Fort Pulaski, GA
Date(s):
April 10-11, 1862
Location:
Please click on link below for map.
Fort Pulaski National Monument (national monument), Georgia, United States
Campaign(s):
Operations Against Fort Pulaski [1862]
Battles in
Campaign:
Situation:
Commanders:
-
Union:
Maj. Gen. David Hunter and Capt. Quincy A. Gillmore
-
Confederate:
Col. Charles H. Olmstead
Principal Forces:
-
Union:
The Port Royal Expeditionary Force’s Fort Pulaski investment
troops
-
Confederate:
Fort Pulaski Garrison
Description:
-
Fort Pulaski, built by the U.S. Army before the war, is
located near the mouth of the Savannah River, blocking upriver access to
Savannah.
-
Fortifications such as Pulaski, called third system forts, were
considered invincible, but the new technology of rifled artillery changed
that.
-
On February 19, 1862, Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Sherman ordered
Captain
Quincy A. Gillmore, an engineer officer, to take charge of the investment
force and begin the bombardment and capture of the fort.
-
Gillmore placed
artillery on the mainland southeast of the fort and began the bombardment
on April 10 after Colonel Charles H. Olmstead refused to surrender the
fort.
-
Within hours, Gillmore’s rifled artillery had breached the southeast scarp of
the fort, and he continued to exploit it.
-
Some of his shells began to damage the traverse shielding the magazine in the
northwest bastion.
-
Realizing that if the magazine exploded the fort would be seriously damaged and
the garrison would suffer severe casualties, Olmstead surrendered after 2:00 pm
on April 11.
Photo Gallery:1
Classification2:
B
Casualties3:
-
Union:
1
-
Confederate:
364
Results:
Union
Victory
Battlefield Website:
Recommended
Resources:
1 Please click on the image to
enlarge it. You may copy the images if you include the following note and link
with each image: "Courtesy of
civil-war-journeys.org."
2
Classification:
-
A
- having a decisive influence on a
campaign and a direct impact on the course of the war
-
B -
having a direct and decisive influence on their campaign
-
C -
having observable influence on the
outcome of a campaign
-
D
-
having a limited influence on the
outcome of their campaign or operation but achieving or affecting important
local objectives
3 Casualties are
someone killed, injured, wounded, captured or missing.
Revised
06/05/2008 |
