


Now a National Monument operated by the National Park Service, Fort Pulaski stands 15 miles east of Savannah just off U.S. Highway 80 on the way to Tybee Island. Designed by Napoleon’s military engineer and built between 1829 and 1847, it was the “piece de resistance” in brick and masonry forts. Future Confederate General Robert E. Lee was assigned to the fort as an engineer upon his graduation from West Point. When the Confederates seized Fort Pulaski in 1861, they thought the fort would be an impregnable blockade of the Savannah River. However, the use of new rifled cannons forced their surrender in just 30 hours of bombardment, bringing the days of masonry forts to an end. Call for hours of operation.