Fort Pulaski National Monument, Cockspur Island, Georgia

Since we were already in downtown Savannah, a stop at another national monument was in order. After church on Easter Sunday, we drove down to Fort Pulaski National Monument on Cockspur Island. Fort Pulaski was built to guard the river approaches to Savannah. Named for Count Casimir Pulaski, the Polish hero of the American Revolution who lost his life in the unsuccessful siege of Savannah in 1779. Construction on the fort began in 1829 and by the end of 1860, its armament was still not completed and it was not yet garrisoned (meaning to station troops in a fort, town, or stronghold to defend or occupy it.)

The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which American Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington defeated the British Army.

After the American Revolution was the War of 1812, which only lasted three years. During the War of 1812, the British invaded and burned Washington, D.C. Traumatized but defiant, the young United States vowed to improve its coastal defense. The U.S. Army built a system of up-to-date, sturdy brick forts along the Atlantic coastline and across the Gulf of Mexico. Fort Pulaski was one of these forts. The others are Fort Sumpter in Charleston, South Carolina; Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida; and Fort Monroe, Hampton, VA.

On January 3, 1861, two weeks after South Carolina seceded from the Union and one week after Federal troops occupied Fort Sumpter, Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown ordered state militia to seize Fort Pulaski. After Georgia seceded on January 19, 1861, the state transferred Fort Pulaski to the Confederate States of America. 

The American Civil War began April 12, 1861 through May 26, 1865. The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union (the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war lasted a little over four years, ending with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

By the end of April 1861, eleven Southern states had left the Union and were at war with the United States. Before the end of the summer, President Abraham Lincoln ordered the U.S. Navy to blockade Southern ports. As the blockade tightened it strangled the Confederate economy. On November 7, 1861, a combined Army and Navy expedition struck at Port Royal Sound, S.C., about 15 miles north of Fort Pulaski. Confederate troops fled as Federal warships bombarded Forts Walker and Beauregard, allowing Union forces to land unopposed on Hilton Head Island. From this beach-head, the Federals established a base for operations against Fort Pulaski and the whole southern Atlantic coast.

On November 10, 1861, intimidated by the Federal presence at Hilton Head, the Confederates abandoned Tybee Island at the mouth of the Savannah, unknowingly giving the enemy the only site from which Fort Pulaski could be taken. The Federals acted quickly to take advantage of the break. Early in December they cut the Fort's communications with the mainland, then moved troops to Tybee Island to prepare for siege operations.

Once the Georgia militia seized the fort, there was much to be done. The cannons and their carriages were desperately in need of maintenance and repairs. The militia had to learn how to handle the big cannons. They spent hours practicing the drill for heavy artillery. Inspections, military discipline, and caring for personal hygiene were also a big part of fort life. 

A steamboat made daily trips back and forth between Savannah and the fort, giving the troops an easy opportunity to visit loved ones. The soldiers supplemented army food with sweets and special treats from home. For Christmas of 1861, luxurious foods were sent down to the fort from the city, and the men threw eggnog parties in their casemates. Eventually, the men settled into the routine of garrison life and began to prepare for battle that was sure to come.

On April 10, 1862, after the Confederates refused a formal demand to surrender, the Federals opened fire. The Confederates were not particularly alarmed; the Union guns were a mile away, more than twice the effective range for heavy ordnance of that day. But what the Fort's garrison did not know was that the Federal armament included 10 new experimental rifled cannons, whose projectiles began to bore through Pulaski's walls with shattering effect. By noon of the second day the bombardment had opened wide gaps in the southeast angle, and explosive shells, passing through the holes and over the walls, threatened the main powder magazine. 

The Union forces spent several months preparing for battle -- dragging cannons across the marsh on Tybee Island, building wooden platforms for the cannons, and constructing earthen shelters for their cannoneers. As the battle started, the Confederates in the fort believed they were still secure. But it soon became clear that the fort could not withstand the new technology of rifled cannons. 

