Fort Pulaski Walkaround

Fort Pulaski as seen by Google Earth

     Another example of the U.S. Third System forts that predated the U.S. Civil War. Construction began in 1829 and was completed in 1847 using approximately 25 million bricks. Located on an island in the middle of the Savannah River Fort Pulaski blocked naval access to the city of Savannah and the interior, the coastal area being very swampy with a few barren sand islands along the Atlantic Ocean. At the beginning of the Civil War there were two caretakers "manning" the fort and it was easily taken by a force of Georgia troops with out firing a shot. After Georgia seceded in February 1861 the fort was turned over to CSA troops.

     One of the great problems in stealing a fortress from the government that built it is that the prior owner is apt to have a complete set of plans and be intimately familiar with the weaknesses of said fortress. This, joined with the massive advances in cannon technology in the period since the fort's design, meant that the Union was at a distinct advantage in their efforts to recapture the fort. Fortresses of the Third System were designed prior to the widespread adoption of rifled cannons, guns which had substantially longer range and far greater accuracy than the more common smoothbore guns on the 1820's. The Union forces began firing on Fort Pulaski on 10APR1862 and by the next afternoon had shot a huge hole in the outer face of the fort and had managed to place a shot onto the magazine located in the wall on the opposite side of the fort. Realizing that he and his men were sitting in what amounted a massive bomb (there were 10,000 pounds of black powder in that magazine) the Confederate commander surrendered. For a much more detailed report on the siege of Fort Pulaski check this Wikipedia page.

 

Cockspur Island, the fort is located to the right of the bridge that connects to the mainland,

it is easy to see how the fort dominates both channels of the Savannah River

 

a larger view, the Union forces landed on Tybee Island (far right of picture) 

and could batter the fort with rifled cannon from there

Outside the Fort

 

west of the point of the demilune, facing east along the northern face of the demilune

 

panning south across the face of the demilune

 

facing dead east,

the original demilune had a much more regular appearance,

the irregular earthen mounds were later additions to the fort

 

looking east along the southern face of the demilune

 

looking northwest at the southern face of the demilune

 

looking north at the southern face of the demilune

 

this is most likely what the demilune looked like originally 

 

looking northeast toward the sally port bridge

 

looking east at the southern face of the demilune with the fort in the background 

 

looking north into the bridge of the sallyport

 

I was told that the large earthen mounds were raised to protect the masonry walls of the fort 

and to provide space for subterranean bombproofs

 

the easternmost end of the southern face of the demilune

 

the southwest corner of the fort

 

a closer view of the same

 

the fort was designed to have a wet moat, to keep it supplied with 

flowing water a canal was dug to connect it to the Savannah River

 

it was a very dry year when I went and the canal was nearly dry

 

close-up of a cannon port  and a rifle slit 

covering the moat and main entrance to the fort

 

the western bastions had cannon and rifle slits to cover the entrance 

from both sides and to cover the flanks of the demilune,

 there are no cannon ports in the western face as it is covered by the demilune

 

a view from the south of the western wall and moat

 

the south wall from the southwestern corner of the moat

 

shell damage to the southern wall

 

the southeastern corner was battered particularly hard, this is where

 the hole was created that allowed the shell to strike the magazine in the opposite corner of the fort

 

damage that did not impact the soundness of the structure was left un-repaired

 

the southeastern corner suffered massive amounts of damage 

and was repaired to make the fort serviceable after it was captured by the Union forces 

notice the red bricks on the right side of the photo

 

the picture in the lower left shows  the condition of the wall after the fort surrendered 

 

period photos of the size of the hole in the corner

 

a view from the moat looking southwest at the damage

 

a map of the Union batteries courtesy of the NPS

 

a view west along the south wall from the southeast corner of the maot

 

a similar view but incorporating a part of the repaired southeast corner

 

the southeast corner, the red brick is the repaired area

 

the extent of the repairs becomes noticeable as you look north along the southeast face of the fort 

 

the southeast face of the fort from the southeast corner of the moat

 

this face of the fort suffered the most damage from the Union guns

 

the middle of the southeast face of the fort

 

the eastern corner of the fort

 

the northeast wall from the eastern corner of the moat

 

it is nearly pristine

 

damage to the parapet was caused by Union guns firing at the Confederate guns mounted there

 

the Confederate rifled guns gave the Union batteries a lively fight

 

notice that there is supposed to be a lower-level cannon port in the corner face

(the repaired section does not have this feature)

