Fort Mott, located in Pennsville,

Salem County Salem County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its western boundary is formed by the Delaware River and its eastern terminus is the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which connects the county with New Castle, Delaware. Its cou ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States, was part of the

Harbor Defenses of the Delaware The Harbor Defenses of the Delaware was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps Harbor Defense Command, harbor defense command. It coordinated the coastal defence and fortification, coast defenses of the Delaware River estuary from 1897 to 19 ...

, a three-fort defense system designed for the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

during the

postbellum may refer to: * Any post-war period or era * Post-war period following the American Civil War (1861–1865); nearly synonymous to Reconstruction era (1863–1877) * Post-war period in Peru following its defeat at the War of the Pacific (1879� ...

and Endicott program modernization periods following the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

and in the 1890s. The other two forts in the system were

Fort Delaware 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.Dobbs, Kelli W., et al. During the American Civil War, the Union used Fort Delaware as ...

Pea Patch Island Pea Patch Island is a small island, approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) long, in the U.S. state of Delaware, located in the mid channel of the Delaware River near its entrance into Delaware Bay. It is a low, marshy island, located in New Castle ...

and

Fort DuPont Fort DuPont, named in honor of Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont, is located between the original Delaware City and the modern Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on the original Reeden Point tract, which was granted to Henry Ward in 1675. Along wi ...

Delaware City, Delaware Delaware City is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2010 census. It is a small port town on the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and is the location of the Forts Ferry Cros ...

. It is now part of Fort Mott State Park.

History

The original plans for Fort Mott (initially called the "Battery at Finn's Point") specified eleven gun emplacements for Rodman

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without signi ...

guns and a mortar battery with six emplacements. Construction was started in 1872; however, only two of the gun emplacements and two magazines in the mortar battery were completed by 1876 when all work stopped due to a general suspension of fort work. The

Board of Fortifications Several boards have been appointed by US presidents or Congress to evaluate the US defensive fortifications, primarily coastal defenses near strategically important harbors on the US shores, its territories, and its protectorates. Endicott Board ...

, often called the Endicott Board, recommended a comprehensive program of new fortifications in 1885. A new Fort Mott was one of the results, and it was completed by 1902 as part of the Harbor Defenses of the Delaware. Unusually for US coast defense forts built 1895-1935, Fort Mott was designed to resist a land attack. A

parados A parodos (also parode and parodus; grc, πάροδος, 'entrance', plural ), in the theater of ancient Greece, is a side-entrance to the stage, or the first song that is sung by the chorus at the beginning of a Greek tragedy. Side-entrance to t ...

(basically an artificial hill) and

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

were placed behind the gun batteries to impede an assault from the landward side. Also, the fort's four 5-inch guns were in mounts permitting 360° of fire, and were sited to fire on attackers flanking the parados. The fort had a typical armament for its day, with a few exceptions. The main armament was Battery Arnold (3 12-inch guns) and Battery Harker (3 10-inch guns). These were on disappearing carriages to allow the guns to normally remain hidden from observation from the river. Flanking these were Battery Gregg, with two 5-inch M1900 guns on M1903 pedestal mounts, and Battery Krayenbuhl, with two 5-inch M1897 guns on balanced pillar mounts, each with all-around fire. Battery Krayenbuhl was sited atop the fort's smallest and most unusual battery, Battery Edwards with two 3-inch mine defense guns in large

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...

s rebuilt from earlier (1872) magazines. These casemated light guns, intended to protect an underwater minefield in the river by driving off

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s, were a unique installation in US forts of this era, in which virtually all emplacements were open-top. War Department General Order #72, issued on December 16, 1897, designated the new fort as Fort Mott, in honor of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Gershom Mott Gershom Mott (April 7, 1822 – November 29, 1884) was a United States Army officer and a General in the Union Army, a commander in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Early life General Mott was born in Lamberton, New Jersey, a t ...