Union forces were confident that their massive 8.5-ton mortars would be the decisive factor in their upcoming attack on Fort Pulaski. The high-arching flight of the mortar shells, they assumed, would reign down on Fort Pulaski with irresistible force, crushing the fort's arches and shattering its powder magazines. 

Union preparations for the battle required two months of difficult labor, with much of the work done under the cover of darkness. A wharf on Tybee Island was not available, so as many as 200 men used ropes to drag the large mortars through the ocean surf and above high tide. Sling carts were then used to haul the mortars through the island's soft sand and mud. The process was long and hazardous. 

On April 10, 1862, a 13-inch mortar from Battery Halleck fired the opening shot of the battle. During the 30-hour bombardment the Union heavy mortars fired 1,144 shells at Fort Pulaski. One of the shells landed inside the fort, creating a crater seven feet deep. The huge mortars, however, failed to live up to expectations. Their fire was wildly inaccurate. Most of the mortar shells "passed way beyond the fort" and buried themselves in soft mud or exploded harmlessly in the air. It was another type of weapon  -- the rifled cannon -- that would prove to be the decisive factor in the battle.

Concerned about the lives of his men, the Confederate commander, Col Charles H. Olmstead, surrendered only 30 hours after the bombardment began.

"Thirteen-inch mortar shells, Columbiad shells, Parrott shells, rifle shots were shrieking through the air in every direction, while the ear was deafened by the tremendous explosions that followed each other without cessation." ~~ Charles Olmstead

Col. Charles H. Olmstead

As a graduate of the Georgia Military Institute, Charles Olmstead had more military training than most of the new soldiers stationed in the fort. Olmstead took command of Fort Pulaski on December 26, 1861, as a young man of 25. Reassured by Robert E. Lee that the fort could withstand any attack, Olmstead readied the fort and his 385 soldiers for an inevitable battle. 

Olmstead, along with the other 384 officers and men in Pulaski's garrison, was sent north and imprisoned at Governor's Island in New York. When he was exchanged in the autumn of 1862, he resumed command of his regiment and served with distinction for the remainder of the Civil War. Federal troops garrisoned Fort Pulaski until war's end, when it was used to house several political prisoners. 

March Haynes

March Haynes was born into slavery in 1825, and became a hero during the American Civil War, skillfully leveraging his carpentry and navigation skills to outmaneuver Confederate forces. Entrusted with sensitive tasks, Haynes's operations were crucial for the United States Military, particularly in transporting key intelligence and aiding the blockade.

After the United States reclaimed Fort Pulaski in 1862, he played a vital role in leading enslaved people to freedom, using his knowledge of local waterways. Post-war, Haynes contributed significantly to his community, notably through the Society of John the Baptist and The First African Baptist Church. Celebrated as "Captain Haynes," his legacy is marked by courage, service, and an unyielding fight for freedom.

This illustrated map by Robert Knox Sneden highlights Confederate fortifications and batteries around Savannah in 1864. Haynes faced these challenges while assisting freedom seekers to the safety of Fort Pulaski and Hilton Head Island.

The demilune (French for "half-moon") protected the fort's entrance. During the Civil War, the demilune wall was about waist high with gun platforms on the flat top. After the Civil War, while Fort Pulaski was still a military post, Army engineers constructed earthen mounds to hold powder magazines.

Soldiers in the background are playing baseball 

inside Fort Pulaski, circa 1862.

Union soldiers from the 7th Connecticut Infantry repaired the worst damage to the fort within six weeks of its capture. The Union troops, now controlling the fort, easily blockaded the Savannah River and stopped trade in and out of the port. The 48th New York Infantry relieved the Connecticut troops. The New Yorkers established as baseball team, a band and a theater troupe to ward off the tedium of garrison lif4. Other than an occasional foray along the coastline, the Union troops at Fort Pulaski were marooned on Cockspur Island.

Runaway slaves, some dressed in cast-off soldier garb, lived
in the old construction village while working at the fort.

