on the southern side of the hill at Fair- mount, which commanded the bridge at the Upper Ferry, and also the bridge at Market Street.

FORTIFICATIONS DURING THE REBELLION .- Some time after the commencement of the war against the Confederacy, under a suggestion that the city was not free from danger of attack, a few small works were erected at various places, but were never occu- pied by any garrison. They were situated as follows :

A redoubt on the hill in Fairmount Park, at the intersection of the main drive from Lemon Hill and Girard Avenue, at the head of Girard Avenue bridge. The embankments were leveled at the close of the war, and exactly where the citadel was planned the statue of Humboldt is now placed.

A small half-moon on the north side of the Gray's Ferry road, between the United States arsenal and the Schuylkill River.

A redoubt on the rocks formerly known as the Cliffs, on the west side of the Schuylkill, near the end of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Rail- road bridge at Gray's Ferry. The fort and the rocks bave since been obliterated by railroad operations.

An earthwork on the north side of Market Street, on the rise of the hill west of Thirty-sixth Street.

CHAPTER XXXIL.

ART AND ARTISTS.

ART can find congenial surroundings only in old communities where wealth permits leisure and invites culture. It is not strange, therefore, that we hear so little of artists in the early history of this country.

The colonies did not present a very inviting field to the painter or sculptor. There was no inducement for him to settle there, even if, prompted by curiosity, he ran the risk of a long and hazardous voyage across the ocean to study American scenery. A few did come, doubtless, who traveled over the country, visiting the principal cities, where they left, as marks of their passage, the portrait of some wealthy citizen, or of the blushing beauty, his daughter. Some of these old-time portraits are to be found in Philadelphia families ; but in many cases the name of the painter is unknown. Poor artist ! struggling for bread, per- haps, yet with a faint hope that he might attain fame. The features he fixed upon the canvas are there still to tell of his cunning art, but he-his very name is forgotten.

Among the works of these anonymous painters are the following : A portrait of Edward Shippen, first mayor of Philadelphia, who died in 1712; a portrait of Edward or Joseph Shippen (there is some uncer- tainty as to the first name), son of Edward the first. Edward, the son, died in the same year as his father (1712) ; Joseph died in 1741. These likenesses, which are in the possession of the Shippen family, were painted prior to the time of any artist whose name is remembered. Joseph's picture might indeed have been done by John Watson, who came to America in 1715, and settled in Perth Amboy, N. J., and who is supposed to have made occasional excursions to Philadelphia, or by John Smybert, a resident of Rhode Island, who is also supposed to have visited Philadelphia between 1728 (date of his arrival in this country) and 1751 ; the supposition being based upon the fact that Smybert painted portraits in New Eng- land and New York during that period. But it is more likely that the three Shippen portraits were painted by one and the same unknown hand.

Also two life-size portraits, one of George McCall, merchant, who came to Philadelphia in 1701, and died in 1740, and the other of his wife, Mrs. Anne McCall, daughter of Jasper Yeates. A portrait of Governor Patrick Gordon, in the possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and a fine like- ness of James Logan are also among the works left by unknown artists. The same obscurity surrounds the engravers of the wood-cuts used in the news- papers and almanacs of that early period. A well- executed copper-plate, accompanying Franklin's ac- count of the Pennsylvania fireplace, is believed to have been engraved here, but by whom it is not known.

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 43

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992