From the time when the first
white men came to Georgia,
with General Oglethorpe, until the Indian title to the lands was
entirely
extinguished, numerous forts were built for the protection of the
settlers
against the depredations of the savages, the threatening attitude of
the
Spaniards on the south, and the campaigns of the British during the
Revolution. Many of these forts were
slight affairs, often being constructed by the settlers themselves in a
hurried
manner, and some were not even dignified by a name.
Some of them, though not in Georgia, played
an important part in the war of the Revolution and the various wars
with the
Indians. Notable among these were Fort
Mitchell, on the west bank of the Chattahoochee, just below Columbus;
Forts
Butler and Hembrie in North Carolina, a short distance from Hiawassee
in Towns
county; Fort Prince George in South Carolina, and Fort Loudon in
Tennessee. As far as possible the forts
within the state have been located and such information given
concerning them
as could be gleaned from the meager records preserved, each fort being
treated
under its own name.
[Source: Georgia:
Sketches, Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions & People, Vol. 2,
Publ.
1906 Transcribed By: Maggie Coleman]
Fort
Argyle.—This
fort was erected by Oglethorpe in 1733 and stood at the narrow passage
ob the Ogeechee river, above a mile above the mouth of the
Cannouchee. Its position was selected
with reference to the route taken by the Indians in their invasions
into South Carolina and it
was named in honor of the Duke of Argyle, who was a friend and patron
of
Oglethorpe. Upon its completion it was
garrisoned by Captain McPherson and his company of rangers. No English settlements were made south of the
Ogeechee until some years afterward and Fort Argyle
remained the only post to guard the southern frontier.
Ten plantations were established near the
fort, but when the garrison was withdrawn eight of the planters removed
and in
a few years all signs of industry had disappeared.
[Source: Georgia:
Sketches, Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions & People, Vol. 2,
Publ.
1906 Transcribed By: Maggie Coleman]
Fort
Armstrong was
located on the line between Georgia
and Alabama,
not far from the old Cherokee boundary as established by General Coffee. It was one of the early frontier
fortifications, erected as a defense against the Indians.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Barrington.-About
twenty miles above the city of Darien, on the
east side of the Altamaha river, there is at the present day a little
hamlet
called Barrington. Near the site of the
village General
Oglethorpe erected a frontier fort in the early days of the colony and
conferred on it the name of Fort Barrington. During
the
Revolutionary war the name was
changed to Fort Howe,
in honor of Gen. Robert Howe, who was for some time the commander of
the
American forces in Georgia. The old fort
has long since crumbled into
ruins, along with many other early military establishments, the
location of
some being uncertain if not altogether unknown.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort Beaulieu was an
earthwork during the civil war near Beaulieu, on Vernon river, one of
the pleasure resorts of the citizens
of Savannah. It was erected as a barrier
against any
hostile force that might attempt to attack Savannah from the rear. On Dec. 14, 1864, Admiral Dahlgreen’s fleet
began the bombardment of the battery and also of Fort
Rosedew, a small earthwork on the Ogeechee river. By
the
21st
these works and all the other fortifications of the city of
Savannah had been abandoned by General Hardee, who had
held his long line for nearly two weeks against Sherman’s army
numbering nearly four times as
many men.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort Brown.- At the beginning of the Confederate war
the state
authorities commenced the construction of a heavy earthwork as one of
the
defenses of the city of Savannah. It was
located at the Roman Catholic cemetery
and was intended to guard the approaches from Thunderbolt, Isle of Hope
and
Beaulieu. Before it was completed it was
turned over to the Confederate government and was subsequently
incorporated in
the regular line of defences erected by general authorities. After the restoration of peace the old fort
gradually disappeared until at the present time it is only a memory.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort Chambers, a
pioneer protection against the warlike Creeks, stood a little
northwest of the present town of Sparta
in Hancock county.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Cornwallis was the
principal fortification at Augusta in the time of the Revolution. It was erected by the British and named after
Lord Cornwallis. Its location was near
the center of the town, not far from the Savannah
river, and it played a prominent part in the military operations in the
several
attacks upon and the siege of Augusta. (See
Augusta).
