Historical Background of Ft. McAllister State Park

I was born in Georgia, raised in Georgia, and I am a retired Georgia History teacher. But, I had never heard of Ft. McAllister.

Joyce and I were searching for our next Georgia State Park adventure and pulled up the Georgia State Parks map. Humm, Ft. McAllister about 16 miles south of Savannah. That looked interesting. So, I read about it and have since studied its history on the web and from two books that I bought.

I had to see it. It’s one thing to read about history. It’s another thing to experience it. History has to be experienced whenever possible.

So, Joyce and I and our two Shelties made the 150 mile, three hour trip in our camper van and camped at the Ft. McAllister State Park from November 18-21, 2019, and toured the Fort and its outstanding museum. The site and fort have a long history.

The Fort is located on Genesis Point, a 2,300-acre site near the mouth of the Ogeechee River in Bryan County, Georgia.

Archeologists determined that the Point was first occupied by Guale Indians (1150-1600AD). There were 83 archaeological sites documented including one prehistoric village that was over one mile long.

Artifacts of these prehistoric Native Americans are on display at the Fort’s outstanding museum.

In the 1500’s Spanish sailors explored the Ogeechee River. Spanish monks built a mission of Santa Diego de Satuache on Genesis Point.

In the early days of the Georgia colony, General James Oglethorpe felt Savannah, Georgia, needed protection from western approaches. He built Fort Argyle near where the Ogeechee and Canoochee Rivers meet.

Just before the American Revolution, the famous Naturalist from Philadelphia, William Bartram (1739-1823) visited Genesis Point.

William Bartram

The fertile marshes surrounding Genesis Point was ideal for growing rice and later Sea Island cotton.

The earliest Ogeechee rice plantations on Genesis Point were those of slave owner Thomas Savage Clay (1801-1849) and his heirs. The Point produced some of the most prolific rice and Sea Island cotton of tidewater Georgia in the four decades prior to the Civil War.

The Ogeechee River basin in lower Bryan County became one of the most productive rice-growing areas on the south Atlantic coast during the 1830s and 1840s. By 1855, 3 million pounds of rice annually were being shipped from Bryan County plantations. The leading producers of this important staple commodity on the Ogeechee were Richard J. Arnold, George Washington McAllister, and Thomas Savage Clay.

Richard James Arnold (1796-1873)

Arnold was a Rhode Island business man who also maintained a residence in Bryan County called White Hall. He owned 15,000 acres in Bryan County and was by far the largest land owner in the county. He owned 195 slaves. In 1859, his rice crop produced 665,000 pounds of rice which was by far the largest of the local planters.

Another important land owner was Savannah born Dr. Thomas Savage Clay. After his father (Joseph Clay, Jr,) died, his widowed mother left Savannah and moved back to Boston. In Boston, Clay was educated at Harvard College and Harvard Law School. 

Dr. Thomas Savage Clay (1868-1949) Picture from the book, Thomas Savage Clay, MD ,Shades of Gray: The Clay and McAllister Families of Bryan County by Carolyn Clay Swiggart (used by permission)

Clay returned to Savannah with his mother and two sisters. His mother had bought the “Dublin” tract on the Ogeechee River in Bryan County in 1819, and they renamed it “Richmond” and the site became Richmond Hill.

George Washington McAllister (1781-1850) was also prominent planter of Bryan County.

Colonel George Washington McAllister

He was one of the largest slave owners on Bryan Neck and grew rice and cotton using slaves to work his vast cotton and rice fields.



Slaves in Georgia rice plantation

Slaves harvesting Sea Island cotton

McAllister built his plantation house, Strathy Hall, in 1838. It was restored by Henry Ford in 1940.

Strathy Hall before restoration

Strathy Hall today after restoration

George Washington McAllister had moved to the Georgia coast from Pennsylvania after the Revolutionary War and bought the Strathy Hall plantation on the Ogeechee River in Bryan County, Georgia.

Confederate Lt. Col. Joseph Longworth McAllister 1820 – 1864

Lt. Col. Joseph Longworth McAllister

When Joseph was a young adult, his father George Washington McAllister bought Strathy Hall and the land surrounding it.

Joseph’s younger years were spent working on the plantation and learning the farming business. Upon his father’s death in 1850, he inherited the plantation.

Joseph L. McAllister was Virginia born wealthy and well-respected rice planter. He was “an upright, useful citizen, charitable to the poor and kind to all, a sagacious and dashing soldier, and a true patriot.”

In 1861, the newly formed Confederate Government acquired land from Joseph McAllister called Genesis Point at the mouth of the Ogeechee River for the construction of an earthen and sand fort.

With the outbreak of The War Between the States, mustered into service a company of mounted infantry called “The Hardwick Rifles” that became part of the 7th Georgia Cavalry. He had volunteered for service in the Confederacy captain and was assigned to Genesis Point’s Ft. McAllister. The Fort was named after his father, George Washington McAllister.

