Fort Pulaski National Monument is located on Cockspur Island at the mouth of the Savannah River in Georgia. Built to protect the city of Savannah, the structure was part of a system of forts built to protect the United States after the War of 1812. Today it stands as one of the best-preserved examples of these coastal defenses.
This massive fort took nearly 20 years to complete, from 1829 to 1847. An estimated 25 million bricks were used to build walls more than seven feet thick. Its designers were convinced it was impenetrable. General Joseph Totten, the United States Chief of Engineers, said, "You might as well bombard the Rocky Mountains."
Built to defend the U.S. from foreign invaders, Fort Pulaski actually gained strategic importance in the Civil War. Confederate troops who occupied the fort came under attack by the Union army on April 10th, 1862. Despite the fort's strength and sheer bulk, the Union's new rifled cannons blew key defenses to bits in a mere 30 hours of bombardment. The fort was surrendered and the Confederacy lost access to a key Georgian port. Warfare too was changed forever as the military realized that large stationary defenses were no match for the new cannons.