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort Dearborn was a
temporary fortification erected and occupied during the Florida war. It was located on the eastern border of the
Okefinokee swamp, about thirteen miles southeast of Fort Floyd.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Early.-But
little is
known of this fort, further than that it was located on the left bank
of the
Flint river, a little north of east of the present town of Starkville,
and that
it was named for Peter Early.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort Fidius was
built in the latter part of the eighteenth
century as a protection against the Indians. The
records of the United States
war department state that it was located “on the north bank of the
Oconee river,” but its exact location can not be
ascertained. It was probably a short
distance south of the present city of Milledgeville.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Floyd,
located near
the northeast corner of the great Okefinokee swamp, was erected by
authority of
the United States
government and was occupied from Nov. 15, 1838, to Sept. 25, 1839, when
it was
abandoned.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
George.-In 1762
a fort was built on Cockspur island, to which was given the name of
Fort George. It was an earthwork of
considerable
proportions, the mud walls being faced with palmetto logs and a
caponiere built
inside to serve as officer’s quarters. In September, 1773, only eleven
years
after it was erected, it was reported to be almost in ruins and
garrisoned by
one officer and three men, just to make signals, etc.
In a letter written by James Habersham on
April 30, 1772, the fort is mentioned as being “a total ruin, through
necessary
for the protection of the port and shipping.” It
never played an important part in the history of
the colony, either
as a work of defense or an object of attack. (See
Fort Morris).
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Gilmer was
located
about “one mile below the mouth of Cypress creek
in Gilmer county,” and was established by authority of the United
States shortly after the
treaty of Dec. 29, 1835. It was first
occupied on July 30, 1838, and was abandoned on March 24, 1842. It was named in honor of George R. Gilmer,
who was at that time governor of the state.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Grierson.-This
fort
stood about a half mile from Fort Cornwallis, on the west side of
Augusta and
on the west bank of a deep gully that communicated with the Savannah
river. It was erected by the British in
the time of the Revolution and was named after one of their generals. (See Augusta).
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Halifax.-This
fort, which was not a very formidable one, stood on the bluff
within the limits of the town of Savannah. It
was
erected in 1759 and consisted of two
walls of heavy planks, filled in between with earth.
Its chief historic prominence is in the fact
that it was here the stamps were stored by Governor Wright’s orders in
December, 1765. (See Sons of Liberty).
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Hawkins.-In 1802
Col. Benjamin Hawkins recommended to the war department the
establishment of a
fort and trading post on the “Old Ocmulgee Fields.”
The right to establish such a post was
obtained by the Fort Wilkinson treaty and Colonel Hawkins selected the
site on an eminence near the river, and where the city of Macon now
stands, where a tract of 100 acres
was set apart for the use of the post. Fort
Hawkins
was
built in 1806 and was garrisoned by troops from Fort Wilkinson
early in the following year. It was
named in honor of the man who suggested it and was one of the most
formidable
on the frontier. Two blockhouses, each
of heavy logs and provided with portholes for both cannon and musketry,
stood
at the southeast and northwest corners of a strong stockade. The area enclosed by the stockade was fourteen
acres. The land about the fort was
cleared of large trees and undergrowth, so that no shelter would be
afforded to
the Indians in case of attack. During
the War of 1812 the fort was a prominent point for the mobilization of
troops.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort Heard-or
Heard’s fort, as it was generally called-was located near the
headwaters of Fishing creek, on the site of the present city of
Washington, and was built
as a protection against the Indians by Stephen Heard, who settled there
about
1774. In 1780, when the British
threatened Augusta, then the seat of government, the assembly passed a
resolution, that, “Aware of the defenceless condition of this town,
which might
be surprised by twenty men, and deeming it unsafe and impolitic for the
governor and council to remain thus exposed, it is ordered that Heard’s
fort,
in Wilkes county be designated, as a place of meeting for transacting
the
business of the government of this state as soon after leaving Augusta
as may
be.”
Probably the reason that this fort was selected
was because Mr. Heard was at that time acting governor.
The records, etc., were removed there and for
the time being the affairs of the state were administered from the fort
as the
temporary capital of Georgia. The old fort
has long since disappeared, but
the part it played in the struggle for independence forms one of the
interesting incidents in Georgia’s
Revolutionary history.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Henderson, a
temporary fortification during the Florida war, was located on the St.
