Fort Delaware is a harbor defense facility, designed by chief engineer
Joseph Gilbert Totten and located on
Pea Patch Island in the
Delaware River. 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, later named Battery Torbert, was built inside the fort in the 1890s and designed by Maj. Charles W. Raymond. By 1900, the fort was part of the three point concept, working closely with
Fort Mott in Pennsville, N.J. and
Fort DuPont in Delaware City, Del. The fort and the island currently belong to the
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and encompasses a
living history museum, located in
Fort Delaware State Park.