| Fort Delaware, located on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River, was more than just a fort to protect Wilmington & Philadelphia. During the Civil War, it was the location of a Union prison camp. Check out the links below for additional historical information about this fort. Below the links are pictures I've taken from the living history presentations by local Civil War re-enactors. I've provided short captions for the pictures, which may be better understood in the context of the background information provided in the links. In the interest of debate, I've included some links to sites with incorrect or misleading information about the fort's history. I am indebted to one of the experts on this fort's history, for educating me about the fort, for pointing out the incorrect information in some of these links, and for reviewing this web page. If I get permission to post his name, I will do so. Until then, you know who you are, and I thank you again. |
| Confederate prisoners as a minstrel band. Of note is the jawbone player on the far left. |
| Confederate prisoners inside the fort. While this would not have been allowed during the war (only southern officers & other high-ranking prisoners were housed within the walls), the living history presentations are most often held inside walls for the convenience of the visitors. |
| Guard detail crossing the drawbridge into the fort. |
| Interior view of a wall looking east. |
| View across the moat, looking south. |
| New for 2001, this re-creation of the prisoner barracks was built on the foundation of one of the original ones to assure historically accurate size and positioning in relation to the fort at the right of the picture. Unfortunately, this had to be built to OSHA standards, so one must use their imagination to picture a rickety wooden building, which was the case back then. Although there were many barracks buildings in this area of the island during the war, this lone re-creation is the only representation of where the prisoners were actually kept. |
| Re-enactors in the prison barracks. |
| Re-enactors in the prison barracks. |
| View of the fort from the dock. |
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