Mary’s
river two and a half miles west of Coleraine. It
was a cheaply constructed earthwork and was used
but a short time.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort James.-A
description of this fort, written by William Bartram in the spring of
1776, says it was located on the point of land lying between the
Savannah and Broad rivers,
about equally distant from each of the streams and from the point of
their
union. The stockade was an acre in
extent, with “salient bastions at each angle, mounted with a
blockhouse, where
are some swivel guns, one story higher than the curtains which are
pierced with
loopholes, breast high, and defended by small arms.”
At the time of Bartram’s visit the place was
garrisoned by fifty rangers, well mounted and armed.
Located as it was upon an eminence, it
commanded the two rivers, as well as a considerable scope of the
surrounding
country.
The records of the United States war department mention another Fort
James
as being located on the Altamaha river, two
miles above the mouth of Beard’s creek. During
the Civil war there was Confederate
fortification by this name on
the Ogeechee river.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort Jones was in
Stewart county and in the Creek war of 1836 was garrisoned by a force
of
militia under the command of Major Jernigan. (See
Shepherd’s Plantation).
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
King George.-This was
probably the first military work in what is now the State of Georgia. It was built at the junction of the Oconee
and Ocmulgee rivers about 1720, by orders of General Nicholson, who was
at that
time governor of South Carolina,
his object being to protect the southern border of that colony against
invasion
from the Spaniards. The first fort was
destroyed by fire and a second erected in its place, but it was not so
good as
its predecessor and was soon abandoned. In
1729 Gov. Robert Johnson, who had succeeded
General Nicholson, ordered
it rebuilt, but the order was not carried out.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort Lawrence was on
the right bank of the Flint river, opposite the Creek agency,
in what is now Taylor
county, and was a work of some importance in its day.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
McAllister.-Early in
the Civil war the Confederates built this fort on Genesis
Point, at the mouth of the Ogeechee, to guard against any attack on
Savannah by way of that
river. At the beginning of the year 1863
it was garrisoned by a small force commanded by Maj. John B. Gallie. On January 27th an attack was made
on the works by four Federal gunboats and an ironclad monitor. The only guns of consequence in the fort were
one rifled 32-pounder and one 8-inch columbiad. With
this armament a fight was dept up for four
hours, in which the
vessels exhausted their ammunition and withdrew without doing any
serious
damage. Five days later another attack
was made, but again the Federals were repulsed. On
February 27th the steamer Nashville, a
blockade runner,
which had been lying for sometime above the fort, ran aground not far
from the
mouth of the river, where she was set on fire by shells from the
Federal
vessels and destroyed, the guns from the fort doing all they could
meanwhile to
protect the cruiser. On March 3d the
fort was furiously bombarded for seven hours by three new monitors
armed with
heavy guns and the mortar boats continued the shelling all the
following
night. Next morning the fort was
apparently as good as ever. Being a low
earthwork, constructed chiefly of sand, the shots from the gunboats had
done
very little damage, except the temporary dismantling of tow guns and
the slight
wounding of two men. Horace Greeley, in
his “American Conflict,” says that “from this time the Union fleets
saved their
ammunition by letting Fort McAllister alone.”
The fort was captured by the Federals on Dec. 13,
1864, by a land force of nine regiments, which surrounded it and after
a fierce
fight of about a quarter of an hour Major Anderson and his 250 men were
compelled to yield to the superior strength of the enemy.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
McIntosh.-In the
establishment of defenses for the country south of the Altamaha, at the
beginning of the Revolution, Fort McIntosh was erected on the east side
of the Satilla
river, nearly west of the present village of Tarboro.
It was a small stockade, one hundred feet
square, and stood on a slight elevation about eighty yards from the
water. At each corner was a bastion, and
in the
center stood a block house, which served as a lodgement for the troops,
a
magazine and a last resort as a place of defense. In
January,
1777, Col. Lachlan McIntosh, in
whose honor the fort was named, sent Capt. Richard Winn, with forty men
from
the Third South Carolina and twenty Continental troops from the Georgia
brigade to garrison the post. Just at
dawn on February 17th an attempt was made to surprise the
garrison,
by a force of seventy Florida Rangers and eighty Indians, commanded by
Brown,
Cunningham and McGirth. After an assault
of five hours a demand was made by Colonel Brown for the unconditional
surrender
of the fort, accompanied by the threat to put the entire garrison to
the sword
if the demand was refused. Captain Winn
asked that hostilities be suspended for an hour, to give him an
opportunity to
consider the question. At the end of
that time he returned the following reply: “I
have considered your proposition, but am bound in
honor not to
comply. Should we fall into your hands
we shall expect to be treated as prisoners of war.”
