Fort Pulaski, near Savannah, GA

After the British sacked Washington, DC, during the War of 1812, the

U. S. felt the need for better coastal defenses. Fort Pulaski, named for Count Casimir Pulaski, Polish hero of the American Revolution, is one of a series of forts built along the East Coast of the United States. These forts including Pulaski were traditional masonry (stone) fortifica- tions with fixed cannon placements. They were designed to guard harbors or river estuaries. Construction of Fort Pulaski, begun in 1829, required 25 million bricks and 18 years to complete. By 1860, just before the Civil War, however, its armaments still were not complete and it was not garrisoned.

On January 19, 1861, two weeks after South Carolina seceded from the Union, Georgia seceded also and its governor ordered state militia to seize Fort Pulaski. The successful blockade by Union forces of southern ports and the installation of artillery on nearby islands and shores, put the fort at risk. Pulaski, like other similar forts, was not designed to withstand the capabilities of the newly developed rifled cannon. Its longer range and greater accuracy spelled the end of an era for this type of fixed fortification. Up to this point, cannons had been smooth-bore weapons with limited range and accuracy. The new rifled cannons had approximately twice the range and much greater accuracy.

The Union began shelling Fort Pulaski from its nearby cannon implacements and, in 30 hours, forced the Confederates to surrender. The quick fall of Fort Pulaski surprised and shocked the world as Pulaski was considered a spectacular harbor defense structure. The quick destruction of Pulaski by rifled cannons spelled the end of fixed masonry fortifications and signaled the beginning of mobile defenses such as the Merrimac and the Monitor, the first ironclad warships.

The first picture shows earthen mounds outside the walls of the fort. These underground ammunition bunkers were added after the Civil War. During the shelling of Fort Pulaski, ammunition bunkers within the fort (Picture 4) were exposed to cannon fire when the walls were breeched. The second picture shows a National Park Service employee demonstrating loading and firing a rifled musket of the era. She was able to load and fire only three rounds in probably 90 seconds.