In the spring of 1777, American forces sought to buy James Whitall's property to build a fort on its high bluffs, a strategic position for controlling access to the Delaware River. The Whitalls refused to sell because their Quaker faith prevented them from taking sides in the war, but American forces seized the property anyway. The family watched as soldiers ransacked their farm, took cattle and supplies, and used their extensive fruit orchards as building material for the new earthen Fort Mercer, named for Hugh Mercer, hero of the Battle of Princeton. Fort Mercer became part of a river defense system with Fort Billingsport to the south and Fort Mifflin across the river, and together the three forts tried to block supplies from reaching the British occupying Philadelphia in the fall of 1777.