The fight was then recommenced and continued
until dark, when the enemy withdrew a short distance and placed a
strong picket
line around the beleaguered garrison. However,
Winn managed to send a message through the
lines, with a
request to Colonel Harris, at Fort Howe, for reinforcements,
but Harris would not run the risk of weakening his own force to grant
the request. The next day the besiegers
received an
addition of 200 men under Colonel Fuser, and again a terrific assault
was begun
upon the fort. Winn, still hoping for
reinforcements, held out until his ammunition was almost exhausted and
his
provisions reduced to less than one full day’s rations, when he asked
for a
personal conference with Colonel Fuser, in which he surrendered,
receiving the
assurance that he and his men would be protected from Indian treachery. This pledge was not kept by the British
commander
and Winn and his men escaped through the woods to Fort Howe.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
McPherson, a
United States
post, situated four miles south of Atlanta,
lies along the Central of Georgia railway, and is a postoffice,
telegraph and
railroad station. The site was selected
by Maj-Gen. W. S. Hancock and jurisdiction was ceded by acts of the
state
legislature, approved Sept. 14, 1885, and Nov. 19, 1886.
The work of building the new post was
commenced in the summer of 1885, on plans prepared by the
quartermaster-general
and with funds appropriated by the act of Congress on July 7, 1884,
being the
sundry civil bill for the construction and enlargement of military
posts. In addition to the funds of annual
appropriations of this and subsequent years available for the
prosecution of
the work, a special appropriation of $75,000 was made by the bill to
supply
deficiencies for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889.
Fort
McPherson was named in honor of the
gallant Gen. James B. McPherson who was killed at the battle of Atlanta
July 22,
1864. It has quarters for officers and
non-commissioned staff officers, barracks for enlisted men, all
necessary
administrative office buildings, hospital, storehouses, stables, etc.,
for a
command consisting of head-quarters and one regiment of infantry. Water is supplied from drilled wells on the
reservation. The post has a complete
system of sewerage and the buildings and ground are lighted by
electricity. In addition to the Central
of Georgia railway an electric carline connects the post with the city
of Atlanta. The total amount expended for
the buildings
and improvements from establishment of post to February, 1906, is
$1,184,963.06. The area of the
reservation is 236.41 acres.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Morris.-On July
5, 1776, the Continental Congress passed resolutions to raise two
battalions to
serve in Georgia; that blank commissions be sent to the Georgia
convention to
be filled with the names of officers that the convention might select;
that the
legislatures of Virginia and the two Carolinas be recommended to allow
citizens
of those colonies to enlist in the battalions; that four galleys be
built for
coast defense, and that two companies of artillery of 50 men each be
enlisted
to garrison two forts to be erected by the state at Savannah and
Sunbury. The fort at Sunbury was a heavy
earthwork and
was located just south of the town on the Medway river.
It is said to have been built by slave labor,
the planters of the Medway district and Bermuda
island joining with the citizens of the town in its construction. When completed it was named Fort Morris,
in honor of Captain Morris, who commanded one of the two artillery
companies
authorized by the resolutions. In
November, 1778, the fort was garrisoned by a force of less than 20
men,-Continental troops, militia and citizen soldiery,-under the
command of
Col. John McIntosh. Late in the month
several British vessels, bearing about 500 men, heavy cannon, light
artillery
and mortars, anchored off Colonel’s island, where the infantry was
landed. The vessels then sailed up the
Medway and
took a position in front of the fort and in what was know as the “back
river”
opposite the town. Having disposed his
troops ready for an attack Colonel Fuser sent a demand to McIntosh to
surrender
the fort. In his reply Colonel McIntosh
said: “We, Sir, are fighting the battles of America, and therefore
disdain to
remain neutral till its fate is determined. As
to surrendering the fort, receive this laconic
reply: Come and take it.”
