Fort Pulaski

Fort Pulaski is a Georgia historical marker in Chatham County, dedicated 1958.

On Islands Expressway (U.S. 80), on the left when traveling east on Tybee Island.

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Named for General Casimer Pulaski, the Polish hero who was mortally wounded at the siege of Savannah, 1779, Fort Pulaski was built in accordance with plans by General Simon Bernard, formerly chief engineer under Napoleon. Begun in 1829 and completed in 1847, the Fort was constructed principally under Lt. J. F. K. Mansfield. There Lt. Robert E. Lee saw his first service after graduation from West Point. Pulaski was never garrisoned until its seizure by Georgia troops in January, 1861, to prevent occupation by Federal forces. On April 10, 1862, Federal batteries on Tybee Island commenced the bombardment of Fort Pulaski. After 30 hours of bombardment as a result of which the walls were breached and its guns disabled, Col. Charles H. Olmstead surrendered the Fort. The bombardment marked the first effective use of rifled cannon against a masonry fortification and constituted an epoch in military history. Abandoned by 1885, Fort Pulaski became a National Monument in 1924 and was placed under the National Park Service in 1933.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1764 · Carte de la Nouvelle Georgie (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1778 · Parte Orientale della Florida, della Giorgia, e Carolina Meridionale. Fogl. XI (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1795 · State of South Carolina. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1822 · South Carolina (Carey, 1822) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
[Savannah River and Savannah Sound]. (University of Michigan Library)

Parte Orientale della Florida, della Giorgia, e Carolina Meridionale. Fogl. XI, 1778, covering the location of Fort Pulaski, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Parte Orientale della Florida, della Giorgia, e Carolina Meridionale. Fogl. XI, 1778, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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This historical marker is part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program and was erected by the Georgia Historical Commission. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

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