Fort Pulaski And Cockspur Island

Another in the never-ending (we hope!) series of side trips, taken this time from Savannah, was a day jaunt down the coast to Fort Pulaski on Cockspur Island, then to the popular resort of Tybee Island. As you will note later in this section, Tybee figures into the Fort Pulaski saga, so I am gonna kind of tie the two together; that’s appropriate ‘cause we did them both in one day anyway.

Fort Pulaski, built by the U.S. Army before the Civil War, is located near the mouth of the Savannah River, blocking upriver access to Savannah. Fortifications such as Pulaski, called third system forts, were considered invincible, but the new technology of rifled artillery changed that; as I noted in an earlier post, this little back-alley brawl changed warfare forever. On February 19, 1862, Union Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Sherman ordered Captain Quincy A. Gillmore, an engineer officer, to take charge of a seige force and begin the bombardment and capture of the fort. Gillmore emplaced artillery on Tybee Island, about a mile southeast of the fort, and commenced firing on April 10 after Confederate Colonel Charles H. Olmstead refused to surrender his command. Olmstead knew (or thought he knew) that the effective range of standard cannon was only ¾ mile, and thought that he and his garrison would kinda just be thumbing their noses at the Union forces across the strait. As far as Olmstead knew, the Union attackers might just as well have been throwing rocks for all the effect they could have at that range. BUT, the best-laid plans of men and mice, blah, blah; within hours, Gillmore’s rifled artillery had breached the southeast scarp of the fort, and he continued to pour shells through the resulting hole. Some of these destructive little airmail parcels shortly began to damage the traverse that shielded the powder magazine in the northwest bastion. Realizing that if the magazine exploded the fort would be seriously damaged and the garrison would suffer severe casualties, Olmstead surrendered after 2:00 pm on April 11. The supposedly-impregnable hunk of rock lasted LESS THAN 30 HOURS against modern riflery!! I am embarrassed for them.

The Fort From The Tybee Side:


The lighter areas of brick represent replacement stones, set after the war to plug the 747-sized chunk of the wall that was knocked out before the fort surrendered. Note the other holes caused by shells that 'just missed' what the Union guys were aiming at...

Another View Of The Damage:


Me Hiding From That D@*n%d Wind On The Gun Parapet:


Here is the one where I'm eating a piece of tooth-unfriendly bread called hardtack. Entire Army divisions used to survive on this crap and very little else. No wonder they all got scurvy and rickets. We bought it at the little store inside the fort. After I ate the whole thing (because Allison said I wouldn't) we looked at the wrapper and noted with mild interest the small print that read "historical reference only; NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION". Oh, well.

Scotty Eating Hardtack:


Just as an aside, the fort was named for the Polish Count Casimir Pulaski, who fought (and died!) valiantly fighting for the Americans in their ill-fated assault on Savannah during the Revolutionary War. Here (somewhat off-topic, I am fully aware) is a photo of his monument as it now stands in one of Savannah's squares. The breastworks where the British held off the Americans during this, the second-bloodiest battle of the Revolution after Bunker Hill, runs right under the obelisk.

Monument To Casimir Pulaski In Savannah:


Enough for today. I will pick up this post and give y'all the lowdown on Tybee tomorrow. Then, stay tuned in the next few days; I gotta get this thing up-to-date or I'll get so far behind I'll start omitting stuff. We're in Billings, Montana now, but I still hafta tell you about the 'Heinous Boat Trailer Disaster And Fire', as well as our trip to the Hill Country in April. And don't miss the 'Great Nebraska Blizzard And Stranding'. All this and more within the week.

Scotty