Fort Morris Historic Site | Midway, Georgia
2559 Fort Morris Rd.Javascript must be enabled to view this map.
Despite the sad fact that not one structure survives from the colonial town of Sunbury, once a busy seaport on the Medway River, there are nearby attractions that can invoke the ghosts of this early Georgia settlement. History buffs can enjoy the beauty of the Georgia coast while touring the remains of a fort that protected the town during the Revolutionary War and War of 1812. Nearby, a historic cemetery contains the graves of some of Sunbury's prominent citizens. Fort Morris's natural charms are recognized by its selection as a site on the Colonial Coast Birding Trail established by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
The walking tour of the fort is a great way to learn Georgia's role in the Revolutionary War while enjoying beautiful views of golden marsh and shimmering tidal river. From the bluff, one can look out on St. Catherines Sound and to barrier islands in the distance. Magnolia, live oak, southern red oak, water oak, sweetgum, cabbage palm, and slash pine grow on the 70 acres, providing sanctuary for many species of birds. Wax myrtle, yaupon holly, and assorted ferns thrive in the understory, The productive Spartina marshes absorb the tides, supporting many wading birds that can be seen year round, including snowy egrets, great blue and little green herons, wood storks, and anhingas. Yellow-crowned night herons nest here and are observed in spring and early summer. Bald eagles, Cooper's hawks, and red-tailed hawks are frequently seen in the fall and winter. Thriving in the woods are deer, raccoons, opossums, armadillos, and squirrels. Occasionally, snakes are spotted sunning themselves on the sandy banks.
The trees around the fort are second growth. The land was completely cutover when the fort was built, and the timber was used in building the fort and also to clear a field of fire. The fort you tour is actually the third or fourth built near this location. The earthworks seen today date back to at least the War of 1812, reshaped from the Revolutionary War fort, Fort Morris.
As the plantations of Midway and St. Johns Parish flourished, locals decided they needed a more convenient port than Savannah for shipping their exports of rice, indigo, skins, lumber, tar, and rosin. In 1758, Mark Carr chose 500 acres on a low bluff on the southern bank of the Medway River for a new settlement and port of entry called Sunbury. The river, with depths ranging up to more than 40 feet, provided safe passage and docking for large ships. (The Medway is believed to be one of the deepest natural rivers south of the Chesapeake.) The road from Midway to Sunbury followed one of the oldest Indian trails in the state, which linked Georgia's mountains to its coast with its southern terminus at Sunbury.
Town planners ambitiously laid out the village in a grid with 496 lots and three public squares - Kings, Church, and Meeting - and five wharves. It was named Sunbury, either for the English town on the Thames River or for its sunny location on the Medway River. The town prospered, and was said to rival Savannah in commercial importance, with Sunbury residents owning a third of all the wealth in Georgia by 1772. Records show that in 1773, Sunbury's port hosted 56 vessels compared with Savannah's 160 ships. At one point Sunbury consisted of 80 homes, a customs house, several businesses, and a naval office. Eighteenth century naturalist William Bartram visited the town several times during his travels in the 1760s, and described it as a town of two-story houses "with pleasant piazzas around them where the genteel, wealthy planters resorted to partake of the sea breeze, bathing, and sporting on the Sea Islands:'
Forts protected Georgia's frontier towns from Spanish and Indian attacks, and Sunbury was no different. In 1755, a small battery was built just south of Sunbury on the first piece of high ground overlooking the Medway River. By 1760, a log fort had been added to protect Sunbury residents from Indian attacks. As the American Revolution approached, a new fort was constructed in 1776 to protect the town from British invasion. Constructed of earth and wood by slaves, this eventually was christened Fort Morris, named for Captain Thomas Morris, who commanded the company of artillery that first garrisoned the fort. The fort mounted 24 guns and housed 250 officers and men. A large, brick officers' barracks stood in the center.
