Fort Pulaski National Monument

My first two stops on this current trip were to visit two forts built long before the U.S. was even a country; built to support the colonial ambitions of Spain and Great Britain. However, my next stop jumped ahead almost 100 years to the 1830s.

The U.S. had just fought another war with Great Britain (War of 1812), which pretty much ended in a draw. But it awakened the U.S. government to the need to better protect its Atlantic coastline. Those old forts of the British and Spanish were either gone or inadequate, so construction of a new series of forts was commissioned.

Fort Pulaski was one of those forts. Started in 1829, it took 18 years to complete. When done, it was the marvel of modern construction, considered impossible to breach. The cannon of choice, the “smoothbore”, had a limited range and the nearest firm ground where such cannons could be stationed to threaten the fort was beyond their effective range. Cannonballs may reach the fort but would merely bounce off of the walls.

The fort today has a small Visitor’s Center outside of the fort itself. There isn’t much at all in the Visitor’s Center: a desk and ranger to answer questions, some brochures, a Passport stamp station and a small gift store. I stopped in for about two minutes, said “Hello” to the ranger, got my stamp, and headed to the fort.

The parade ground inside was much larger than that at Castillo de San Marcos. The outer “wall” of the fort consisted of buildings housing everything from living quarters to an armory to supplies. All had some information posters covering the building’s use, the people, or aspects of the fort. This fort, like Castillo de San Marcos, had an “upper deck” that one could access. It offered fine views of the surrounding countryside.

Back to history…

Twelve years after completion, the fort still lacked its full armaments and had only a small contigent manning it. When Georgia seceded from the Union in early 1861, local milita siezed the fort. The U.S. wanted it back and invaded South Carolina, just to the north, not long after the war started. The forces moved south to that “nearest firm ground” to the fort I mentioned above, but they brought a surprise.

The newest thing in artillery – rifled cannons – were brought to bear on the fort. The rifling of the barrel, and the new projectiles used in them, gave the cannon a deadly and powerful accuracy. After only one day of bombardment, huge holes had been opened in the fort’s walls and, rather than risk a hit on the now open powder magazine, the fort’s commander surrendered.

Fort Pulaski became a symbol of that cliche where generals are always fighting the last war. A fort build to be impenetrable to weapons of the War of 1812 or even the more recent Mexican War was rendered obsolete – along with many of its contemporaries – less than 15 years after its completion. The Industrial Revolution was in full swing, and along with so much else in society, the weapons of war were rapidly changing and, as Fort Pulaski demonstrated, the strategies for defense would now need to change too.

Steve