For this display of bravery in the face of a
much larger force than his own, and for his spirited defense of the
fort, the
legislature of Georgia
presented him with a sword with his “laonic reply” engraved on the
blade. Colonel Fuser, instead of attacking
waited
until he learned from his scouts that Colonel Prevost, with whom he
expected to
form a junction, had been forced to retreat after the affair at Medway
church. (q.v.) Thus
deprived
of his hope of assistance from
Prevost Fuser raised the siege and returned to the St. John’s river. In January, 1779, the fort, with 212 men, 45
pieces of ordnance, 180 muskets, and a considerable quantity of
ammunition and
quartermaster’s stores, was surrendered to the British under Gen.
Augustine
Prevost by Major Lane, who had succeeded McIntosh, but not until a
spirited
resistance had been offered. After the
surrender the name was changed by the British to Fort George,
in honor of the king.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort Mudge, a
temporary fortification during the Florida
war, was on the eastern border of the Okefinokee swamp, about half way
between Fort Floyd
and Fort Dearborn. It was abandoned as
soon as peace was
restored.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Norton was one
of the
several temporary forts erected during the Florida war.
It was about nine miles southeast of Fort Dearborn.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Oglethorpe.-Prior to 1808 the fortification on the point
of land
opposite to the Five Fathom Hole, about two miles from the city of
Savannah, was known as the
“Mud Fort.” On May 16, 1808, the land
was conveyed to the United States
by Nicholas Trumbull, and on the 22d of the following December the
Georgia
legislature made formal cession of jurisdiction to the Federal
government. A new fort was erected, named
Fort Jackson,
in honor of Gen. James Jackson, and during the war of 1812 it was
occupied by a
detachment of the Chatham
artillery. About 1833 the fort was
destroyed by fire and was not rebuilt until 1842. It
is
now known as Fort Oglethorpe.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Pickering was
built by authority of the United States government at the old town of
Coleraine in the latter part of the
eighteenth century. It has long since
disappeared.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Pulaski.-About
1826 Major Babcock, of the United States engineering corps, selected
Cockspur
island, at the mouth of the Savannah river, as an eligible site for a
fortification to guard the approach by water to the city.
Active work was not begun on the fort until
1831, under the direction of Captain Mansfield. It
was completed some fifteen years later, at a cost
of nearly
$1,000,000, and was pronounced by military engineers to be one of the
best
works of its kind in the country. It was
named in honor of Count Casimir Pulaski, the gallant Polish general,
who fell
at the battle of Savannah,
Oct. 19, 1799. For some time prior to
1860 the place had been in charge of two men, engaged in keeping down
the weeds
and taking care of the property. In
December, 1860, when it began to look as though war between the North
and South
was inevitable, General Scott recommended the secretary of war to take
measures
for the defense of the fort. The
suggestion was allowed to pass unheeded and on Jan. 2, 1861, the fort
was
seized by the Georgia
state troops by order of Governor Brown. In
addition to the garrison there was a supporting
force, part of Gen.
A. R. Lawton’s brigade, stationed on Tybee island.
Late in 1861 Gen. R. E. Lee, was detailed to
inspect and report upon the defenses along the coast.
He advised the withdrawal of all isolated
Confederate
forces to the mainland and Lawton took his
brigade to Virginia. Soon after the
evacuation of Tybee island it
was occupied by the Forty-sixth New York infantry and operations were
at once
begun for the reduction of the fort by cutting off communications with
Savannah. Before this movement was
completed a four
months supply of provisions and a large amount ammunition was sent to
the
garrison under the protection of Commodore Tattnall. For three months
the
Federal troops worked like beavers in establishing batteries on Tybee,
Long and
Bird islands; at Venus Point on Jones Island; and on Decent
island near Lazaretto creek. The
arrangements were completed early in April and on the 10th
Gen.
David Hunter sent the following communication to Col. Charles H.
Olmstead,
commanding the garrison:
“Sir: I hereby demand of you
the immediate
surrender and restoration of Fort Pulaski to the authority and
possession of the United States. This
demand is made with a view to avoiding,
if possible, the effusion of blood which must result from the
bombardment and
attack now in readiness to be opened.
The number, caliber, and completeness of the
batteries surrounding you leave no doubt as to what must be the result
in case
of your refusal; and as the defense, however obstinate, must eventually
succumb
to the assailing force at my disposal, it is hoped you may see fit to
avert the
useless waste of life.
