Today in History: The Battle of Red Bank

On this day (October 22) in 1777 American Revolutionaries decisively defeated a British attempt to seize Fort Mercer on the Delaware River just south of British occupied Philadelphia. Fort Mercer was one of two American forts constructed to keep the British from resupplying their troops in Philadelphia. 1200 Hessian soldiers under the command of Colonel Carl von Donop attacked the fort from two directions while six British naval vessels attacked from the river. Both assaults were driven back decisively and von Donop was left on the battlefield by his men with a wound in his leg. He died three days later which was ironic since at the start of the battle he had told his men, “Either this fort will be called Fort Donop, or I shall have fallen.”