Much of Robert Redford’s movie The Conspirator was filmed at Fort Pulaski, inside the parade ground, in rooms beneath the walls, and outside the fort. An amusing shot shows Fort Pulaski in the foreground and in the distance is a superimposed Civil War Washington D.C.

Five-sided Fort Pulaski, constructed between 1829 and 1847, faces the Savannah River near the Atlantic Ocean and is surrounded by a seven-foot-deep tidal moat crossed by a drawbridge. The brick walls, 32 feet high and 11 feet thick, have a circumference of 1,580 feet and enclose a two-acre parade ground. Inside the walls were officers’ quarters, ammunition magazines, and a variety of arched, bombproof chambers that housed cannon. Heavier guns were positioned on top of the walls, but only 20 of 140 projected pieces were installed. Large cisterns gathered 200,000 gallons of rain for a water supply. The fort, which cost a million dollars to build, contains 25 million bricks, the immense weight supported by wooden timbers driven 70 feet into the mud of Cockspur Island.

Fort Pulaski was considered the strongest brick fort in existence in January 1861 when Georgia Governor Joseph Brown ordered it occupied before Union troops could arrive. After war broke out one of the first priorities of the Federal army was to occupy Pulaski and deny the use of Savannah to blockade runners. In November 1861 a Union force landed at Hilton Head and established a base. Working at night the Federals hauled 36 cannon by hand over mud flats and placed them in 11 concealed batteries on Tybee Island. Among the guns were newly developed rifled cannon that hurled projectiles weighing almost 300 pounds.

On April 10, 1862, after Confederate Colonel Charles Olmstead declined to surrender, Union batteries began bombarding the fort, concentrating on the southeastern angle. The rifled shells burrowed 25 inches into the wall before exploding, sending piles of brick into the moat and dismounting Confederate guns. The bombardment continued throughout the night, and by the following day the angle had been demolished. Shells flying through the gap threatened to ignite the fort’s magazine, which was directly opposite the breach and contained 40,000 pounds of powder. Faced with annihilation, the Confederates surrendered on April 12 after a 30 hour bombardment.

The Federals repaired the damaged walls in six weeks, mounted 60 guns, and maintained a 1,100 man garrison in the fort until the end of the war. In 1864-65 part of the fort was used to house 600 military and political prisoners. A cemetery where 13 Confederates were buried has recently been located and marked with an exhibit panel. It once held 40 burials, including a section for Union guards, but most remains were relocated after the war.

Pulaski was abandoned in 1880, but the Federal government began restoring it as a national park in 1933. It is excellently preserved. The Visitors Center houses a series of exhibits that explain how Pulaski was built and how it was subdued. Cannon have been remounted around the fort, and rooms have been restored as living quarters, mess rooms, etc. to demonstrate daily garrison life, and the magazine, cisterns, drawbridge, and other features of the fort are visible on a walking tour.

The formidable tidal moat, 32-48 feet wide, is crossed at Stop 1.

Stop 2, the demilune, a triangular plot honeycombed with earthen bunkers and tunnels leading to gun emplacements, was added after the war. In 1862 a parapet surrounded outbuildings and storage structures here.

Stop 3 is the drawbridge, which guarded the fort’s only entrance. Across the drawbridge are a strong wooden grille and heavy wooden doors. Rifle ports line both sides of the entrance before a second set of reinforced doors.

Stop 4, the gorge wall, with the drawbridge in the center, was lined with gunports. At the northwest and southwest bastions projecting walls allowed cannon to sweep the approaches.

The northwest angle is Stop 5. Federal guns breached the southeast angle and allowed shells to impact around the magazine here, where the brick walls were 12 to 15 feet thick.

Stop 6 describes the Confederate internal defense system, where heavy timbers laid against the interior wall protected the garrison from shell fragments. The parade ground had trenches and earthen mounds to stop cannonballs, and earthen traverses protected guns on the walls.

Stop 7 recreates cells converted from casemates where prisoners were housed.

The Union breach was made at Stop 8. Rifled projectiles tore gaping holes in the thick brick walls at the southeast angle.

The southwest bastion at Stop 9 was left unrestored after an 1895 fire, which enables visitors to understand how the fort was constructed. Brick arches under the terreplein bear the enormous weight of the fort to counterarches in the floor, which are supported by timber pillars.

Stop 10 is the recreated quarters of Colonel Olmstead, who surrendered the fort here.

Obtaining fresh water was impossible on this island, so 10 cisterns were constructed within the walls. Rain filtered through the terreplein to the cisterns. Stop 11 explores one exposed cistern

Walk across the terreplein to explore the mounted cannon, which could be traversed to fire in different directions. Look toward the bridge to Tybee Island-11 Union batteries were constructed behind the dunes.

Stroll around the exterior of the fort to appreciate the intricate drainage system, much of it the work of Robert E. Lee. Carefully examine the southeast angle, Stop 12. Many craters from the 5,275 projectiles fired at the fort remain, and several rounds remain embedded in the walls. This repaired wall is obvious-it is of a different color and has no gunports.

Fort Pulaski commemorates the bombardment and surrender of the facility and features candlelight tours and POW and garrison reenactments.

From To The Sea.

See my blog Ghosts of Fort Pulaski.

Jim Miles is the author of nine books about the Civil War and two Weird Georgia books. See Jim’s books.
   

Tagged with: Civil War in Georgia