This communication will be carried to you under a
flag of truce by Lieut. J. H. Wilson, U. S. Army, who is authorized to
wait any
period not exceeding thirty minutes from delivery for your answer.”
Lieutenant Wilson did not have to wait long for
Colonel Olmstead’s reply. It came prompt
and decisive: “I am here to defend the
fort, not to surrender it.” This reply
was returned to General Hunter who ordered the bombardment to begin. The first gun was fired at 8:15 on the
morning of April 10th and from that time until two o’clock
in the
afternoon of the following day a continual storm of shot an shell
poured in
upon the fort. A breach was made in the
walls at the southeast angle and several shells had found their way
into the
magazine. All the parapet guns except
three were dismounted, the parapet walls on the Tybee side were all
gone and
the moat was filled with the debris. Under
these conditions Colonel Olmsted called a
council and the decision
in favor of capitulation was unanimous. The
garrison, numbering 390 men were surrendered as
prisoners of war,
the fort with 47 guns, 40,000 pounds of powder and a large quantity of
commissary stores fell into the hands of the victorious army.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort St.
Andrew.-This was
one of the early coast defenses
erected by General Oglethorpe. It stood
on a high neck of land at the upper, or north, end of Cumberland
island, where it commanded the
approaches by water each way. Its walls
were wood, filed between with earth, and with a ditch and palisade
surrounding
it. Two companies of Oglethorpe’s
regiment were stationed there, and in November, 1738, the general took
up his
headquarters there that he might personally superintend the
construction of the
military defenses that were then being built. It
was while here that an attempt was made upon
Oglethorpe’s life. The fort was then
garrisoned by troops sent
from Gilbraltar. Some of the men became
dissatisfied with their rations and attempted to mutiny, but the plot
failed
and the ringleaders were afterward tried, found guilty and shot. After the Spanish invasion Fort St. Andrew
fell into disuse and finally into decay.(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort St.
Simon.-At
the south end of St. Simon’s island General Oglethorpe erected a
fortification
in1736, to guard the entrance to Jekyl sound. Adjacent
to the fort a camp was laid out and huts
were erected for the
accommodation of the soldiers. It was
named St. Simon and the garrison was maintained there the greater part
of the
time until after peace was restored between Great Britain and Spain.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Scott was
built early in the
nineteenth century on the Flint river, about
fifteen miles south of where Bainbridge now stands, and not far from
the mouth
of Spring creek. During the Seminole
war, which broke out in 1817, the Indians threatened the place some
time, but
early in the year 1818 Gen. Andrew Jackson arrived at the fort with
about 1,000
men and drove the Seminoles back into Florida.
The fort was abandoned in November, 1821.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort Screven, a
United States military post, is located on the north end of
Tybee island, at the mouth of the Savannah river and is seventeen miles
from
the city of Savannah. Jurisdiction over
the
reservation was
ceded to the United States
by the act of the general assembly of Georgia approved Dec. 22,
1808. The area of the reservation is
about 249 acres. The title to it is by
nineteen conveyances, dated from May 21, 1875 to Feb. 25, 1904. The post was established March 18, 1898 and
by execution order No. 89 was in 1899 named Fort Screven
in honor of James Screven (q. v.) Tybee
is the post-office, telegraph and railroad station for the post. Water is supplied from three artesian wells,
one six-inch and two three-inch, the depth of each being 150 feet with
a
capacity of 2,800 gallons each per hour. The
quantity is sufficient and the quality excellent. One
steel tank, on an elevation of 50 feet,
has a capacity of 20,000 gallons, and one on an elevation of 61 feet
and 9
inches, has a capacity of 60,000 gallons. The
plant has a 35 horse power Vance horizontal
tubular boiler and a Worthington donkey pump
with a capacity of 375 gallons per minute. The
system was installed in 1899 at a cost of
$20,764.82. Fort
Screven is provided with a sewer
system, draining through 6 and 8 inch pipes into the Atlantic ocean. This was installed
in 1889 and has cost $3,175.
The post has quarters
for officers, non-commissioned staff officers, barracks for enlisted
men,
hospital, office buildings, storehouses, etc., for a garrison of three
companies of coast artillery and is a fortified sea coast.
