Fort Pulaski National Monument

 military, battlefield, place with historical importance, fortification, American Civil War 1861-1865

U.S. 80
Savannah, GA 31410
(912) 786-5787
www.nps.gov/fopu/

Fort Pulaski was built on Cockspur Island beginning in 1829.

As of 1851, it was intended to be armed with sixty-five 32-pounder guns, fifty-three 24-pounder guns, four 18-pounder guns, four flank howitzers, twelve 8" heavy seacoast howizters, two light 8" howitzers, one 13" mortar, seven 10" heavy mortars and two coehorn mortars for a total of 150 guns.

The siege of Fort Pulaski signalled the end of the era of masonry fortifications for coastal defense. Pulaski was seen as impregnable to current artillery, but several batteries of new rifled Union guns fired from the unheard of distance of over a mile reduced the fort to a pile of rubble within two days.

The swift fall of the fort and the massive damage done to the brick walls sent shockwaves around the world, and saw the immediate end of construction projects at over a dozen forts in the North.

Gen. Robert E. Lee, who as a young officer had helped design the elaborate system of dikes and trenches at the fort, was dumbfounded when word reached him of the fort's surrender.