Fort McAllister was a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

earthen-work fort used to defend

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. It was the southernmost of the forts defending Savannah and was involved in the most battles. It was located on the

Ogeechee River The Ogeechee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 26, 2011 blackwater river in the U.S. state of Georgia. It heads at the confluence of its North and South ...

in Bryan County. It is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

(#70000197). Fort McAllister was one of three forts protecting Savannah, the others being

Fort Pulaski A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

and

Fort James Jackson Fort James Jackson (usually shortened to Fort Jackson and informally known as Old Fort Jackson) is a restored nineteenth-century fort located one mile east of Savannah, Georgia, on the Savannah River. It hosts the Fort Jackson Maritime Museum. ...

standing in Confederate defiance of the Union naval blockade. The southeast coast of the United States was the place where both combatants tested the latest in naval artillery and coastal defenses. Fort McAllister was the key to unlocking the defenses around Savannah, one of the most important Confederate ports on the Atlantic Ocean.

History

The fort was designed by Capt. John McCrady. In 1861 Gen. Robert E. Lee inspected the fort and recommended making it stronger. McCrady made the changes recommended by Lee and the earthen walls were better able to withstand bombardment from artillery fire. The fort had seven cannon emplacements. The bombproof area in the center housed a hospital, supply area, barracks, officer's quarters, gun power, and additional guns. A 10-inch mortar was kept outside the fort to keep it from shaking the dirt off the walls when it was fired. The fort was attacked seven times by ships over the next two years. The fort withstood all of these attacks with only minimal damage and few casualties. There were four naval attacks in 1862. Union

ironclad An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

s began to attack the fort on January 27, 1863, starting with the '' Montauk'' and later with the ''

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

'', ''

Nahant Nahant is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,334 at the 2020 census, which makes it the smallest municipality by population in Essex County. With just of land area, it is the smallest municipality by are ...

'', and '' Patapsco''. The ''Montauk'' had an 11-inch and a 15-inch cannon, the largest size used in the war. The ironclad bombarded the fort for 5 hours but caused no casualties and little damage because the earth absorbed the artillery shells and the damage was easily repaired. Similarly, the fort's cannons hit the ironclad 15 times but caused no significant damage. The ''Montauk'' made another unsuccessful attack on February 1, except that fort commander Maj. John B. Gallie was killed. A 7-hour bombardment on March 3 also failed to damage the fort. The fort was the site of the sinking of the CSS Nashville on February 28, 1863. On December 13, 1864, Gen.

William T. Sherman William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

reached the fort on his March to the Sea. Gen. William B. Hazen's infantry division attacked the fort, defended by Maj. George Wayne Anderson and some 230 troops. The Union force overpowered the fort's defenders in about 15 minutes of battle. Fort McAllister was the last fort defending Savannah. After it fell, Gen. William J. Hardee withdrew his 10,000 troops that were defending Savannah and Sherman captured the city without resistance. Sherman's army abandoned the fort and burned its bunkers. During the evening that the fort fell, Anderson was being held at the McAllister family home, the new headquarters of General

William Babcock Hazen William Babcock Hazen (September 27, 1830 – January 16, 1887) was a career United States Army officer who served in the Indian Wars, as a Union general in the American Civil War, and as Chief Signal Officer of the U.S. Army. His most famous serv ...

. General Hazen and Lt. Col. Strong invited General Sherman to dinner, to celebrate their victory. In a kind gesture of respect, General Hazen also invited Major Anderson to attend the meal, after clearing the request with Sherman. The discussion was surely lively - during the meal Anderson engaged in a heated exchange with General Sherman about the tactics employed to defend the fortDurham, p. 169 and the bravery of all who fought there. Cigars were exchanged and smoked, and tributes were made to the fallen. However, Sherman remained greatly upset at Anderson's use of land mines in the defense of the fort, and ordered the Major to personally join his fellow captured Confederates on mine-clearing detail.

After the war

In the late 1930s,

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...

bought the property and began restoring it. The

International Paper Company The International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 56,000 employees, and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. History The company was incorporated January 31, ...

purchased the property from Ford's estate and gave it to the State of Georgia in 1958. The

Georgia Historical Commission The Georgia Historical Commission was an organization created by the U.S. state of Georgia for purposes of historic preservation. The Georgia legislature created it in February 1951 to promote and increase knowledge and understanding of the hist ...

continued to restore the fort to its 1863-64 appearance. The museum displays many artifacts. The fort was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. The fort site was combined with the adjacent Richmond Hill State Park to create the

Fort McAllister State Historic Park Fort McAllister State Park is a Georgia state park located near Keller and Richmond Hill in south Bryan County, Georgia and on the south bank of the Ogeechee River (some parts of the park border the Atlantic Ocean). It is roughly ten miles south ...

Gallery

File:The_photographic_history_of_the_Civil_War_-_thousands_of_scenes_photographed_1861-65,_with_text_by_many_special_authorities_(1911)_(14576243590).jpg#/media/File:The_photographic_history_of_the_Civil_War_-_thousands_of_scenes_photographed_1861-65,_with_text_by_many_special_authorities_(1911)_(14576243590).jpg, Fort McAllister Captured File:USS Montauk 8harpers1863.jpg, USS Montauk Attacks Fort McAllister File:Fort McAllister Now 08.JPG, Mortar at Fort McAllister

References

Citations

Sources

*Livingston, Gary, ''Among the Best Men the South Could Boast - The Fall of Fort McAllister'', Caisson Press, 1997, Library of Congress Catalog 96-92895 *Christman, William E., ''UNDAUNTED: The History of Fort McAllister, Georgia'', Darien Printing & Graphics, 1996, Library of Congress Catalog 96-77666 ASIN: B002DHN66S *Dixon, William Daniel and Durham, Roger S, ''The Blues in Gray - The Civil War Journal of William Daniel Dixon and the Republican Blues Daybook'', University of Tennessee Press, 2000, *Durham, Roger S., ''Guardian of Savannah - Fort McAllister, Georgia, in the Civil War and Beyond'', The University of South Carolina Press, 2008, * ''Fort McAllister State Historic Park'', brochure by the Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites

External links

Georgia State Parks Fort McAllister Website
*
Cheves' Rice Mill
historical marker
Fort McAllister
historical marker {{National Register of Historic Places 1861 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places Bryan County, Georgia Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) McAllister McAllister National Register of Historic Places in Bryan County, Georgia