Our next stop was Fort McAllister State Park located
on the Ogeechee River south of Savannah.
This park has an important Civil
War site on the grounds. The south had build
a number of substantial forts along the river farther out towards the sea on
barrier islands to defend the approaches to Savannah Harbor from attack and
resist the Union naval blockade. The plantation owners wanted additional
protection for their property.
Plantation owner Joseph McAllister, who owned extensive land along the
river, donated the land for a simple earthen fort to be built. In 1861 construction
began with slave labor and local Confederate militia. The fort proved to be very effective in
preventing the union ships from moving on the river and held against heavy
bombardment better than the more modern constructed forts along the river.
By 1864 the Union had developed more powerful cannon
and artillery. Union General Sherman
watched the destruction of the fort on 13 Dec, 1864 before continuing on to
take Savannah.
An interpretive center in the park provides a good
insight into the history of the fort and information on the Civil War in
general.
One letter from President Lincoln to A H Stephens, Vice President of the
Confederacy highlights the slavery issue as Lincoln saw it. This letter suggests
that, in 1860, Lincoln was not going to free all southern slaves, if the
southern states abandoned their attempt to secede from the union.
Today, there is a reconstructed earthen fort on the
grounds built from the original plans. After visiting the interpretive center, you
can really visualize the importance of the fort to the south.
The camping area is about a mile drive from the
check in office. It is located in a swamp like
area mostly surrounded by water. It
can be a little tight for bigger rigs.
Anneke immediately ran into some of the abundant wildlife when she
headed to the trash containers and found at least three raccoons checking the
containers out for goodies. We enjoyed a
few hours outside, but as darkness settled
in we decided to head indoors. The
raccoons were in the trees nearby and alligators and snakes are commonly seen
here.
4 comments:
It's amazing how many Civil War sites there are around the South. When we lived in VA, we were right next to Bull Run NP, and we had a stream running right in our back yard. You could almost see the soldiers filling their canteens with your imagination.
8x7 foot craters? That was a lot of shoveling to get them filled in overnight. But you can do amazing things when there is no TV or Internet to occupy your time... :cD
We've been to quite a few Civil War battlefields. There are so many. Some of them are huge and very well marked. Looks like you found a very interesting one to check out.
Very interesting place!! We've visited many Civil War sites but haven't been to this one......it's on our list now!!
Be careful of those alligators!!🙂
Like history but maybe not alligators so close :-)
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