Since the establishment of the post the total
amount expended for buildings and improvements is $487,027.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Tybee.-After
the capture of Savannah by the British in December, 1778, Colonel
Campbell built a fort on the northern end of Tybee island, not far from
the
site of the present Fort Screven, where it commanded the approach to
the city
of Savannah by
water. Its guns were first brought into
action in September, 1779, when the French fleet under D’Estaing
appeared off
that part of the coast. D’Estaing forced
a passage across the bar with four of his ships, ordered 700 men to
make a
landing and assault the fort. Only one of
the boats succeeded in getting through the surf, but this mere handful
of men
made a charge upon the works, only to find that the British had
evacuated at
their approach and had taken refuge on the other end of the island.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Tyler was a
Confederate
fortification near West Point. It was 35
yards square, surrounded by a
ditch, situated on an eminence commanding the bridge over the
Chattahoochee,
and was supplied with four cannon. On
April 16, 1865, Colonel LaGrange of Gen. James H. Wilson’s cavalry
force, with
the three regiments advancing from Opelika, Ala., found a little
garrison of
265 Confederates under Gen. Robert C. Tyler. Tyler
and his men repulsed the first assault, but
the odds were too
great and in second assault the Federals swarmed over the works,
killing Tyler,
and 18 of his officers and men, and wounding 28. The
Federal
loss was 7 killed and 29 wounded.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort Wayne.-During
the Revolution an earthwork was thrown
up at the eastern end of Savannah
and manned by a battery of artillery. The
name of Fort Wayne
was given to the place, in honor of Gen. Anthony Wayne.
After the Revolution the fort was not used
until 1812. In June of that year Gen.
Thomas Pinckney, of the Southern division of the army, visited Savannah
and directed the
fort to be rebuilt, but after the war of 1812 was over it again fell
into
disuse and finally disappeared altogether.
In the fall of 1821 the United States government ordered the erection
of
another Fort Wayne near the present city of Brunswick.
The fort was occupied on October 21st
of that year and was abandoned in June, 1823.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson
Fort Wilkins was one
of the numerous fortifications
erected along the frontier for protection against Indian forays. It was built by authority of the United States
and was located on the Oconee
river at what was known as the Cumberland
ford.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Wilkinson.-This
fort was built about the close of the
eighteenth century. It stood on the bank
of the Oconee river, about three miles below
Milledgeville, and was named for Gen. James Wilkinson.
It is especially noted in history for the
treaty negotiated there with the Creeks in June, 1802.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fort
Williams, which
was built by Oglethorpe about 1736,
stood at the south end of Cumberland
island and is described by McCall as “a work of considerable regularity
and
strength, commanding the entrance to St. Mary’s.” The
last
act of the Spanish troops in the
invasion of 1742 was to make an assault upon this place, which was at
that time
garrisoned by a company of sixty men, commanded by Ensign Stuart. After three hours hard fighting the fort was
reinforced by Oglethorpe and the assailants withdrew.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Freeman’s
Fort
was a small stockade fortification in Elbert county during the days of
the
Revolution. It is mentioned in history
as the place where Colonel Clarke’s men rendezvoused at the close of
their
twenty days’ furlough, which had been granted them on account of the
treachery
of General Williamson.
(Source:
Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
Fulsom’s
Fort.-This
was a small stockade fort, in Wilkes county, not far from Wrightsboro. Shortly after the defeat of the British at
Kettle
creek a body of Creek Indians, under the command of Tate and
McGillivray,-Indian agents in the employ of the British, encamped near
the
fort. Colonels Pickens, Dooly and Clarke
decided to attack them and a reconnaissance was sent forward to learn
their
strength. The scouts reported the force
of the enemy at 800 and Pickens made a rapid night march in the hope of
surprising them at daylight. The
savages, however, received notice of his approach and broke up into
small
parties, scattering in all directions. In
the pursuit which followed a number of the
Indians were killed and
the Americans lost three men. The
defeat, coming so closely after Kettle creek, thoroughly disheartened
the
Indians and quiet was restored for a time to that part of Georgia.
(Source: Georgia
Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions,
and
Persons, VOL II, by
Candler & Evans, Publ. 1906. Transcribed by Renae Donaldson)
