Savannah at Last

True their word, the team at Suzuki of Dublin finished the clutch work shortly after lunch. Many thanks to Wade, Dewey the others.

The day was sunny and clear, but the forecast was not. On my previous stay in Savannah, I discovered an Econo Travel Lodge with rooms for little more than the cost of campsite (and they had WiFi). With rain in site, it was clearly the way to go.

As expected it rained all day Sunday, but the weather cleared Monday (though still cloudy and

gloomy).

Being in Savannah, it was hard to avoid exploring the Civil War.

Therefore, in order to give meaning to the pictures (Fort McAllister and Fort Pulaski); what follows is a very brief recount of Savannah's place in the Civil War.

One the first successes of the Union Army was the capture of Fort Pulaski in Savannah. With the start of the Civil War the Confederacy had easily taken possession of Fort Pulaski which at that time was only occupied by a singe "overseer".

At that time the newly completed fort, with eleven foot thick brick walls was considered virtually impenetrable. However, when it was built, they did not recognize the fire power of rifled cannon artillery.

On the morning of April 10, 1862, nearly a year to the day from the Confederate capture of Fort Sumpter, General David Hunter, commander of the union garrison, launch a 30 hour attach on Fort Pulaski. The attack breached the walls of the fort and threatened the main powder magazine. To prevent the senseless loss of lives, General Charles H. Olmstead commander of the Confederate garrison, issued the order to surrender.

With the victory, the Union effectively blocked European shipment to the port of Savannah.

Despite the capture of Fort Pulaski early on the war, Savannah itself was protected by the earthen ramparts of Fort McAllister which provided virtually impenetrable to Union artillery.

Under the protection of Fort McAllister, Fort Jackson, further up river, afforded the city of Savannah from onslaught for most of the Civil War. It wasn't until December of 1864, with General Tecumseh Sherman's "March to the Sea", that Savannah succumbed to Union forces.

Although, Fort McAllister effectively staved off artillery attack, the small garrison of only 236 men was no match for the Unions 4000 troops who stormed Fort McAllister.

With the loss of Fort McAllister, the Confederacy knew they were no match of Sharman's total army of more then soldiers. General Hardee, in charge of the Confederate garrison vacated the Fort

Jackson and city of Savannah.

Today, all three fort can be visited and you can put your own vision to work when exploring the sites.