 

a view to the south from the eastern corner of the moat

 

to the left of the picture you can get an idea of how incredibly flat the Tidewater country is

 

an undamaged gonport

 

the northern face of the fort from the northeastern corner of the moat

same location panning east and south

 

the face of the northeastern corner

 

panning further east to include part of the northeast wall

 

looking southeast from the northeast corner of the moat

 

the northern wall of the fort

 

the northwest corner of the fort  with the demilune in the background

 

looking back to the east along the north face of the fort from the northwest corner of the moat

 

the moat in front of the northern face of the demilune from the northwestern corner of the moat

Into the Demilune

 

the chainfall to raise the drawbridge of the demilune

 

an entrance to one of the underground shelters, 

the extremely high water table demanded that these be dug

 into artificial hills that had been raised inside the demilune

 

informational plaque

 

more shelters in the demilune, 

these were to protect soldiers and ammunition from bombardment

Inside the Fort

 

the view from the demilune into the main entrance of the fort

 

a pair of massive doors sealed both the exterior and interior ends of the gate

 

counterweighted chain that lifts the drawbridge

 

a field gun facing the entrance in case the demilune, moat

and multiple heavy doors fail to stop unwelcome visitors

 

looking back toward the entrance from the position of the field gun

 

the interior of one of the bombproofs, these were originally closed with heavy wooden doors

 

a gun position with a cannon mounted

 

the angled mount helped absorb the recoil energy 

and held the gun in a position to be relo0aded

 

there would be an array of ropes and trailspikes so the 

crew could the return the gun to a battery position before firing

 

the years between my expedition to Fort Pulaski and now have seen my notebook go missing so I'm not sure what type of cannon these are, if a reader knows please advise and I will update this caption

 

 

the entire interior was whitewashed to help visibility,

for obvious reasons it was desirable to limit the number of oil-lamps in this environment

heavy wooden partitions separated the gun bays

 

each gun bay was closed at the rear with a wooden wall, the doors allowed access

for the crew while the upper openings helped dispel smoke from the cannons

 

a view along the parapet of the southeastern wall

 

a few original cannon remain mounted, this is a Brooke rifle

 

again you see in the distance how flat the countryside is, just a few feet above sea level

 

a Blakely Rifle

 

 

NPS staff in period uniform demonstrating rifle drill 

a longer view of the same cannon

 

the remains of a gun mount 

 

the pin that the mount turned on

 

an incredibly simple idea but largely effective

 

again the incline of the carriage helps absorb the recoil 

(as does the massive weight of the cannon itself)

 

a view down into the parade ground from the top of the wall

 

looking at the northwest magazine from the top of the wall

 

the stairway down to the magazine from the top of the wall, I can't imagine 

trying to carry heavy shells up this steep stairway while under bombardment

 

ventilation was crucial when storing black powder under

 the semitropical conditions of a Georgia summer

 

metal roofs and extensive guttering took care of the torrential

 downpours common during hurricane season

 

more of those stairs

 

damage to the inside of the  western parapet from overshots fired at the eastern wall

 

the base of those stairs

entering into the parade ground from the stairwell in the northwestern corner of the fort

 

each gun bay was numbered

 

large limbers for moving the huge cannon barrels

 

informational plaque

 

the entry to the magazine

 

a cannon facing the western moat and covering the entrance

 

the view over the gun

 

rifle slits

 

a close-up look through a rifle slit 

 

the magazine (no, there isn't really gunpowder in those barrels, I asked)

 

that would make one heck of a firecracker!

 

passageway to the magazine

 

informational plaque

 

counterweights on the chainfall

 

 

the duty watch's office next the the entry gate

Inside the Demilune (again)

 a view outward from inside a bombproof in the demilune

 

brick reinforced firing steps

 

bombproof entrance

 

these also acted as passageways from the inside of the demilune

 to the firing steps along the perimeter  

 

the inside of the demilune is a confusing rabbit warren of earthworks and bombproofs

 

looking east toward the main entrance from inside the demilune

 

and south across the flats from a firing step on the south face of the demilune

 

a very nice cutaway model of a section of the fort 

(encased in that pestilential glass cabinet that thwarts photography)

    This is another fort well worth a visit, as is the nearby Fort James Jackson, both are within a short drive of one another. Do plan to visit away from the summer months as the heat can be brutal between June and September. Savannah itself is a beautiful town rich in history, with many historic homes and wonderful neighborhood parks, and deserves a couple of days too.