“USA 🇺🇸 Georgia Savannah ~Old Fort Jackson 1808 and Fort Pulaski National Monument 1829“

• December 14, 2023
• By Pen
• 0 Comment

We drove to Old Fort Jackson, from central Savannah, to the outskirts of the city.

This was a great stop and were pleased to get the timing right, to watch a young man, dressed in a period m-era uniform, give some demonstrations, on musket rifle and the bayonet and offer a lot of historical information.

The Fort itself was awesome, with a room available to watch a historic video. 

Old Fort Jackson ⬇️

Tybee Depot, at one time, was located in a different location, for the Savannah & Tybee Railroad that connected the island to the mainland. This building was their train station depot on Tybee Island, built in 1877. A few decades later, service stopped and the tracks were removed in 1933.

Today, the depot has been relocated to Old Fort Jackson National Historic Landmark in Savannah. The depot is in use as a ticket booth and gift shop.

Tickets are $10 pp. Well worth it.

The Old Fort Jackson fortification is located on the Savannah River, just 3 miles east of the city. It was constructed in 1808 as part of President Thomas Jefferson’s Second System coastal defense initiative, and named after Revolutionary War patriot James Jackson.

This brick Fort was constructed over an old earthen battery from the Revolutionary War, which had been called “Mud Fort.” Soldiers were stationed at Fort James Jackson to guard Savannah during the War of 1812.

Following the War of 1812, two periods of construction continued expansion of the Fort, from the 1840s-1850s, prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War.

Local Confederate militia units occupied the Fort at the start of the Civil War, in 1861. In 1862, it became the headquarters for Savannah’s river defenses, after the fall of Fort Pulaski.

In 1864, the Confederate troops quickly evacuated Fort Jackson, just prior to the arrival of federal troops, under the leadership of General William Tecumseh Sherman, after his infamous “March to the Sea,” leaving Fort Jackson under control of federal troops.

The last American soldiers to be stationed at Fort Jackson, were members of the 55th Massachusetts, an African- American unit of the Federal Army.

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From Old Fort Jackson, we drove on to Fort Pulaski, in about 20 minutes time. Fort Pulaski is run by the National Park Service as a National Monument. We used our National Park Pass, which we get free for life.

This Fort is gigantic and very well restored. It’s also in a gorgeous setting and it made me think of being in Scotland and wanting to go golfing! The green grasses surrounding the Fort is so pristine!  There were even some Christmas decorations, donning the old officer quarters.

Fort Pulaski National Monument ⬇️ 

In 1829, construction began on this new Fort, named for Count Casimir Pulaski, a Polish immigrant, who fought during the American Revolution (1775-83)

Fort Pulaski, built between 1829 and 1847, was placed near the mouth of the Savannah River, to block upriver access to the city.

Brick and masonry fortifications, such as Pulaski, called “third system” Forts, were considered invincible, but the new technology of rifled artillery would soon change that.

To shut down blockade running traffic from coastal Georgia and South Carolina, the Union army and navy mounted an expedition in November, 1861 to occupy the land area, surrounding Savannah.

Tybee Island, opposite Fort Pulaski, was occupied in late November, and other coastal areas nearby, over the next three months.

On February 19, 1862, Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Sherman ordered Captain Quincy A. Gillmore, an engineer officer, to take charge of a siege force and to plan for a bombardment and capture of the Fort. Gillmore placed artillery on Tybee Island, southeast of the Fort and began the bombardment on April 10th, after the garrison commander, Colonel Charles H. Olmstead refused to surrender.

Within hours, Gillmore’s rifled artillery had breached the southeast scarp of the Fort, and he continued to exploit it. Some of his shells began to damage the traverse, shielding the magazine in the northwest bastion. Realizing that if the magazine exploded the Fort would be seriously damaged and the garrison would suffer severe casualties, Olmstead surrendered on April 11th.

The bombardment and siege was a landmark experiment in the history of military science and invention.

⬆️ Fort Pulaski as seen from the visitor center and parking lot

Visitor Center 

⬆️ The southeast wall of Fort Pulaski used as a prison during the American Civil War. In October 1864, Union troops stationed at Fort Pulaski accepted transfer of a group of imprisoned Confederate officers who later became known as The Immortal Six Hundred.

Before arriving at Fort Pulaksi, the prisoners were being held in South Carolina. Edwin M. Stanton, Federal Secretary of War, ordered that 600 prisoners of war be positioned on Morris Island in Charleston harbor within direct line of fire from Confederate guns at Fort Sumter. Stanton’s order was a response that followed word that 600 Union officers imprisoned in the city of Charleston were exposed to direct line of fire from Federal artillery.

This standoff continued until a yellow fever epidemic forced Confederate Major General S. Jones to remove the Federal prisoners from the city limits. The Confederate prisoners were then transferred the from the open stockade at Morris Island, to Fort Pulaski at the mouth of the Savannah River.

On October 23,1864, over 500 tired, ill-clothed, men arrived at Cockspur Island. Early on, the emaciated troops received extra rations and were promised extra blankets and clothing. However, despite the best intentions of the Fort’s command, the prisoners never received sufficient food, blankets or clothes.

⬆️ Cockspur Island Lighthouse

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Next Stop: Tybee Island