Union control of Fort Pulaski paved the way for major social changes in the coastal Low Country. A month after the battle, Union General David Hunter issued General Orders #11, which freed slaves in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Less than two weeks later, President Lincoln nullified Hunter's order, reserving for the office of the President the authority to free slaves. But the presence of Union soldiers here overwhelmed the fine points of law. Slaves began fleeing nearby plantations and seeking shelter at the fort, taking up residence in the old construction village. Some of the runaway slaves did general labor around the fort. Others helped Union boats navigate the confusing network of creeks and marshes around the fort. The ex-slaves were also a good source of intelligence for the Union army about the surrounding countryside. (President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. It was issued as a wartime measure to declare free all enslaved people in Confederate states still in rebellion, fundamentally changing the legal status of millions and shifting the Civil War's focus toward abolishing slavery.)

"Rats are now in demand." -- Joseph Mauck

In October 1864, several hundred Confederate prisoners, later known as the Immortal 600, were transferred to Fort Pulaski. Despite the best intentions of the fort commander, the prisoners did not receive enough food, blankets or clothing. Conditions got worse as the harsh winter intensified. With basic necessities becoming scarce, many prisoners resorted to eating rats, cats and dogs. Despite terrible conditions, prisoners managed to record much of this information in their journals. 

"The one-eyed, bob-tailed cat went up today. Cats are all the go nowadays." ~~ Joseph Mauck, 10th Virginia Infantry

Thirteen prisoners died as a result of ill health due to their incarceration at Fort Pulaski and were buried in the cemetery on Cockspur Island (only one man died in the fort during the battle). In March 1865, the surviving prisoners were sent to Fort Delaware, were conditions were better.

"This day 10 years ago was the happy day of my marriage. Oh! How different this is from that day. Then, I could look out on the world with a bold, free and happy spirit. But now my sphere is the narrow lunets of Fort Pulaski and can look out on the world only through an embrasure closed with iron gating." ~~ David Gordon, 4th South Carolina Cavalry, and a prisoner at Fort Pulaski

General Sherman's army marches on Bay Street in downtown
Savannah, with the U.S. Custom House in the background

Even with Union troops stationed at Fort Pulaski, Savannah's inner defenses kept the city secure until December 1864, when Union General William T. Sherman arrived with his army. As the Union army approached the city, the city fathers rode out to meet Sherman and pleaded with him to spare the city. Sherman consented, and sent his famous telegram to President Lincoln on December 22: "I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah."

After the army left, the keeper of Cockspur Lighthouse built
a house on top of the fort in the 1890s to be safe from storms

Trees are visible above the top of the fort, circa 20th century

The U.S. Army moved out of the fort in 1873. However, they soon returned to build the large earthen mounds. Modern cannons were placed between the mounds. Underneath the mounds served as ammunition magazines and bombproofs to protect the soldiers. Meanwhile, nature started to re-take the land in and around the fort. The moat and parade ground became overgrown. Years of neglect began to take their toll on the fort.

After 1880 a caretaker and lighthouse keeper were the fort's only occupants. They too were soon removed, leaving the place to the ever-encroaching vegetation and animal life. The island was made a national monument in 1924; restoration of the fort began in earnest about 1933. Today the fort serves not only as a memorial to the valor and dedication of those connected with its construction, bombardment, and defense, but in a larger sense as a history lesson on the elusiveness of invincibility.

Prior to the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps ("CCC"), roughly 200 members of the Civil Works Administration began much needed cleanup at Fort Pulaski. In May 1934, the National Park Service was authorized to establish CCC Camp 460 on Cockspur Island. Originally, 175 men were sent to the island where their first tasks involved drainage, landscaping, and the always important mosquito control. By 1936, the number of men working at the fort had risen to 242.

There was a lot of work to be done on the island. Trees had to be removed and sediment had to be removed from the moat. The fort itself needed a lot of restoration work, including the repointing of the mortar between the bricks and replacement of casemate doors and floorboards. Near the end of the 1930s, some members of the CCC were appointed as the very first guides at Fort Pulaski National Monument.