, of Trenton. Gershom Mott had served with distinction as a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the 10th Infantry in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, as a

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

in the 5th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, and as Colonel and commander of the

6th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry The 6th New Jersey Infantry Regiment (also called the "6th New Jersey Volunteers") was regiment of infantry from New Jersey that served in the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Service The 6th New Jersey Infantry Regiment was re ...

before he was promoted to Brigadier General. He was wounded four times, resigned from the Army in 1866, and died on November 29, 1884. Battery Arnold was named for Brigadier General Lewis G. Arnold, an artillery officer in the

Seminole Wars The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were three related military conflicts in Geography of Florida, Florida between the United States and the Seminole, citizens of a Native Americans in the United States, Native American nation whi ...

and the Civil War, who died in 1871. Battery Harker was named for Brigadier General Charles G. Harker, killed at

Kennesaw Mountain Kennesaw Mountain is a mountain between Marietta and Kennesaw, Georgia in the United States with a summit elevation of . It is the highest point in the core (urban and suburban) metro Atlanta area, and fifth after further-north exurban count ...

in the Civil War. Battery Gregg was named for Captain John C. Gregg, killed in action during the Philippine–American War. Battery Krayenbuhl was named for Captain Maurice Krayenbuhl, also killed in action during the Philippine–American War. Battery Edwards was named for Captain Robert Edwards, killed in the War of 1812. Fort Mott, along with Fort Delaware and Fort DuPont, became obsolete as the principal defensive installations on the Delaware River with the construction of Fort Saulsbury, near Slaughter Beach, Delaware, shortly after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Fort Saulsbury had four guns on long-range

barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protectio ...

carriages and was sited to engage the enemy much further down the estuary than the earlier forts. The

was one of the most extreme examples of coast defense forts being built further seaward as gun ranges increased. In 1910 the two five-inch guns of Battery Gregg were transferred to

Fort Ruger Fort Ruger is a fort on the island of Oahu that served as the first military reservation in the Territory of Hawaii. Named after Civil War General Thomas H. Ruger and built in and around Diamond Head Crater, the fort was established by the Unite ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, and in 1918 the similar guns of Battery Krayenbuhl were removed for potential service as

field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances ( field artille ...

s on the Western Front. In 1920 the unique Battery Edwards was disarmed as part of a general removal from service of the 3-inch gun M1898. Troops were regularly stationed at Fort Mott from 1897 to 1922. The federal government kept a caretaking detachment at the fort from 1922 to 1943.

acquired the military reservation as a historic site and State park in 1947. Fort Mott State Park was opened to the public on June 24, 1951. The site is operated and maintained by the

New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry In the state of New Jersey, the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry is an administrative division of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. In its most visible role, the Division is directly responsible for the management and ...

, and is located in Pennsville Township, New Jersey. Fort Mott and

Finn's Point National Cemetery Finn's Point National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Pennsville Township, Salem County, New Jersey, United States. It encompasses , and as of February 2009, had 3,033 interments. Adjacent to Fort Mott, it is governed b ...

were listed together on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on August 31, 1978. With The three 10-inch guns of Battery Harker were transferred to Canada in 1941 via

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

. Two of these remain as of 2014 at Fort

Cape Spear Cape Spear (french: Cap d'Espoir) is a headland located on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland near St. John's in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. At a longitude of 52°37'W, it is the easternmost point in Canada and North ...

St. John's, Newfoundland St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

. In 1943 Fort Mott was disarmed, losing its remaining three 12-inch guns, the fort being superseded by

Fort Miles Fort Miles was a United States Army World War II installation located on Cape Henlopen near Lewes, Delaware. Although funds to build the fort were approved in 1934, it was 1938 before construction began on the fort. On 3 June 1941 it was ...

at Cape Henlopen. As with most post-Civil War US coastal fortifications outside

the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, Fort Mott's guns were fired only for training and testing, never in battle. As of 2018, Fort Mott is connected with Fort Delaware and Delaware City by a seasonal passenger ferry, the

Forts Ferry Crossing The Forts Ferry Crossing (formerly Delaware City–Salem Ferry and Three Forts Ferry Crossing) is a ferry system on the Delaware River that serves Forts DuPont and Delaware in Delaware and Fort Mott in Pennsville Township, New Jersey. It is op ...

.Forts Ferry Crossing at VisitNJ.org
/ref>

References

* *

External links

Map of HD Delaware at FortWiki.com

American Forts Network, lists forts in the US, former US territories, Canada, and Central America

List of all US coastal forts and batteries
at the Coast Defense Study Group, Inc. website
FortWiki, lists most CONUS and Canadian forts

Gun types at FortWiki
{{authority control State parks of New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Salem County, New Jersey

Mott Mott is both an English surname and given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname B *Basil Mott (1859–1938), British civil engineer *Bitsy Mott (1918–2001), American baseball player C * Charles James Mott (1880–1918), British bar ...

Parks in Salem County, New Jersey 1872 establishments in New Jersey Protected areas established in 1951 1951 establishments in New Jersey Pennsville Township, New Jersey

History

See also

References

External links