Tag Archives: Georgia Coastal Fortifications

Ruins of Wormsloe, 1740s, Savannah

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Noble Jones was one of the original settlers of Georgia, coming to the colony with General James Oglethorpe in 1733. He applied for a land grant on the southern end of the Isle of Hope but the grant wasn’t formally approved by George II until 1756. Construction on the fortified tabby-and-wood house began around 1739 and was completed around 1745. The fortifications were seen as a necessary foil for a potential Spanish invasion.

Jones named the plantation Wormslow. It was originally thought that this was a reference to the silkworms that optimistic early colonists hoped would make Georgia a leading producer of silk, but in fact it was a prominent place name in the English-Welsh borderlands from which the Joneses came to the New World.

Noble’s son, Noble Wimberly Jones (c. 1723-1805) was the next owner and spent little time at the estate, preferring life in the city of Savannah. His sister, Mary Jones Bulloch also had a life estate in the property. The ruins of the first house remain today as material evidence of Georgia’s earliest days.

In contrast to his loyalist father, Noble W. Jones was a Whig, and after service in the provincial and state legislature pursued a career in medicine. He was elected to the Continental Congress but was unable to serve. Still, his dedication to the cause of revolution earned him the moniker “Morning Star of Liberty”.

George Jones, son of Noble Wimberly, was the next owner, and his son, George Frederick Tilghman Jones changed the spelling from Wormslow to Wormsloe. He also changed his own name to George Wymberly Jones and then added the surname De Renne. He was an active builder of improved structures on the property and was a large slave owner. De Renne was also an important collector of early Georgia documents and manuscripts, reprinting many rare items. The family is still involved in these pursuits to this day. A later descendant, Wymberly Wormsloe De Renne fell on financial hard times just before the Great Depression and opened the estate, with the fine gardens he had developed, to the public. Wormsloe Gardens became a prominent tourist attraction. Wormsloe House remains in the family but the surrounding grounds became a state historic site in 1979. One of the best events in Savannah, the annual Colonial Fare & Muster is staged here each year.

National Register of Historic Places

Fort King George, 1721, Darien

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The first British outpost in present-day Georgia, Fort King George was built and commanded by Colonel John “Tuscarora Jack” Barnwell in 1721, under the auspices of South Carolina Governor Francis Nicholson. Upon its construction it was the southernmost fort in British North America, manned by His Majesty’s Independent Company of Foot. The British claimed the land along the Altamaha River as part of the South Carolina colony as a protection against Spanish forces, who sought to expand their reach northward from Florida. Colonel Barnwell died in 1724 and a mysterious fire claimed the fort in 1726. Rebuilt, it remained in use as a garrison until 1732 when it was officially abandoned. Upon its ruins General Oglethorpe founded Darien in 1736.

The blockhouse was built of cypress logs. Its construction proved no simple matter in the wilderness of Coastal Georgia. Though Nicholson and Barnwell had requested fit young soldiers, they were instead supplied with members of the Regiment of Invalids, veterans who in one way or another were not capable of heavy service. The British welfare system of the day allowed them light duty and by 1722 about 100 soldiers were sent from a hospital in Port Royal, South Carolina, to Fort King George.

From embrasures (gun-ports) on the top level of the blockhouse, soldiers kept watch over the Altamaha River delta. Guardhouses, or sentry towers, were also essential to the site’s security.

None of the original fortification survives; the structures seen today were built using original plans in 1988. Besides the blockhouse, an officers’ quarters and workshop were also reconstructed.

Barracks were located at the rear of the property and provided quarters for His Majesty’s Independent Company of Foot.

Black Island Creek flows behind the barracks.

National Register of Historic Places

 

 

Fort Pulaski, 1847, Savannah

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President James Madison called for the construction of a fort on Cockspur Island as a reaction to the War of 1812. Though construction wouldn’t begin until 1829, the need to protect Savannah from foreign invasion was an ever-present concern.

Designed by General Simon Bernard, Fort Pulaski was built by Captain J. F. K. Mansfield of the Army Corps of Engineers. Second Lieutenant Robert E. Lee was involved in the construction from 1829-31.

One of numerous Third System fortifications, Pulaski would prove an important testing ground for military resistance to new weaponry in the Civil War. The “holes” or pock marks in the side of the structure are the result of rifled cannon fire during the Union siege in the Battle of Fort Pulaski (10-11 April 1862). Pulaski’s inability to withstand this sort of firepower made such coastal fortifications obsolete and changed military architecture forever.

The arched casemates surrounding the interior of the fort held large guns for defense.

The guns were aimed through ports like these, and before the introduction of the Parrott rifle were an imposing defense.

Several re-created barracks such as the one seen below can be found in the complex.

The architecture is truly amazing.

Interior view of a historic brick building featuring arched openings, exposed brick walls, and wooden flooring.

The guns are one of the most popular attractions at the fort.

Fort Pulaski National Monument + National Register of Historic Places

Fort McAllister, 1861, Bryan County

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Located near the mouth of the Ogeechee River in Bryan County, Fort McAllister was a Confederate earthwork fortification. Named for Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Longworth McAllister (1820-11 June 1864), who owned the plantation at Genesis Point where the fort was sited in 1861, it provided Savannah’s southern defense against the U. S. Navy.

During 1862 and 1863, Fort McAllister successfully repelled seven attacks by Union warships, including the ironclads USS Montauk and USS Passaic.  Fort McAllister’s commanding officer, Major John Boog Gallie, was killed in one of the assaults.

Though the fort never fell to the Union Navy, the land assault of 13 December 1864 marked the end of Confederate control and thus the end of Sherman’s March to the Sea.

The General himself observed the taking of Fort McAllister from atop the rice mill of the captured Cheves plantation, across the Ogeechee River. It served for the remainder of the war as a prison camp for Confederates captured along the northern part of the Georgia coast.

After many years of disrepair and natural reclamation, Henry Ford, who owned the property at the time, funded a complete restoration in the late 1930s. Today, it’s one of the best-preserved earthworks of the Confederacy and features a museum and hiking trails.

The earthen construction of Fort McAllister was largely responsible for its ability to successfully repel so many attacks by the Union Navy. Known as the central bombproof, this area in the middle of the fortification housed soldiers, provided medical care, and prepped and maintained the many canons and munitions necessary to the defense of the site.

In 1863 the CSS Rattlesnake (formerly known as the CSS Nashville) took refuge in the Ogeechee River. After being grounded in mud during low tide, the Rattlesnake took heavy fire from Union naval vessels and was completely destroyed. Sections of the wreck were salvaged in 1960, including the engine component seen above.

National Register of Historic Places

Gun Emplacement, 1898, Sapelo Island

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This remnant of a gun emplacement is evidence of the strong military presence along the eastern seaboard during the Spanish-American War.

Fort Frederica Barracks, 1742, St. Simons Island

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The entry tower is all that remains of the barracks, which were built to house 100 men. The building took the form of a square with rooms surrounding an open parade.

The walls were made of tabby one foot thick. During the campaign of 1742, the barracks served as both hospital and quarters for Spanish prisoners of war.

National Register of Historic Places + Fort Frederica National Monument