Philadelphia campaign

Following their victory at the Battle of Brandywine and a few subsequent minor engagements, the British occupied Philadelphia unopposed on September 26, 1777. Three lines of chevaux de frise and three forts (Fort Billingsport, Fort Mercer, and Fort Mifflin) still blocked their naval line of communications via the Delaware River. One line of chevaux was at Marcus Hook,^[5] the second line was at Fort Billingsport, and the third line was between Fort Mifflin and Fort Mercer. Fort Billingsport fell to the British on October 2, 1777.^[6] William Bradford, the fort's commander, with only 112 men on hand after desertions, spiked the guns, burned the barracks, and evacuated the fort as the British approached.

The British dismantled the fort and cut paths through the first two lines of chevaux de frise, eventually proceeding upriver towards Fort Mercer and Fort Mifflin (which guarded the last line of obstacles) and unsuccessfully attacked the former in the Battle of Red Bank on October 22, 1777. Fort Mifflin withstood a siege and bombardment until it was evacuated on November 15, 1777; Fort Mercer was abandoned three days later.^[2][7]

The British later built a two-gun redoubt on the site of Fort Billingsport, which was abandoned as they evacuated Philadelphia on June 18, 1778. The Patriots re-occupied the site, rebuilt the fort and manned it until 1781, when the fighting moved to the Yorktown campaign in Yorktown, Virginia.^[7]

During the War of 1812, Fort Billingsport was used for an encampment of a militia brigade of 1,300 men. In 1814, Fort Billingsport was rehabilitated and converted to a military training center. By April 1825, the fort was described as "desolate", with no structures remaining. In December 1834, the War Department sold the 96-acre tract to Joseph C. Gill and his partner John Ford for $2,000.^[3]