BGuthrie Photos: GA -- Savannah -- Old Fort Jackson

GA -- Savannah -- Old Fort Jackson:

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[1] OFTJAC_110305_001.JPG	[2] OFTJAC_110305_002.JPG	[3] OFTJAC_110305_006.JPG
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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. OFTJAC_110305_011.JPG: Sentry Box: The Sentry Box was used by the on-duty guard for shelter from increment weather. An illustration of Fort Jackson appeared in the February 4, 1865 edition of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper showing one sentry box at this approximate location and another one of the grassy area on top of the parapet wall. "22nd March 1864 ... Very cold weather with a high piercing wind. The men must have suffered terrible at the outposts and as sentinels..." -- Colonel Edward C. Anderson, Commander, River Batteries
2. OFTJAC_110305_043.JPG: Sergeant of the Guard's Room: This room, originally designed as the larger of two cells, is set up as the Sergeant's room. The Sergeant of the Guard would be responsible for rotating the sentries and insuring the security of the Fort under the Officer of the Guard. "12th March 1864 ... The Yankees came up on our picket post in advance of us in small boats last night and they had a warm time of it for awhile. Volley after volley was fired on both sides. Nobody hurt with us. Don't know how the Yankees came off..." -- Lt. William Dixon, Republican Blues
3. OFTJAC_110305_051.JPG: Cell: The smallest of two cells constructed in the 1850s, this room was used for short term confinement of soldiers in the two company garrison[s] at the fort. Crimes committed by the garrison varied from disorderly conduct to being absent without leave, to desertion and murder. "26th July 1862 ... We had quite a seizure of Liquors here today in our bake house. The baker kept it for sale at 20 cents a glass. He was arrested and put in the guard house and the place searched. 2 demijohns and a number of bottles of whiskey besides 2 boxes of brandy cherries were found and taken possession of..." "30th July 1862 ... The baker has been released as we cannot do without him in the bakehouse. The Liquor will be sent up for Hospital Stores...." -- Lt. William Dixon, Republican Blues
4. OFTJAC_110305_213.JPG: Artillery Store Rooms: These rooms were added during the 1850s improvements phase. This area provided storage for the equipment used to service and maintain Fort Jackson's artillery. Implements used for loading the heavy guns (worms, rammers, and sponges) were stored here on racks for easy access. The inner rooms were used by the artificer who was responsible for maintaining the guns and equipment. Tools, materials, and paperwork were stored in these rooms.
5. OFTJAC_110305_294.JPG: Officers' Privy: This area was the Officers' Latrine or "Privy Vaults" and was located behind the planned, but never built, Officers' Barracks. The Enlisted Latrines were located on the left and right of this latrine. The lower openings in the brick wall connect to the outer moat; as the tide filled the moat, water flowed into these basins cleaning out the waste. These were in effect flushing toilets. An enclosed wood and brick structure originally stood over these basins. Air shafts rising within the walls provided ventilation.
Description of Subject Matter: The story began over three decades before the start of initial construction in 1808. During the Revolutionary War, American forces constructed an earthen battery to defend the Savannah River and the city of Savannah against British invasion. The Americans abandoned this early fortress in 1778 due to disease.

The United States were slowly being drawn into the conflict between England and France during the first decade of the 1800's. Realizing that cities along the east coast were not adequately protected, President Thomas Jefferson authorized the purchase of a piece land outside Savannah known as Salter's Island for $1,800. Captain William McRae was assigned to oversee construction of a new fort on the site. This fort was named in honor of James Jackson, a Colonel in the American Army. Jackson later became the first Georgian to serve as a United States representative, senator, and state governor.

In January 1861, Georgia Governor Joseph Brown ordered Confederate troops to seize Fort Jackson from Federal authorities. From 1861-1864, Confederate soldiers garrisoned the fort. Local units like the Irish Jasper Greens, Republican Blues, and 22nd Georgia Heavy Artillery manned the fort throught Confederate occupation.

