Fort Pulaski
Cockspur Island, Georgia
Nov 2014

Fort Pulaski National Monument is located on Cockspur Island between Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia. The monument preserves Fort Pulaski, where in 1862 during the American Civil War, the Union Army successfully tested rifled cannon in combat, the success of which rendered brick fortifications obsolete.

Fort Pulaski National Monument by Paul Sager, on Flickr


Following the War of 1812, U.S. President James Madison ordered a new system of coastal fortifications to protect the United States against foreign invasion. Construction of a fort to protect the port of Savannah began in 1829 under the direction of Major General Babcock, and later Second Lieutenant Robert E. Lee, a recent graduate of West Point. The new fort would be located on Cockspur Island at the mouth of the Savannah River.

Fort Pulaski National Monument


Fort Pulaski belonged to what is known as the Third System of coastal fortifications, which were characterized by greater structural durability than the earlier works. Most of the nearly thirty Third System forts built after 1816 still exist along either the Atlantic or Gulf coasts.

Fort Pulaski National Monument


The fort is named after Casimir Pulaski, a Revolutionary War soldier under George Washington’s command. An estimated 25 million bricks were used to build the fort, with walls eleven feet thick that were thought to be impenetrable. Lt. Lee remarked that "one might as well bombard the Rocky Mountains as Fort Pulaski".

Fort Pulaski National Monument


Images shared in this post come from an EOS 5DIII and EOS 1v using Ilford Delta 100. Lenses are the EF 50mm f/1.8 and EF 35mm f/1.4L.

Fort Pulaski National Monument


Georgia seceded from the Union in February 1861, joining the Confederate States of America in what would shortly become the U.S. Civil War. On the morning of April 10, 1862 Union forces asked for the surrender of the Fort to prevent needless loss of life. Colonel Charles H. Olmstead, commander of the Confederate garrison, rejected the offer.

Using 36 guns, including the new James Rifled Cannon and Parrott rifles, Union troops began a sustained bombardment of Fort Pulaski. The rifled projectiles could be accurately fired farther (4-5 miles) than the larger and heavier smoothbore cannonballs. Within 30 hours, the new rifled cannon had breached one of the fort's corner walls. Shells now passed through the fort dangerously close to the main powder magazine. The Confederate defenders then surrendered the fort.

Fort Pulaski National Monument


Fort Pulaski was declared a National Monument in October 1924 as a last measure to save the building from ruin, which had been for the most part unused since the end of the war in 1865.

Fort Pulaski National Monument


The National Monument includes most of Cockspur Island (containing the fort) and all of adjacent McQueens Island. The fort was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. Fort Pulaski remains open to the public, with a museum opened in the 1980s.

Fort Pulaski National Monument


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