In May 1941, CCC Camp 460 was transferred to Florida and work on Cockspur Island came to and end. In under ten years, Fort Pulaski had completely turned around. The fort had been restored, and the island was in much better shape for the visitors who would soon come. The island was closed in 1942 as the Navy used the island during World War II, but in 1947 Fort Pulaski National Monument officially opened to visitors.

Inside the fort, men worked to rebuild the veranda

Excavator slipped off the mats during dredging the moat

Workers pump water from one of the casemates

Decaying floorboards were removed from
this section of the casemate

The CCC shown here are making repairs to the fort. The CCC's other work at Fort Pulaski included clearing vegetation from the moat, fixing dikes to prevent flooding and building trails on the island.

The Guard Room

The Guard Room played a crucial role in defending Fort Pulaski by providing shelter for those on guard duty and housing the mechanisms necessary to raise and lower the drawbridge. In the back left corner of the room, giant iron counterweights connect to chains that controlled entry. Soldiers alternated shifts and worked in teams to raise and lower the drawbridge. 

The Fort's Supply Closet

The Quartermaster Office was essential to the smooth operation of Fort Pulaski, where the Quartermaster Officer was responsible for repairing, counting, and distributing military equipment. During wartime, the quartermaster room was located by the powder magazine and housed everyday necessities like soap and uniforms, along with simple items such as lanterns, oil, and wicks to brighten the dark spaces. The Quartermaster also maintained communication equipment, including red and white signal flags, and small arms such as muskets and pistols.

Today, this room also contains tools for loading and firing the fort's cannons. Long wooden poles with metal spirals and sponges are used for loading and cleaning the barrels. In the back corner, large wooden poles, known as maneuvering spikes, serve as levers to help position the heavy cannons for firing.

Smoothbore cannons were the primary artillery for both Confederate and U.S. Forces at the onset of the Civil War. In use for centuries, these cannons have a smooth barrel and fire spherical projectiles - cannonballs - that Fort Pulaski was designed to withstand. In contract, rifled guns have spiral grooves in the barrel that stabilize bullet-shaped projectiles, enhancing range, accuracy, and allowing for heavier munitions at higher velocities.

Smoothbore projectiles used timed fuses detonating after a set duration, while rifled projectiles, known as "shells," used percussion fuses that exploded on impact. These rifled shells threatened Fort Pulaski's powder magazine and ultimately forced the Confederates to surrender.

The bombardment of Fort Pulaski marked the first use of rifled artillery against a brick fort, signaling a global shift towards rifled artillery in warfare.

Fort Pulaski's Church

Though religious services happened throughout Fort Pulaski, this recreated room in the Gorge Wall highlights how both U.S. and Confederate soldiers valued faith as essential to their lives. As soldiers garrisoned at Fort Pulaski suffered from homesickness and uncertainty during the Civil War, ministers and priests offered guidance, comfort and reassurance.

One of the priests was Confederate chaplain Father Peter Whelan. After the fort's surrender, he declined the chance to return to the Diocese of Savannah, and instead supported his fellow soldiers during their imprisonment in New York. Later, Whelan earned the nickname "Angel of Andersonville" as a chaplain for U.S. prisoners enduring harsh conditions at Andersonville Prison.

Col. Olmstead remembered Whelan as "a faithful comrade and friend to the entire garrison -- a man who lived up to the teachings of the Master whom he followed."

Officer's Beds

Sleeping accommodations for soldiers at Fort Pulaski depended on their rank. Typically, officers shared rooms located within this gorge wall. These quarters contained simple wooden beds and nightstands, much like the ones in this picture. In contract, high-ranking officers, including the commanding officer and the chaplain, were given private lodgings that functioned as both their bedroom and office.

Nearly 2,000 African Americans sought freedom at Fort Pulaski. In 1863, after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, former enslaved people and free African Americans were finally allowed to fight for their freedom. Fort Pulaski became one of the first locations to organize the U.S. Colored Troops. Some African Americans even stayed at the fort throughout the 1870s. They worked as cooks, laborers, and produced crops to help sustain the fort.

