Parade Ground, Fort Pulaski, Savannah, GA (3)
**Fort Pulaski National Monument** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 66000064, date listed 10/15/1966
17 mi. W of Savannah, Cockspur Island
Savannah, GA (Chatham County)
Fort Pulaski, under construction from 1829 to1847, was one of a chain of brick coastal fortifications in the eastern U.S. On Cockspur Island in the mouth of the Savannah River, it guarded the city of Savannah from water-borne invasion. Associated with it are various ancillary structures and sites that predate, contemporize with, or postdate the main building.
Fort Pulaski is the best preserved and most original of a system of eastern coastal forts designed by the French military engineer Simon Bernard while in the employ of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Its massive brick walls, backed by heavy piers, and casemated rooms reflected the continuing search for security against increasingly large caliber smoothbore cannon of the period. (1)
The parade ground at Fort Pulaski National Monument in Savannah, Georgia, was the central open space inside the fort, where soldiers would assemble and train. During the Civil War, Confederate defenders used the parade ground to add defensive measures to the fort.
The parade ground was a critical part of the fort's defenses during the American Civil War, though in an unconventional way. In 1862, Union forces used newly developed rifled cannons during their siege of Fort Pulaski. Since these weapons had a longer range and were more powerful than earlier smoothbore cannons, the fort's masonry walls were proven vulnerable.
In an effort to counter the new artillery, Confederate soldiers dug ditches in the parade ground to catch incoming cannon shot. They also constructed a "blindage"—a heavy timber shelter—around the interior of the fort to protect against exploding shells and flying fragments.
The Union bombardment ultimately breached the fort's walls near a powder magazine. The threat of an explosion on the parade ground, where the magazine was located, forced the Confederate commander to surrender. This demonstrated that masonry forts could no longer withstand modern artillery fire. (Google AI)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...
Parade Ground, Fort Pulaski, Savannah, GA (3)
**Fort Pulaski National Monument** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 66000064, date listed 10/15/1966
17 mi. W of Savannah, Cockspur Island
Savannah, GA (Chatham County)
Fort Pulaski, under construction from 1829 to1847, was one of a chain of brick coastal fortifications in the eastern U.S. On Cockspur Island in the mouth of the Savannah River, it guarded the city of Savannah from water-borne invasion. Associated with it are various ancillary structures and sites that predate, contemporize with, or postdate the main building.
Fort Pulaski is the best preserved and most original of a system of eastern coastal forts designed by the French military engineer Simon Bernard while in the employ of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Its massive brick walls, backed by heavy piers, and casemated rooms reflected the continuing search for security against increasingly large caliber smoothbore cannon of the period. (1)
The parade ground at Fort Pulaski National Monument in Savannah, Georgia, was the central open space inside the fort, where soldiers would assemble and train. During the Civil War, Confederate defenders used the parade ground to add defensive measures to the fort.
The parade ground was a critical part of the fort's defenses during the American Civil War, though in an unconventional way. In 1862, Union forces used newly developed rifled cannons during their siege of Fort Pulaski. Since these weapons had a longer range and were more powerful than earlier smoothbore cannons, the fort's masonry walls were proven vulnerable.
In an effort to counter the new artillery, Confederate soldiers dug ditches in the parade ground to catch incoming cannon shot. They also constructed a "blindage"—a heavy timber shelter—around the interior of the fort to protect against exploding shells and flying fragments.
The Union bombardment ultimately breached the fort's walls near a powder magazine. The threat of an explosion on the parade ground, where the magazine was located, forced the Confederate commander to surrender. This demonstrated that masonry forts could no longer withstand modern artillery fire. (Google AI)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...