Its one of the most well preserved earthwork forts of the Civil War, Fort McAllister.
Nestled along the shores of the Ogeechee McAllister was a key fortification of the Confederacy. “Its main job was to protect the river which further up the river are the rice plantations and cotton plantations. So the fort was very important to keep the Union ships from going up and destroying the plantations,” explains Daniel Brown the Park Manager at Fort McAllister.
Brown explains Union troops eventually gained control of the fort.
“Union forces led by General Sherman attacked the fort. There were over 15000 Union troops against 230 they basically encircled the fort and it took only 15 minutes to capture.”
It was a major victory for the union, allowing Sherman to link up with his Navy.
“Sherman needed to touch base with his supply ships and Fort McAllister was deemed the best location to that so that is why his march to the sea it actually ended here at Fort McAllister.”
The date was December 13th 1864, roughly two weeks before Sherman gave Savannah as a Christmas Gift to President Lincoln.
“They stayed here for about a month and they disassembled the fort and moved on into Savannah.”
But thanks to Richmond Hill resident Henry Ford the fort was reconstructed.
“It is so well preserved and it is a way for us to share our history with the children of the next generation.”
In addition to the Civil War Fort McAllister has camping year round.
For more information on visiting Fort McAllister for a day or over night log onto:
http://www.gastateparks.org/FortMcAllister
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