While Fort Pulaski should have been remembered as a symbol of freedom and opportunities for African Americans, the role of the fort in the emancipation of enslaved Black people was quickly forgotten. Why did this happen? What or who could erase this memory and create a new narrative about the history of the fort?

Mess Hall

Soldiers at Fort Pulaski were organized into mess groups consisting of 5-10 men who took turns cooking for the group. Although there was an official kitchen located in the then-flat demilune outside the fort, many of the enlisted men cooked their meals on stoves inside the casemates.

The soldiers enjoyed coastal cuisine thanks to the fort's location. While they had access to typical army rations such as hardtack, salt pork, beef, and coffee, they were also able to collect oysters and fish in the surrounding river. Journal entries from that time recall catching and eating large sea turtles and even the occasional alligator.

Infirmary

During the American Civil War, nearly two-thirds of the 750,000 soldiers who perished died from diseases. This was a result of the lack of understanding of germs and the insufficient medical care available during that era. Additionally, the disregard for sanitation resulted in additional fatalities caused by infected injuries and contagious diseases.

Most military facilities had some type of infirmary. At Fort Pulaski, a wooden structure located outside the fort in the Workers' Village served as a hospital. However, Confederate soldiers could not reach this building during the Fort's 1862 bombardment. As injuries mounted, they converted a Gorge Wall room into a makeshift field hospital. Several injured soldiers received treatment here, including Private Thomas Moulton, the only wounded Confederate to die during the bombardment.

Federal Medical Dispensary

"The surgeon of the post, Dr. J.W. Grosvenor, combines with his professional skill, the taste and research of a botanist. His herbarium is a rare collection from the Sea Islands. He is at home with flowers and poetry as well as with medical treatise and surgical instruments." ~~ Chaplain's Letter, December 29, 1863

A woman's touch

Officers enjoyed much more comfortable accommodations than enlisted men. Colonel Philip P. Brown of the 157th New York described his quarters as having a marble fireplace, piano, and private restroom facilities. In a letter to his wife, he invited his wife to join him for the winter. Mrs. Brown accepted his invitation and here until his transfer. Additional officers' wives and formerly enslaved women also called Fort Pulaski home. Officers' wives like Mrs. Brown likely socialized and observed daily fort activities. Freed women, on the other hand, made homes in small structures outside the fort and worked to support army operations.

In 1863, a photographer captured images of these women and their pets, providing a rare glimpse into their life and at the fort. 

Breach of southeast corner from bombardment

During the bombardment of Fort Pulaski in April 1862, this magazine contained 40,000 pounds of black powder. U.S. rifled artillery, positioned one mile away on Tybee Island, breached the opposite corner of the fort in less than 30 hours. Once the southeast angle was breached, the U.S. had a clear line of fire across the parade field to this magazine and its deadly contents. It is because of this that Col. Charles Olmstead surrendered the fort. "Under these circumstances, cut off from all hope of relief or the possibility of retreat, the Fort practically breached, some of my most effective guns rendered useless, and the magazine liable to be blown up in a very short time, I felt compelled to yield."

These large carts are among the few original sling carts remaining. These carts were designed to transport heavy loads, like timber and cannons, by suspending the objects beneath them with ropes. Leading up to the 1862 bombardment, both U.S. Army and Confederate soldiers utilized these carts for preparation. 

Confederate soldiers used sling carts to bring large timber into the fort for internal protection. Meanwhile, U.S. forces on Tybee Island relied on them to move heavy artillery across the sandy, marshy terrain -- a challenging task that required up to 250 soldiers to pull a single cannon.

From cannons to quarters ~~ When U.S. Army forces initially took over the fort in April 1862, over 1,000 men share this space as living quarters. Cannons were moved to the terreplein to create additional living space on the main level. If you were one of the lucky men, you received space on this main level and did not have to sleep in a tent outside the fort. Empty casemates were converted into barracks and later whitewashed to reflect more light at night and enhance troop morale.