In the fall of 1778, the British launched a two-prong invasion of Georgia. A land force under Lt. Col. Mark Prevost was to march from Fort Howe (Fort Barrington) on the Altamaha River to the Midway Meeting House, then turn and march east to Sunbury. A naval force under Lt. CoL L.V. Fuser was to attack Sunbury from the river, while the land force attacked from land. After the fall of Sunbury, they were to proceed to Savannah.
Several skirmishes were fought as the Americans attempted to delay or prevent Prevost from capturing Midway. Commanding the American patriots was Colonel John ·White. As he continued to fight Prevost, he sent Colonel John McIntosh and 127 men to reinforce Sunbury. When White realized he couldn't hold Midway he abandoned the town and allowed a letter to fall into British hands that was intended to deceive them into thinking the Americans had reinforcements on the way. Provost, who had learned that Fuser was delayed in his approach on Sunbury from the river, the decided to burn Midway and retreat, burning and plundering on the way back to the British colony of East Florida.
Fuser, with a naval force of approximately 500 men, arrived at Sunbury in late November 1778 and put the fort and town under siege. He send a message to the fort demanding its surrender. Colonel, McIntosh, the ranking officer, answered with the famous reply, "Come and take it." Fuser, learning that Prevost had retreated and unsure of the strength of the American troops at Fort Morris, decided to retreat as well. In December, a force of 3,000 British troops captured Savannah, thereby isolating Sunbury and Fort Morris. Again the British approached Sunbury and demanded Fort Morris to surrender. The fort's new commander, Major Joseph Lane, was under orders from his superiors to evacuate. But Lane decided to stay and fight. In the ensuing battle on January 9, 1779, the fort was lost to the British with four Americans killed and seven wounded. The winners renamed the bastion Fort George in honor of King George III, and Sunbury became a military prison for Patriot officers. Lane was later court-martialed for disobeying orders.
By the end of the war, the fort was dismantled and most of the town lay in ruins. In 1782, the British evacuated Georgia, and Sunbury attempted to rebuild. It was named county seat for the new county called Liberty, but never fully regained its prewar prominence. In 1793, Sunbury Academy was established. It became one of the finest schools in the South under the 30-year leadership of the Irish-born Rev. Dr. Wiiliam McWhir, an outstanding Greek and Latin scholar who was a friend of George Washington. Located in King's Square, Sunbury Academy's students went on to become leaders in many fields.
At the turn of the century, much of liberty County had recovered but Sunbury was losing its importance as a seaport. New bridges and roads allowed easier access to Darien and Savannah ports, and Sunbury's population dwindled and the county seat was moved to Riceboro. The area was briefly revitalized in 1812 when Fort Morris was reconfigured into the smaller Fort Defiance that tourists see today. A body of students manned the fort in order to protect Liberty from British invasion during the War of 1812 but no military assaults ever came. More destructive, however, were tremendous hurricanes and yellow fever epidernics that all but obliterated the town. During the Civil Union cavalry pillaged the county and burned a historic church in Sunbury as a signal to the Union Navy in St. Catherines Sound. After the Civil Wart the few remaining buildings of any value were removed to Dorchester. The only building in the area still standing from the mid-1800s is Dorchester Presbyterian Church, built in 1854. The church's bell is originally from Sunbury. (Directions to Dorchester Presbyterian Church: From I-95. drive 2.2 miles to Dorchester historical marker on right. Turn right on dirt road and drive 0.2 mile to church on left.) The property was abandoned and left to relic hunters and the forces of nature for 100 years until the Georgia Historical Commission purchased the site in 1968.
The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and in 1973, The Nature Conservancy helped the state acquire 3 more acres that contain the old earthworks.
Sunbury Cemetery is the only physical remains of the once thriving seaport. The cemetery is believed to have occupied the southeast corner of Church Square. Only 34 markers remain, with the earliest dated 1783 and the latest marked 1911. The most famous marker belongs to the Rev. Dr. William McWhir, the famous principal of Sunbury Academy, who died in 1851 at the age of 9l.
