Fort McAllister, located along the banks of the Ogeechee River south of Savannah, was a Confederate earthwork fortification that remains one of the best-preserved forts of its type in the country today.
Fort McAllister was built in 1861-1862 in response to Union operations to capture the Confederate port city of Savannah. Although initially of little interest to Union military planners (they did not even know it existed until June 1862), McAllister soon gained attention after the fall of nearby Fort Pulaski in April of that year. This was due to the fact that even after the fall of Pulaski, Savannah still had an impressive system of fortifications that protected it from attack from the sea, so the plan to take it from the “soft” side of the land seemed more acceptable. The Ogechi River to the south was a convenient avenue for this land attack on the city. If the troops could be moved up the river far enough, they could be landed for a direct attack on Savannah from the west. To make it happen,
Soon after they discovered this, the Union Navy took its first aggressive steps against McAllister. The first attack took place on July 1, 1862, when the Union gunboat Potomac opened fire on its earthen fortifications in a rather feeble attempt to test the strength of the forts. The gunboat was vastly outgunned and quickly driven back. Later that month, another attack occurred when three Union ships, pursuing a Confederate raider called the Nashville, came within range of McAllister’s guns. The exchange was heated, but again, the small naval force could not withstand the guns of the forts for long. In November 1862, the fort was again attacked in two short bursts, but they were also somewhat half-hearted. In 1863, Union efforts to reduce Fort McAllister became somewhat more serious. On January 27, February 1, and February 28, Union gunboats led by the armored Montauk arrived to smash McAllister’s earthen walls. Don’t think that the fort’s defenders didn’t just sit back during these attacks. One battle with Montauk, which lasted over five hours, saw the fort’s artillerymen fire 15 direct hits on the battleship, although little damage was done. These battles culminated in the Union Navy’s most aggressive attack against Macalester on March 3, 1863. On that day, Montauk approached the fort again, but this time it was accompanied by three more battleships “Passaic, Nahant, and Patapsco. For eight hours, the Union ships hurled their 15-inch shells into the walls of McAllister, tearing seven-foot craters in the earthen walls with each impact. The Union ships even landed infantry on the far side of the river to fire on the brave Confederate riflemen who returned fire. Although this attack did incredible damage to the fortresses’ defenses, it ultimately proved as futile as those that preceded it. It was clear that Macalister could not be reduced by sea, and the Union ships retreated. Furthermore, the damage caused by the ships was short-lived, with soldiers and slaves repairing the walls overnight.
The next year or so was a period of relative calm in McAllister. Union efforts throughout the rest of 1863 and much of 1864 were focused on other parts of the Deep South, with troops and guns being withdrawn from the fort to be sent to other more active theaters of war. This meant that when General William Tecumseh Sherman and his 62,000-strong army arrived at Savannah’s gates in December 1864, the fort’s defenses were seriously weakened.
After the war, McAllister was quickly abandoned (it was never intended to be permanently fortified), but unlike many other coastal earthworks of the period, it managed to avoid destruction either by nature or man over the following years. The fort is now preserved within the 1,725-acre historic state park that bears its name. Touted as “the best-preserved Confederate earthwork in the country,” McAllister was one of the most amazing Civil War forts I’ve recently visited. It is remarkably well-preserved, with its massive adobe walls and bombproof stores still towering over the river it was originally built to protect. If you are in the Savannah area (and, like me, a bit of a Civil War buff), I would highly recommend a stop here. There aren’t many forts like this in the country… especially ones that are in as pristine a condition as this one