October 27th Assorted Tybee Island Markers On the approach to the Island, and the town itself

There were several markers on the way to Tybee Island, on US 80:

Cockspur Island Lighthouse marker one of several The Cockspur Island Lighthouse, located in front of you was built in 1856. Six years later it was a silent witness to the Battle of Fort Pulaski. On April 10-11, 1862, the lighthouse was located midway between Union forces here on Tybee Island and Confederate forces inside Fort Pulaski. During the long-range bombardment, more than 5,000 shells passed over the light. The Cockspur Light survived the battle, and remains today as only one of five lighthouses in Georgia.

The 46-foot-tall beacon marks the South Channel of the Savannah River. The light is surrounded by water at high tide, and can only be reached by boat. To get a closer look, the Light Overlook Trail is available near Fort Pulaski.

Imagine standing here during the battle. The view has changed since then. In 1862, there were no trees hiding the fort. Look to the left of the lighthouse . Can you pick out the fort's flagpole? The sighting tube at left should help. The distance is about 1,600 yards. At the time of the battle, the Union Navy was blockading the entrance to the Savannah River in the distance to your right.

Lazaretto Marker . After the repeal of the anti-slavery provision in the Charter of the Colony of Georgia on 1749, an act permitting the importation of slaves ordered the erection of a Lazaretto (Quarantine Station) on Tybee Island. Not until 1767 were 104 acres purchased from Josiah Tattnall for this purpose. Completed the following year, the buildings were situated on the westernmost tip of Tybee, at the mouth of what soon became known as Lazaretto Creek. In its hospital voyagers who arrived ill were treated and those who died were buried in unmarked graves. After continuous use through the Revolution, the Grand Jury reported it in ruinous condition in 1785 and a new station was later erected on Cockspur Island.

Long Range Battery Duel Marker  This recreated gun battery marks the center of the Union lines. Between February and April 1862, eleven gun batteries were erected on Tybee Island. A battery was not located on this site, but the cannon on the left is an original from the battle.

The Battle of Fort Pulaski features the first significant use of rifled artillery in combat. Prior to the battle no one could predict the impact of these new weapons. General Robert E. Lee told Colonel Olmstead, the commander of Fort Pulaski, that federal guns on Tybee Island "will make it very warm for you with shells ... but they cannot breach your walls at that distance." The power of rifled artillery would prove Lee wrong.

The Union commander wrote, "The result of this bombardment must cause a change in the construction of fortifications as radical as that ... of the conflict between the Monitor and the Merrimac. No works of stone or brick can resist the impact of rifled artillery."

Spiralled grooves on the interior of rifled cannons imparted stabilizing spin to their projectiles. This tight spinning action dramatically improved the range, accuracy and hitting power of artillery.

A turning Point in History markerThis island became the "platform" on which the Union Army mounted 36 pieces of heavy artillery in early 1862. The bombardment that began on April 10 led to the surrender of Fort Pulaski 30 hours later. The placement of these batteries can be found on the map above.

No eye except an eye-witness can form any but a faint conception of the Herculean labor by which mortars of eight and one half tons and columbiads...were moved in the dead of night, over a narrow causeway, bordered by swamps on either side, and liable at any moment to be over turned and buried in mud beyond reach."

"Two hundred and fifty men were barely sufficient to move a single piece, on sling carts. They were not allowed to speak above a whisper, and were guided by the notes of a whistle."

On the island proper, there were several markers near the lighthouse and the old Fort Screven:

Has been placed on the
National Register of
Historic Places
By the United States
Department of the Interior
May 25, 1982

 

An additional Fort Screven Marker:

The Legislature of Georgia in 1786 passed a law providing for a fort on Cockspur or Tybee Island to be named in honor of General James Screven, Revolutionary War hero. It was never built by the state. In 1808 the Federal government obtained jurisdiction over the property on Tybee Island now known as Fort Screven Reservation. Actual title was acquired in 1875 and the post, established in 1898, was in continuous use from the Spanish-American War through both World Wars. Primarily a Coast Artillery fort, at one time Fort Fremont in South Carolina was under its jurisdiction. It became an Infantry post and finally a school for deep-sea diving. Many distinguished officers saw duty here, including General George C. Marshall as colonel in command. In 1945 Fort Screven was declared surplus by the War Department and acquired by the town of Savannah Beach.

Also, one at the lighthouse:

The  lighthouse on Tybee was one of the first public structures in Georgia. Completed in 1736 by William Blithman of cedar piles and brickwork, its 90 foot height made it the loftiest in America. Destroyed in a storm, it was replaced by another built by Thomas Sumner in 1742 which Oglethorpe called "much the best Building of that kind in America." It was almost entirely rebuilt in 1757 by Cornelius McCarty and James Weyms. In 1773 John Mulryne built the third lighthouse on a third site. The Mulryne lighthouse forms the base of the present structure, making part of it of Colonial construction. In 1791 Georgia ceded it with 5 acres to the Federal government. Partially destroyed by the Irish Jasper Greens of Savannah during Union occupation of the island, it was repaired and today is one of the famous lighthouses on the Eastern seaboard.