During this period, Fort Jackson served as the headquarters for defenses along the Savannah River. A network of smaller forts, batteries, and ironclads assisted Fort Jackson in defending Savannah from a Union attack from the east.

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman led an army of 65,000 troops from the west on his famous "March to the Sea." On December 20, 1864, the Confederate garrison was forced to abandon the fort to keep it from falling into Union hands. The fort's defenders set the barracks ablaze, rigged the front gates to explode, and tossed all the ammunition and stores which they could not carry with them into the moat and the Savannah River.

The following morning around 4:00am, Federal troops of the 29th Ohio and 28th Pennsylvania entered Fort Jackson and raised the Stars and Stripes over the parade ground. African-American troops from the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry were th last wartime occupants of the fort.

Changes in artillery technology caused Fort Jackson to diminish in military importance after the Civil War. In 1923, Congress voted to sell the fort as surplus property. In 1969, the Georgia Historical Commision opened Fort Jackson to the public, but budget problems forced the state to close the site in 1975.

On Labor Day 1976, the non-pofit Coastal Heritage Society reopened Old Fort Jackson. The Society continues to operate the fort under a lease agreement with the State of Georgia - receiving no federal or state funds to do so. The Society is dedicated to interpretting the history of Old Fort Jackson and all the people associated with it.

The above was from http://www.chsgeorgia.org/home.cfm/page/OldFortJacksonHistory.htm
Wikipedia Description: Fort James Jackson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fort James Jackson (usually called Old Fort Jackson or shortened to Fort Jackson) is a restored 19th-century fort located on the Savannah River, two miles east of the city of Savannah in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is a National Historic Landmark and the oldest standing brick fort in Georgia.

History

Construction

U.S. President Thomas Jefferson authorized the construction of a national defense system of fortifications to defend his new nation. Jefferson's system included Fort Jackson, constructed between 1808 and 1812 over an old earthen battery from the American Revolution. At the time, war with Great Britain or France seemed likely, and Fort Jackson was the best site from which to protect Savannah from attack by sea. In the War of 1812, local militias and U.S. troops saw active duty at Fort Jackson. After the War of 1812, two periods of construction followed at the fort. A moat, drawbridge, brick barracks, privies, a rear wall, and another powder magazine were added.

James Jackson, the namesake of the fort, was a British native who fought for the American cause and rose to the rank of colonel. When he was twenty-five, Jackson accepted the surrender of the British in Savannah at the close of the revolution. He was later a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and Governor of Georgia. He is interred at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C..

American Civil War

During the American Civil War, Fort Jackson, along with nearby Fort McAllister and Fort Pulaski, defended Savannah from Union attack. In 1862, Fort Jackson was shelled from a ship captained by an escaped slave named Robert Smalls. The fort was commanded by Colonel Edward Clifford Anderson and would become the Confederate Headquarters for the Savannah River defenses, including the Confederate Navy.

When the Union Army commanded by William T. Sherman captured Savannah by land on December 20, 1864, Confederate troops abandoned the fort and retreated across the Savannah River into South Carolina. Confederate troops from Savannah joined other forces in North Carolina and South Carolina and continued to fight until April 26, 1865, when they surrendered to General Sherman's army at Durham, North Carolina. Several different regiments garrisoned Fort Jackson during the Union occupation of Savannah. One of these units was the 55th Massachusetts Regiment, which consisted of African American troops.

Post Civil War

From 1884 to 1905, Fort Jackson was known as Fort Oglethorpe and was little used by the U.S. military. It was purchased by the city of Savannah in 1924 for park purposes but not fully restored until the 1970s.

Fort Jackson is located at 1 Fort Jackson Road, on the Islands Expressway linking Savannah to Fort Pulaski and the town of Tybee Island.

Fort Jackson is owned by the state of Georgia and operated as a museum by Coastal Heritage Society, which also manages Savannah History Museum, Georgia State Railroad Museum (formerly the Railroad Roundhouse Museum), Savannah Children's Museum and, most recently, Pin Point Heritage Museum.

In the summer the fort has a daily cannon-firing demonstration. Admission is $7 for adults.
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