Fort James Jackson (usually shortened to Fort Jackson and informally known as Old Fort Jackson) is a restored nineteenth-century fort located one mile east of

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, on the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, ...

. It is currently operated by the Coastal Heritage Society as Old Fort Jackson, a National Historic Landmark. The land on which the fort was built, was sold by Nichols Turnbull in 1808. Initially, a structure named Fort Mud was built, but was lost to fire in 1833. Named in honor of James Jackson (1757–1806), a British-born political figure in Georgia, Fort Jackson was constructed between 1808 and 1812 to protect the city of Savannah from attack by sea. It was engineered by William McRee who had just graduated from

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, it became one of three Confederate forts that defended Savannah from Union forces (the other two were

Fort McAllister Fort McAllister was a Confederate States of America, Confederate earthen-work fort used to defend Savannah, Georgia during the American Civil War. It was the southernmost of the forts defending Savannah and was involved in the most battles. It ...

and Fort Pulaski). When the Union army commanded by

William T. Sherman William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

captured Savannah by land in December 1864, it took Fort Jackson almost immediately. The fort was renamed Fort Oglethorpe in 1885, in honor of Georgia's founder

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

James Edward Oglethorpe Lieutenant-General James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British Army officer, Tory politician and colonial administrator best known for founding the Province of Georgia in British North America. As a social reform ...

. Between 1885 and 1905, the fort was little used by the U.S. military. In 1906, the name Fort Jackson was reinstated. It was purchased by the city of Savannah in 1924 for park purposes and was fully restored in the 1970s. It was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 2000. an
''Accompanying five photos, exterior and interior, from 1998''
Fort Jackson is located at 1 Fort Jackson Road, on the Islands Expressway linking Savannah to Fort Pulaski and the town of Tybee Island. Fort Jackson is owned by the state of Georgia and operated as a museum by the Coastal Heritage Society. The Fort has several daily cannon and small-arms firing demonstrations every day of the week.

References

External links

* National Historic Landmarks in Georgia (U.S. state) National Register of Historic Places in Savannah, Georgia James Jackson Museums in Savannah, Georgia Historical society museums in Georgia (U.S. state) Military and war museums in Georgia (U.S. state) {{GeorgiaUS-NRHP-stub

See also

References

External links