Fort Pulaski (Chatham County, Georgia)

Savannah, Georgia is a city rich in history. Founded in 1733 as a British capital of the province of Georgia, the city has seen tumultuous times during both the Revolutionary War and American Civil War. Perhaps none so interesting as the battle that saw the fall of Fort Pulaski to Union forces in April of 1862. After giving my legs time to recover from the half-marathon yesterday morning, I decided to do a little exploration of this historical place.

The fort is now a national monument and has been partially restored after a long abandonment. As I walk around the front of the fort, I'm taken by how sound it appears to be defensively. Surrounded by marshes on all sides and protected by a wide moat with only a single entry point, the fort looks impregnable. Cannon batteries line the interior walls and the ramparts above cover attacks from any direction. 

As I enter the facility across the draw bridge, I see a small city inside, complete with an open plaza where garrisoned soldiers once played baseball during their downtime before the war. As I explore, I encounter a park ranger who describes the battle in detail to me and suggests that I should also walk around the exterior of the fort and see the damage for myself.

After completing the inner loop, I follow his advice and take a stroll along the grassy hills outside the moat. While there is a little damage here and there to the eleven-foot thick brick external wall of the fort, I see nothing substantial . . . until I reach the southeastern wall, that is. Here, numerous shells have bombarded the brick wall and destroyed chunks of it. As I understand it, the fort fell to new technology. No large artillery was thought to be able to be placed within in range of the fort due to the marsh, but the designers didn't count on the rifled barrels of the Union's newest cannons. This rifling adds spin to the projectile as it leaves the cannon in and explosion of gunpowder and the spin adds accuracy and substantial distance to the cannon's range. In fact these shots were fired from between one and two miles away from artillery on the distant Tybee island. Some of the shells remain buried in the wall.

As I understand it, the distant battering of this wall lasted thirty hours with over five thousand shells fire until this wall, later repaired by the occupying Union troops, fell and exposed the fort's ammunition stores to further impacts. The commanding officer fearing the explosions that would end his troops, surrendered to enemy forces by raising a white flag, thus proving the impressive fort pregnable. It's a good reminder to not be too sure of yourself, human ingenuity can go along way to making the impossible possible.