Eleven feet thick. Impenetrable. That’s what they thought about Fort Pulaski’s walls. But look at them now. The scars remain.
Fort Pulaski stands here a testament to both incredible engineering and the relentless march of history. Built between 1829 and 1847 it was designed to protect Savannah a bustling port city. Twenty-five million bricks went into its construction. An impressive feat of its time. It cost nearly a million dollars. That’s roughly $27.7 million in today’s money. A young Robert E Lee even helped plan its construction.
Named for Casimir Pulaski a Revolutionary War hero the fort was intended to be invincible. Smoothbore cannons of the era had a limited range. Tybee Island the nearest land mass was far beyond their reach. The Chief of Engineers even boasted you might as well bombard the Rocky Mountains.
But then came the Civil War. In 1861 Georgia seceded. Confederate troops seized Fort Pulaski. They abandoned Tybee Island later that year. It was too isolated. This gave the Union Army a strategic advantage.
Under the command of General Gillmore Union forces began a siege. They established batteries on Tybee Island. They used new rifled cannons. These advanced weapons could fire much farther and with greater accuracy than the older smoothbore cannons.
For 30 hours the bombardment continued. The rifled projectiles tore through Pulaski’s seemingly impenetrable walls. The Confederate commander Colonel Olmstead surrendered. Only two soldiers one from each side died in this historic battle.
This siege was a pivotal moment. It demonstrated the obsolescence of brick fortifications in the face of modern artillery. The fort’s capture crippled Savannah’s role as a Confederate port. It also marked a turning point in military science and engineering.
After the war Fort Pulaski was briefly used as a prison. It held both military and political prisoners. Union General David Hunter issued General Order Number 7 freeing enslaved people at the fort before Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. It even became a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Today Fort Pulaski stands as a National Monument. It’s a place where history whispers through the walls. It reminds us of innovation war and the enduring struggle for freedom. The park’s trails offer glimpses of its history and the natural beauty of the surrounding marshes. So explore these grounds. Reflect on the stories etched into its very bricks. Let the spirit of Fort Pulaski resonate within you.