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| 1990s survey shows Confederate earthworks (Larry Babits, Armstrong State College) |
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.”
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| The fort overlooks what is now called Moon River (GBA photo) |
The well-preserved earthen fortification is just off the orange trail at
Wormsloe State Historic Site, which interprets colonial settlement in the 18th
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.
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| A small portion of Fort Wimberly (Georgia Battlefields Assn.) |
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.
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| Savannah was ringed by fortifications, click to enlarge (Georgia Battlefields Assn) |
“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.
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| Jim Ogden (far left) led interpretation at Wormsloe, other sites (GBA photo) |
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.
