Fort Delaware

39°35′24″N 75°34′19″W / 39.59000°N 75.57194°W / 39.59000; -75.57194

Fort Delaware
Part of American Civil War prison camps 1861–1865 Harbor Defenses of the Delaware 1898–1945
Fort Delaware, Pea Patch Island, New Castle County, Delaware, United States
Fort Delaware during the American Civil War
Fort Delaware Show map of Delaware Fort Delaware Show map of the United States
Type	Garrison Fort, Training Camp, Union Prison Camp
Site information
Owner	U.S. Government
Controlled by	Union Army
Open to the public	Yes
Fort Delaware
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Delaware State Park
Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island
Location	Fort Delaware State Park, Pea Patch Island, New Castle County, Delaware, USA
Nearest city	Delaware City, Delaware
Area	288 acres
Built	1846-1868[2]
Architect	Joseph G. Totten
Architectural style	Third System
NRHP reference No.	71000226[1]
Added to NRHP	December 16, 1971
Site history
In use	1846–1945
Battles/wars	American Civil War World War I World War II
Garrison information
Occupants	U.S. Army soldiers, Confederate prisoners of war

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.^[3] 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.