Later, at the battle of Trevillian Station in rural Louisa County, Virginia, on June 11-12, 1864, the Confederates won a major victory. 16,000 forces were engaged. The Union had 9,200 forces and the Confederates had 6,700. The 7th Georgia Cavalry lost nearly half of their 600 engaged, including Lieutenant Colonel Joseph L. McAllister. He cried out to his men, “Strike for God and our native land.”

Ft. McAllister is an earthen Fort

McAllister died in the Battle of Trevilian Station, Virginia (June 11–12, 1864).

The construction of Ft. McAllister below Savannah began on June 7, 1861. Company A of the 1st Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, the Dekalb Riflemen arrived to provide a defense force and construct the earthen fort using slaves from nearby plantations for most of the manual labor.

The purposes of the Fort were to defend the mouth of the Ogeechee River and also protect the nearby city of Savannah.

Another purpose was to keep the Ogeechee River open for ships laden with Georgia cotton to reach the Atlantic Ocean and sail to London to supply England’s hungry textile mills. Those ships like the CSS Nashville would then bring back needed munitions and supplies for the Confederacy. These ships were known as blockade runners since President Lincoln had ordered all Southern ports to be blockaded by the United States Navy.

A third purpose was to protect the vital Savannah and Charleston Railroad bridge a few miles up river. Control of this bridge was necessary to transport supplies to and from these key coastal cities and for keeping the nearby Fort supplied with ordnance and food.

Captain John McCrady, chief engineer of the 3rd Military District designed the battery on a commanding bluff, and his assistant, Captain James McAlpin executed it.

The Fort was manned by only about 160 soldiers and officers. By late 1864, it bristled with one 10 inch mortar, three ten inch Columbiads, one 8 inch Columbiad, one forty-two pounder, one thirty-two rifled pounder, four thirty-two smoothbore pounders, one twenty-four howitzers, two twelve-pound Napoleons, and six six-pounder bronze field guns for a total of twenty big, powerful cannons. The Fort also had an adequate supply of ammunition and food. 8 inch Columbiad after Ft. McAllister’s capture

The Fort was supposed to keep the river clear of enemy ships. It’s big guns were supposed to protect and make it possible for blockade runners to make it to the Atlantic and sail to Liverpool or South Hampton, England. The blockade runners were laden with Georgia cotton that England’s hungry textile mills needed which would be sold. Then much needed military supplies and other essentials would be bought and brought to southern ports.

Ships like the CSS Nashville were effective blockade runners. The Confederacy acquired the USS Nashville on April 13, 1861, after the surrender of Fort Sumter. She was refitted as a cruiser.

CSS Nashville

The Nashville ran through the blockade on October 21, 1861. Filled to the brim with cotton, she headed across the Atlantic to Southampton, England, to sell it and bring back supplies for the South. The Nashville was the first ship of war to fly the Confederate flag in English waters.

On November 19, 1861, near the British Isles, the Nashville’s crew boarded and burned an American merchant ship, the Harvey Birch off the coast of Ireland. This was the first such action by a Confederate commerce raider in the North Atlantic during the War.

The Nashville returned to Beaufort, North Carolina on February 28, 1862, having captured two prizes worth $165,000 in today’s currency. She made several successful runs through the blockade and gained quite a reputation.

On July 23, 1862, the Union Navy was in hot pursuit of the Nashville on a run into Charleston. After a long chase, she managed to slip into Ossabaw Sound and sailed up the Ogeechee for protection by Ft. McAllister. She was then taken upriver and it’s cargo unloaded at the railroad bridge for shipment to Savannah. A return cargo of cotton, pitch, and tobacco was loaded on the ship for the run out of the river. However, the run out would be fraught with difficulties because of the Union’s naval blockade at the mouth of the River.

The objective of the Union Navy was twofold. The Nashville (refitted and renamed The Rattlesnake) had to be destroyed, and Ft. McAllister had to be conquered.

For the first time since the famous ironclad battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Merrimack, the Union would mount it’s attack on Ft. McAllister with monitor class ironclads.

Four ironclads led by the USS Montauk, first attacked the earthen fort on July 1, 1862. Ft. McAllister let loose volley after volley against the four ships only to have the cannon balls bounce off its armor. But, after two hours, the ironclads gave up and returned to the mouth of the River. No one was injured. And, the Nashville remained safely ensconced above the Fort.

USS Montauk

The ironclads attacked again on July 29, 1862, November 2, November 19, January 27, 1863, and February 1. It was on February 1st that a shell from the Montauk killed Major John Gallie, Commander of the Fort. 

Major John Gaillie

During 1862 and 1863, Fort McAllister successfully repelled seven Union naval attacks in what can basically be called a draw.

The only damage inflicted from Ft. McAllister on the ironclads were dents in their thick metal sheathing. The only damage to Ft. McAllister was sand blown high in the air although the shell fragments injured several men and killed Major John Gallie on February 1, 1863.

