The Bitter End

By Captain J. Gary "Gator" Hill

Iintended this column to be about the updated mask rules for the maritime community as a result of a presidential executive order, but my editor hijacked that idea and ran the order in full. If you work on a commercial vessel of any kind, please do give that a read [page 19].

Instead, let us sally on and walk in the footsteps of history. Last year I wrote a piece on Ft. King George and plans were laid to do a series on the forts of the lowcountry. This month we pick back up with Old Fort Jackson, formerly known as Mud Fort.

During its history as Mud Fort, it was a simple earthen fortification, dating back to the Revolutionary War as far as documentation shows. It is suspected that even earlier, gun batteries were located in this general area to protect against a Spanish incursion, being ideally situated at the junction of the main Savannah River Channel and the Back River.

In March 1776 the first shots of the American Revolution that were fired in Georgia happened just outside of Mud Fort. Prior to that, in January, four British warships anchored at the Port of Savannah and demanded that colonists sell them rice. They were flatly refused, so they sailed up the Back River to a spot where 12 ships loaded with rice were anchored and helped themselves. This became known as the Battle of the Rice Boats.

This earthen fort was supposed to host 25 “ship killer” canons, though it never reached those numbers, and with the death of the fort commander in 1778, Mud Fort was abandoned. The loss of this strategic point of control allowed the British to waltz in and take Savannah. If the fort had been manned a totally different outcome may have resulted.

By 1794, a less than effective effort was put into strengthening coastal fortifications and gunboats. The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair became an eye opener in 1809 when the British warship HMS Leopard opened fire on the American warship USS Chesapeake in Norfolk, Va., and took four sailors, who were tried for desertion, thus demonstrating our coastal weakness. It was during this time that Fort Jackson was being built, over the remains of Mud Fort.

Fast forward to the 1800s. The early part of the century was both boom and bust as far as adequate preparations go, and the British made good use of it, as demonstrated in the burning of Washington D.C. A push was made from about 1815 thru the 1850s to strengthen coastal fortifications. Although many improvements had been made to Fort Jackson, it was abandoned yet again in 1828. Around the time of the completion of Fort Pulaski on Cockspur Island, military minds were realizing that steam power was becoming a new threat, being both more reliable than wind, and faster. It was thought that modern navies such as the French could run the gauntlet of Pulaski’s 146 guns and continue upriver to invade Savannah once again.

In light of that, from the 1850s leading up and into the Civil War, the U.S. was steadily improving Jackson’s fortifications. This came as a great asset to the Confederates who took control of the

Views of Old Fort Jackson. Photos by Captain J. Gary Hill

fort when Georgia seceded from the Union. When Fort Pulaski fell in April of 1862 it was up to the forces at Ft. Jackson to hold the line, which they did quite admirably. Until the fall of Savannah in a month-long battle from mid-November to December 21, 1864, Jackson served as naval headquarters for the Georgia fleet.

After the war she was abandoned yet again, but after changing hands several times, Old Fort Jackson, as it’s now known, is currently owned by the state, and operated by the Coastal Heritage Society. Who, I must say, does an excellent job of being a good steward to this important piece of Georgia and national history.

As always, peace and love, shrimp and grits, wash your hands, and I'll see you on the water!

Email: TheOriginalCaptainGator@gmail.com

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