A Turning Point In History Marker

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Tybee Island in Chatham County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)

A Turning Point In History
The Reduction of Fort Pulaski
— The Battery —

A Turning Point In History Marker Photo, Click for full size

By Mike Stroud, April 7, 2009

1. A Turning Point In History Marker

Inscription. This island became the "platform" on which the Union Army mounted 36 pieces of heavy artillery in early 1862. The bombardment that began on April 10 led to the surrender of Fort Pulaski 30 hours later. The placement of these batteries can be found on the map above.

No eye except an eye-witness can form any but a faint conception of the Herculean labor by which mortars of eight and one half tons and columbiads...were moved in the dead of night, over a narrow causeway, bordered by swamps on either side, and liable at any moment to be over turned and buried in mud beyond reach."
"Two hundred and fifty men were barely sufficient to move a single piece, on sling carts. They were not allowed to speak above a whisper, and were guided by the notes of a whistle."

Erected by Fort Pulaski National Monument U.S. Dept. of the Interior.

Location. 32° 0.974′ N, 80° 52.244′ W. Marker is in Tybee Island, Georgia, in Chatham County. Marker is on Battery Park/Catalina Drive near US 80/ Ga 26, on the right when traveling north. Click for map. Marker is in this post office area: Tybee Island GA 31328, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, as the crow flies

Upper picture Photo, Click for full size

By A Turning Point In History Marker,

2. Upper picture

Map showing the positions of the batteries used by U.S. forces in the reduction of Fort Pulaski April 10 & 11, 1862, a turning point in U.S. Military History.
Accompanying Report of Brig. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore, U.S. Vols.

. Cockspur Island Lighthouse (within shouting distance of this marker); Federal Batteries on Tybee Island (about 400 feet away, in a direct line); Lazaretto (approx. 0.5 miles away); The Breached Wall (approx. 1.3 miles away); This Memorial Commemorates The Act Of... (approx. 1.4 miles away); Moat Feeder Canal (approx. 1.4 miles away); German Volunteers (approx. 1.4 miles away); Fort Screven (approx. 1.4 miles away). Click for a list of all markers in Tybee Island.

<i>( Left picture ) </i> Photo, Click for full size

By A Turning Point In History Marker

3. ( Left picture )

This image depicts a 13-inch mortar firing on Fort Pulaski from Battery Stanton. Union leaders mistakenly believed that these 8.5 ton mortars would crush the Confederates into submission.( Center picture ) The difficulty of moving these heavy pieces from the naval vessels to this area was described by Gen. Gillmore.