"...the companies were quartered in the casemates, the men erecting bunks for themselves by the side of the cannon... The officers' casemates of course were better than those of the enlisted men, but even there, there was a great scarcity of furniture ... We were a thousand men, living in narrow quarters." ~~ Private Abraham J. Palmer, 48th New York

A much taller tripod called a Garrison Gin was used to lift
cannons onto the fort's second level

Moving heavy objects like 8,000 pound cannon barrels was a significant challenge for soldiers and engineers of the 1860s. Fort Pulaski was designed to house 146 cannons, and only had about 40 in 1861 when its Confederate defenders began preparing for an attack. The Fort's reduced capacity made the strategic placement of cannons even more important.

To solve these challenges, soldiers utilized a simple machine called a Casemate Gin (short for "Engine"). A tripod with a 5-pulley system, a Casemate Gin allowed soldiers to use levers to distribute and reduce weight. Soldiers attached ropes to the cannon, inserted handspikes into square holes in the Gin's spindle, and turned the mechanism to lift the cannon. A ratchet system acted as brakes, preventing the wagon from falling back down. With this simple machine, a team of ten men could lift a 15,000 pound barrel.

42-pounder

32-pounder

Large iron cannons, including the original 42-pounder and the reproduction 32-pounder were used both on land and at sea between 1830 and 1850. Named for projectile weights, these smoothbore weapons could hurl various ammunition at enemy forts and gunboats up to one mile away. By time and American Civil War began in 1861, smoothbore cannons were falling behind a superior technology: rifled cannons. Spiral grooves carved inside their barrels -- called "rifling" -- improved these new weapons' range and accuracy.

Using a conversion system developed by engineer Charles T. James, the U.S. Army rifled many 42- and 32-pounder cannons. This doubled their weight designation. If this 42-pounder had been rifled, it would have fired an 84-pound James projectile. Five of the ten rifled guns that breached Fort Pulaski were James' rifles, including two 84-pounders.

Cisterns -- Fresh water, extra flavor?

Fort Pulaski is surrounded by a mix of fresh and salty water, so the soldiers needed a way to collect and store drinking water. They built ten large cisterns inside the fort, each holding 20,000 gallons, which can be seen today by the brick floors. Fresh water entered these cisterns through a clever filtration system. Rainwater would pass through soil, sand, and oyster shells from the fort's second level, then flow down hidden lead pipes within the walls. 

After the bombardment, U.S. soldiers were wary of using the cisterns. They weren't worried about lead poisoning. Instead, they feared that the Confederate soldiers might have poisoned the water. To avoid this, they opted to drink fresh water from a desalination unit set up in the Guard Room, which helped them stay safe from lead poisoning as well.

5,275 shots and shells in 30 hours. Acting Brigadier General Quincy Adams Gillmore led the Union artillery attack on Fort Pulaski. Because the U.S. Army originally built the fort, he knew its strengths and weaknesses and targeted the angle shown above. Within range of Tybee Island -- where he positioned artillery -- it is directly in line with the fort's powder magazine. Gillmore's decision had the desired effect. Rifled artillery solid shots and exploding shells demolished Fort Pulaski's seven and one-half foot thick, solid brick walls during a 30-hour bombardment. Once considered unbreachable, the fort's walls proved no match for the spinning projectiles of this new technology.

Colonel Charles R. Olmstead surrendered the Confederate fort before the incoming shells exploded the powder magazine, which would have destroyed the entire garrison.

The cemetery at Fort Pulaski marks the final resting place for workers, families and soldiers. Union and Confederate soldiers, as well as the people who built the fort and supported the troops garrisoned there, once shared this hallowed ground. After the Civil War, the U.S. Army moved the Union troops' remains to Beaufort National Cemetery in South Carolina, but the others remain. Thirteen unmarked graves contain the remains of Confederate officers from a group known as the "Immortal 600." Some of these 600 Confederate officers were imprisoned at Fort Pulaski from October 1864 to March 1865. Here they endured starvation and sickness during a bitterly cold winter. In March, survivors were transferred to Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island off the Delaware shore.

"I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it and to live or die for it." ~~ Casimir Pulaski