Fort PulaskiA short drive east from Savannah brought us to Fort Pulaski, named for Revolutionary War hero Count Casimir Pulaski, who died from wounds sustained in battle in Savannah.
The single star on a white flag was an early Confederate flag.
As we arrived at the fort, a demonstration of canoneering. They fired a smooth bore and a rifled cannon.
The 36 pound rifled cannon can accurately hit a target at 3-5 miles and was extremely loud.
After the shoot, the crew posed with us.
It was a little brisk as is evidenced by Theresa's hood and gloves!
The Union troops occupied positions on nearby Tybee Island, working at night and hiding their work until they were completely dug in and protected from Confederate counter-battery fire. Then they opened fire at a range of from 1 to 2 miles.
On the first day of the Union siege, the extremely accurate rifled cannon fire from Union blew a large hole in what was believed to be an impregnable wall. On the second day, the Union artillery fired through the hole trying to ricochet a shot into the powder magazine.
This photo shows the damage to the impact wall caused by the shots.
When Union gunners succeeded in ricocheting a shot that struck the magazine door jamb, the fort commander knew that the next shot might explode the several thousands of pounds of black powder in the magazine leveling the fort and killing everyone, so he chose to surrender.
The Union commander returned the fort commander's sword indicating he believed he had acted with courage and dignity. The fall of the fort in two days was a shock to both sides and revolutionized warfare, obsoleting the line of forts built by the Federal government.
Cannon ports overlook the "back" of the fort.
After the fall of Fort Pulaski, Union General David Hunter issued proclamations of emancipation for slaves. These were countermanded by President Lincoln but soon were replaced by Lincoln's own Emancipation Proclamation.
The nearby lighthouse was "manned" by a husband and wife team (as were many lighthouses). This lighthouse was different in that as ships entered or left Savannah harbor, she would wave in greeting.
This explained why one of the Ferry Boat landings was named the "Waving Girl Landing."
Sunday Lunch at The Pirate's House
On Sunday we met Matt & Jen Williamson at the Cathedral for mass.
Afterward, we drove to The Pirate's House for lunch.
The Pirate's House is a structure made up of several sections, some of which are fairly new and others which are very old. The section visible at the right dates back to the middle 1700's and is where we ate. This section was a pub and being near the waterfront, was frequented by seamen. If alone, some were drugged and spirited out to waiting boats through a secret tunnel to be unwilling crewmembers - "Shanghai'd"
The tunnel was uncovered during renovations! Trapdoors and other tunnels indicate this was indeed a Shanghai Bar!
They seated us at a round table where so we could have a nice conversation.
Under the framed picture behind Theresa is a trapdoor that is thought to have been used to Shanghai sailors.
The boys received pirate hats but Abigail was the only one who wore hers. They also had eye patches and mustaches but no one at our table was up for that!
This part of the structure is the Herb House - believed to be the oldest house in Georgia, built the year after the colony was formed.
This house is really tiny and the doors reflect the fact that few, if any of the colonists were tall! The door lintels were maybe 6 feet tall!
This is the "back" of the Herb House and the hallway in the "modern" building. Many ship models and antiques fill the hallway.
This girl portrayed a "Lady Pirate." They have to be smarter and more clever than men pirates (according to her!) She suggested a photo next to "Capt. Woody"!
We bid a reluctant adieu to The Williamson family.
Tomorrow, we're off to Jacksonville!
