- Fort Mott (New Jersey)
Fort Mott was part of a three-fort defense system designed for the
Delaware River during thepostbellum modernization period following theAmerican Civil War . The other two forts in the system wereFort Delaware onPea Patch Island andFort DuPont inDelaware City, Delaware .Original plans for Fort Mott specified eleven gun emplacements with twenty guns and a mortar battery with six emplacements for Rodman
Smoothbore guns. 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.A general War Department Order #72, issued on December 16, 1897, designated the new fort as Fort Mott, in honor of
Major General Gershom Mott , of Trenton. Gershom Mott had served with distinction asSecond Lieutenant in the TenthInfantry in theMexican-American War , asLieutenant-Colonel in the5th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry , as as Colonel and commander of the6th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry before he was promoted to first Brigadier General. He was wounded four times, resigned from the Army in 1866 and died onNovember 29 ,1884 .Fort Mott, along with Fort Delaware and Fort DuPont, became obsolete as the principal defensive installation on the Delaware River with the construction of
Fort Saulsbury , near Milford, Delaware, shortly afterWorld War I .Troops were regularly stationed at Fort Mott from 1897 to 1922. The federal government maintained a caretaking detachment at the fort from 1922 to 1943.
New Jersey acquired the military reservation as a historic site and State park in 1947. Fort Mott State Park was opened to the public onJune 24 ,1951 . The site is operated and maintained by theNew Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry .Apart from regular practice sessions and testing, the guns at Fort Mott were never fired in battle.
As part of a budget reduction, the park is slated to close pending the adoption of the new state budget.
[ [http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/NEWS/804020451 N.J. parks, site of battle may close | APP.com | Asbury Park Press ] ]
References
External links
* [http://www.fieldtrip.com/nj/99353218.htm Military History -- Fort Mott]
* [http://coastalheritagetrail.tripod.com/fort_mott.htm Coastal Heritage Trail -- Fort Mott]
* [http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/fortmott.html Fort Mott State Park]
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