The Union ironclads attacked again on February 28, 1863. They found that the Rattlesnake had gone aground on a sandbar in a hairpin bend of the Ogeechee River. The engagement that followed was a three-way battle with the guns of the fort firing on the Montauk and the Montauk concentrating it’s fire on the Rattlesnake.

The Rattlesnake was a sitting duck. The cannons from the Montauck scored several direct hits. One shell hit the magazine, and the ship was blown to smithereens.

CSS Rattlesnake Blown Up

But the Union Navy remained determined. Attacks were made on the sand Fort on March 3, 1863, December 13, 1864. Each attack was neutered by the earth and sand Fort.

It would take Sherman’s Army to do what the Navy couldn’t do.

General William Tecumseh Sherman’s Army left Atlanta in smoldering ruins and moved out on his famous March to the Sea on November 15, 1864. His goal was Ft. McAllister for several reasons. First, he knew how futile the United States attacks on the earthen Fort had been. He knew the key to Savannah was Ft. McAllister. And third, he knew food and a resupply of ammunition from the ships was awaiting his huge army. There was little to forage in the immediate area of Ft. McAllister and ammunition was running low.

The practically invincible Fort would have to be attacked and conquered from the land side with its difficult terrain of creeks and marshes rather than from the Ogeechee River.

Wagon road access to Ft. McAllister. The area

to the left was mined

General William B. Hazen and his 2nd Division XV Corps of about 4,000 soldiers were chosen to attack the 160 Confederates defending the Fort.

General William Babcock Hazen

They used the weakly defended wagon road on the side opposite the river. To defend it, the Confederates had placed land minds attached to rails. Anyone stepping on the mine or rail would be blown away.

The wagon road entrance. To the left

were the land minds (torpedos)

Confederate land mine

Several Federal soldiers were killed and others maimed who stepped on the land mines, but they made it through. Next was the abatis and the palisades in the moats surrounding the Fort.

The abitis obstruction surrounded the Fort

The obstructions only delayed the attack. The Union soldiers made it through and then chaos ensued with hand-to-hand fighting. Swords, bayonets, fists, pistols, and clubbing with the butt of rifles caused death and wounds. Calls for surrender went unheeded.

The fighting lasted about twenty minutes. The vastly outnumbered and brave Confederate soldiers were captured along with 24 pieces of ordnance with their equipment, 40 tons of ammunition, a month’s supply of food, the small-arms of the command, all the animals and equipment of a light battery, the horses of the officers, and a large amount of private stores which included whiskey, wine, and cigars.

Yankee soldiers carting out Confederate cannon balls

Casualties for the Union were 134 deaths (34%), and Confederate losses were 71 (44%). The captured Confederates were shipped to nearby Union held Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

The abandoned Fort was soon taken back by nature. Cows grazed upon its earthen walls where cannons roared and courageous men fought and died.

The Fort never surrendered nor did any man or officer surrender the Confederate flag that had inspired them to fight and had so gallantly flown over the Fort defying the invading Yankee effort to destroy it.

Awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Battle of Vicksburg, Captain John H. Brown, questioned a Confederate soldier regarding the whereabouts of the Fort’s Confederate flag that had been taken from the flagstaff. The soldier told him that it was in the powder magazine. He went and got it and gave it to the Captain. Brown sent it North for safekeeping.

The Powder Magazine

The captured flag

After the hand-to-hand combat, General Hazen spoke to Major Anderson, Commander of Ft. McAllister and said, “My apologies Major for your rough treatment.”

Anderson looked up at him and said “It’s war, General. My men gave it their best, I assure you. These men were not prepared to give you anything.”

Thank goodness. Industrialist Henry Ford in the mid 1920s bought the Genesis Point property which was comprised of 2,850 acres and another property in Richmond Hill of 500 acres.

Ford chose the site of the old Clay Plantation which Sherman burned for his southern home. He purchased the Hermitage mansion on the Savannah River, has it dismantled, and rebuilt on the Clay Plantation site.

The Clay Plantation

It was not until 1935 that Ford took steps to renovate the Fort after he realized its significance. The renovation cost $14,636.Will Donaldson and Henry Ford (R) at Hot Shot Furnace

Ford’s landholdings in Bryan County were sold by his estate in 1947 to International Paper Company. In March 1957, the Company deeded it to the Georgia Historical Commission.

On March 14, 1963, almost 100 years after its capture, Ft. McAllister was opened to the public as a state historical site. In 1972, the State purchased Savage Island and built a causeway through the saltwater marsh connecting the Fort and the outstanding museum adjacent to it.

The Causeway

An exceptional RV campground was developed on Savage Island.

Camping at Ft. McAllister State Park

I had to see it. It’s one thing to read about history. It’s another thing to experience it. History has to be experienced whenever possible.

Special thanks to Carolyn Clay Swiggart

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Sources: Guardian of Savannah Fort McAllister, Georgia, in the Civil War and Beyond by Roger S. Durham

https://gastateparks.org/FortMcAllister

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/fort-mcallister%3famp

Thanks for reading.