Fort Pulaski Essay

Following the War of 1812 The United States government began to take action in building a coastal defense against foreign invaders. This defense system was known as Fort Pulaski. Being that Savanah was known to be the major port in Georgia, navy officials recognized the importance of constructing a fort to help protect the city from naval attacks coming up the Savannah River. Fort Pulaski was a great defense support system for this city.
Fort Pulaski National Monument is located on Cockspur Island between Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia. The view here in Savannah is incredible. Being that the fort was created for coastal defense, you can see the body of water that surrounds it. The fort is a larger area that many tourists like to visit.

The landscape is like our Cape Cod, dotted with palm trees and fueled with warmer temperature. The United States created this fort in the perfect area that will attract tourist often.
Fort Pulaski was named after the Polish Count Casimir Pulaski, an American Revolutionary war hero fighting against the British army, in the battle of Savannah.

Responsibility for most of the early work on Fort Pulaski fell on the shoulders of Lieutenant Robert E. Lee who had recently graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. Lee oversaw the preliminary construction, choosing the site and designing a system of drains and dikes to support the weight of the masonry fort. In 1831 Lieutenant Joseph K. Mansfield took charge of Pulaski's construction and oversaw the project for the next fourteen years. When finished in 1847, the fort could mount 146 cannons, some on the parapet atop the 7.5-foot-wide walls and others in casemates inside the walls. In order to ensure a safe coastal area Government officials created the Fort. The Fort provides the area with tight navy

protection.
Fort Pulaski played a major role in a support system to defending coastal invaders.

This historical cite was a part of the civil war history. In November 1861, following the capture of nearby Port Royal, South Carolina, by Union forces, General Robert E. Lee, Commanding Union Confederate forces in the region, ordered Tybee Island and other islands near the fort abandoned because they could not be adequately defended. In February 1862 the Union commander in the district, Brigadier General Thomas W. Sherman, decided to take the fort by siege. He ordered troops to Tybee Island and constructed defenses on the smaller neighboring islands to cut the garrison from reinforcements. Captain Quincy Gillmore of the Engineer Corps became in charge of the siege preparations on Tybee. Gillmore ordered his engineers to construct a series of eleven artillery batteries along the North Shore of Tybee Island. They worked mostly at night and camouflaged the work on the batteries to prevent the fort's garrison from discovering their plans. By April 9, Gillmore had twenty cannons and fourteen mortars in position to bombard Fort Pulaski. He demanded the surrender of the fort, but Colonel Olmstead declined, Federal guns maintaining a slow, steady fire all day. By afternoon it became apparent that the heavy shells from the rifled cannons would be able to break through the walls of Pulaski. The guns from the fort returned fire but did no damage to the Union positions. The final day was on April

11, the Union bombardment opened two thirty-foot holes in the southeast face of Pulaski more shells were passing through the wall and striking the interior of the fort. Olmstead decided to surrender the garrison when the firing came perilously close to one of the main powder magazines. In less than thirty-six hours and with the loss of only one Union soldier, the new rifled cannons had brought the surrender of a fort that took eighteen years to build, a fort that some of the best engineers in both armies had said could not be reduced by such an artillery assault.
Fort Pulaski is a very important part piece of our coastal history. This cite today still informs us individuals on how important Savannah benefited from this. Park officials still hold the Fort legacy by actually showing visitors live shows on how the Fort provided its service to protect us. This Cite still contributes to our history tremendously. Individuals who visit this site will leave with a clear understanding of the importance of Fort Pulaski in American history.