"Arising on the slopes of the Appalachian Mountains, the Savannah River flows east and forms the boundary between Georgia and South Carolina. Twelve miles from the coast it passes the city of Savannah, and continues to the sea, there cut on both sides by numerous channels between the coastal barrier islands. These islands, many of them tidal, are covered by marsh grass and from a distance have the appearance of a savannah. Close to the ocean is a deposit of mud, Cockspur Island, dividing the river into two channels. There sits Fort Pulaski, built to control the passage of ships and to resist attacks on Savannah.
Savannah was a major international port of the antebellum South. It was a large cotton center, and her shipbuilding, associated marine businesses, and railroad shops, were her primary military industries. Three railroads converged on the city, two of which heading north and south are roughly parallel to the sequence of coastal barrier islands.
Cockspur Island had been the site of a pre-Revolutionary War stockade, as well as a second built in the 1790's, but destroyed by hurricane in 1804. Subsequent to the War of 1812, a series of masonry forts was planned and constructed along the American eastern and gulf coasts. Cockspur Island was again chosen as the site in the early 1820's, but work did not begin until 1829. The original plans called for a structure identical to Fort Sumter, i.e., a two-story pentagonal fort with three tiers of guns. Engineers determined that Cockspur's muddy soil would not support such a weight of masonry, so the plans were modified to a single story with one row of casemate guns, and above a row of parapet (barbette) guns…"
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Amicalement
Armand
completes a Confederate river ironclad.
