Pea Patch Island is a small

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

, approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) long, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, located in the mid channel of the Delaware River near its entrance into

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is bordered inland ...

. It is a low, marshy island, located in

New Castle County New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...

, facing Delaware City on the Delaware shore, and

Finns Point Finns Point is a small strategic promontory in Pennsville Township, Salem County, New Jersey, and New Castle County, Delaware, located at the southwest corner of the cape of Penns Neck, on the east bank of the Delaware River near its mouth on De ...

on the

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 ...

shore. Once the location of strategic military defenses, the island is currently owned by the State of Delaware as

Fort Delaware State Park Fort Delaware State Park is a Delaware state park on Pea Patch Island in New Castle County, Delaware. A fortress was built on Pea Patch Island by the United States Army in 1815, near the conclusion of the War of 1812, to protect the harbors o ...

. The island emerged as a mud bank in the river in the 18th century. According to folklore, the island received its name after a ship full of

pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

s ran aground on it, spilling its contents and leading to a growth of the plant on the island. In the 1790s, Pierre L'Enfant suggested the use of the island as part of the defenses of

New Castle, Delaware New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 5,285. History New Castl ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. During the War of 1812, a

seawall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation ...

and dykes were built on the island, with a view to building a

Martello tower Martello towers, sometimes known simply as Martellos, are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. They stand u ...

there.Dobbs, Kelli W., Rebecca J. Siders. ''Fort Delaware Architectural Research Project.'' Newark, DE: University of Delaware, Center for Historic Architecture and Design, 1999. By 1814, the island had been sufficiently developed for the construction of the first

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 ...

. A five-pointed star fort was built 1815–1824. However, this fort was wrecked by a fire in 1831. Construction began on a much larger

polygonal fort A polygonal fort is a type of fortification originating in France in the late 18th century and fully developed in Germany in the first half of the 19th century. Unlike earlier forts, polygonal forts had no bastions, which had proved to be vulnerabl ...

in 1836, but this project was derailed by a decade-long legal battle over which state owned the island, which was won by Delaware. Construction then began in 1848 on the current fort, with an irregular pentagon design about the size of the previous star fort. The fort was substantially complete by 1860. During 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 ...

, Fort Delaware was used by the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

as a camp for

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

prisoners, in particular ones captured at the 1863

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

. Many of the prisoners and some guards who died at the fort are buried at nearby

Finns 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 ...

in New Jersey. Around the turn of the century, a large battery for three then-modern 12-inch guns on

disappearing carriage A disappearing gun, a gun mounted on a ''disappearing carriage'', is an obsolete type of artillery which enabled a gun to hide from direct fire and observation. The overwhelming majority of carriage designs enabled the gun to rotate bac ...

s was built in the fort as part of the Endicott program, with batteries for smaller guns elsewhere on the island. On the shores flanking the island,

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 ...

and Fort Mott were built with modern weapons, and preparations were made to lay underwater minefields in the river. The defenses around Pea Patch Island were disarmed during World War II, as

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 the mouth of the Delaware

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

superseded them.Harbor Defenses of the Delaware at CDSG.org
/ref> In the early 20th century, the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

dredged a channel around the island, using the infill to double the island's size on its northern end. The island is publicly accessible by ferry from both the Delaware and New Jersey banks. In addition to the historic features of the state park, the island provides a significant

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s stop for migratory birds along the Atlantic Flyway. It is the location of the largest colony of herons in the U.S. north of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

References

External links

Fort Delaware State Park (official website)Online tour of Fort Delaware emphasizing Civil War history

Fort Delaware Sea Wall Photographs, Written Historical and Descriptive Data
— Historic American Engineering Record
Pea Patch Island Seawall Restoration Project — AP Construction
{{authority control Islands of Delaware Landforms of New Castle County, Delaware Delaware in the American Civil War Protected areas of New Castle County, Delaware Islands of the Delaware River Uninhabited islands of the United States

See also

References

External links