Fort Wimberly: A large remnant of battery outside Savannah survives. Its guns were trained on what is now the famous Moon River

1990s survey shows Confederate earthworks (Larry Babits, Armstrong State College)

In war, commanders depend on manpower and materiel. But for Federal forces during the Civil War there also were intangibles, such as the strategy of “always keep them guessing.” The Union’s taking of Fort Pulaski near Savannah in 1862 – for example -- led the Confederacy to pour precious resources into building and manning seaward defenses, just in case of an invasion.

Ultimately, most of those outposts ringing Savannah were never tested.

One such fortification was Fort (Battery) Wimberly on the Isle of Hope. While the taking of Pulaski essentially made the Savannah port useless, there were other reasons for the South to build defenses that would blunt further incursions inland.

“A lot of the pressure for coast defense comes from the slave owners and coastal residents because of concerns about the real and potential loss of African-American slaves,” says Jim Ogden, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park staff historian. “The loss of Port Royal, and then Pulaski, caused a lot of owners to move many of their slaves inland at least for a while, but there were still enough slaves in the region to grow the apparently extensive rice crop Sherman found in December 1864.”

The fort overlooks what is now called Moon River (GBA photo)

Ogden served as guide during the Georgia Battlefields Association’s mid-April tour of Savannah, which included a walk to Fort Wimberly and stops at other Confederate defenses.

The well-preserved earthen fortification is just off the orange trail at Wormsloe State Historic Site, which interprets colonial settlement in the 18^th century. The fort overlooks what is now called Moon River – yes, the one mentioned in the classic Johnny Mercer/Henry Mancini tune. During the Civil War, it was called the Back River.

Wimberly “represents, along with the nearby Rose Dhu earthworks, Fort Screven on Green Island and portions of the Fort Bartow works on Causton’s Bluff, the finest extant remaining examples of Confederate earthen fortifications,” wrote archaeologist Larry Babits in his 1992 survey for Armstrong State College (now part of Georgia Southern University.”

Made up of parapets, traverses and terrepleins, Fort Wimberly basically had two long, parallel lines of earthworks and featured several artillery pieces and perhaps a few dozen troops. It was built to protect an old causeway and internal communications.

A small portion of Fort Wimberly (Georgia Battlefields Assn.)

The first period of construction was in 1861-1862, possibly continuing into 1863. Enslaved persons and soldiers built walls up to 20 feet high. The second phase took part during the second half of 1864. The Confederacy’s upgrades failed to make a real difference – because the site was never attacked.

Rebel troops evacuated the area in December when Federal forces were on the verge of taking Savannah by land. Union troops occupied the works for a time afterward and dismantled a portion of the fort.

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the GBA, and Ogden argue the US Navy had little incentive to spend a lot of resources trying to reduce all the batteries in the years following the fall of Fort Pulaski. But, as Crawford points out, the defenses did serve somewhat as a deterrent.

Savannah was ringed by fortifications, click to enlarge (Georgia Battlefields Assn)

The North did expend a lot of effort and resources against Charleston. But pushing into a major concentration of coastal defenses was the exception.

“Even the North, with a lot more shipping capacity than the Confederates, didn't have/chose not to have -- versus expending resources on other efforts -- the shipping capacity to mount extensive over-the-shore (to use a modern term) operations,” Ogden wrote the Picket. 

Today, Fort Wimberly – like many of the other Savannah defenses – remains off the beaten path. It is cloaked by trees in the southwestern edge of Wormsloe, though noise from the nearby Diamond Causeway does intrude upon a visit to the site. Park staff do not conduct programs at the site, instead concentrating on Wormsloe's rich colonial history.

Lewis H. Strickland, writing for the Isle of Hope Historical Association, says: “This unimproved woods road that skirts the marsh in many areas provides several imposing vistas. Scenic fresh water ponds, views of the Intracoastal Waterway, destroyed whiskey stills and atypical coastal woodlands greet the hiker. Access is not presently open to the public but arrangements can be made for groups to visit the fort.”

A marker on the trail provides some information on the obscure fort, but tells visitors to stay well away from the earthworks.

Jim Ogden (far left) led interpretation at Wormsloe, other sites (GBA photo)

Officials in the past have decried the effects of relic hunting and worried about people crawling over the earthworks. The Picket has reached out to park management about public access but has received no reply.

Mary-Elizabeth Ellard, GBA secretary and trustee, said the group had communicated with the park before its Ogden-led tour of the 200 yards of earthworks. There is a small trail around the fortification.

“Multiple people commented that how well it is preserved was the most noteworthy part of that visit,” Ellard to the Picket in an email. “Also, circling the works gives a sense of size and its proximity to the water (hence its value for locating a fort).”

A recent GBA newsletter said Wimberly “illustrated how the many Confederate sand and earth forts were both substantial and -- compared to masonry forts -- quickly reparable.”

Fort Wimberly might not be as well-known or important as the larger Confederate Fort Jackson or Fort McAllister, but “it is part of a system, along with Causten's, Thunderbolt, and the others, that is a window into several other usually overlooked aspects of the Civil War era,” says Ogden.