The Breached Wall

By early afternoon on April 11, 1862, Union rifled artillery had breached the southeast angle of Fort Pulaski with devastating accuracy in only 30 hours. Repairing the battle damage and making the fort ready to be garrisoned for the remainder of the war as a Union outpost in the deep South took more than 1,000 Federal troops six weeks. As the Union commander prepared to order an infantry attack through the breach, the young Col. Olmstead decided to surrender, cut off from hope of relief or retreat, with the fort practically breached, some of his most effective guns useless, and the magazine in danger of exploding. He wrote that the South East Angle was in ruins, with two casemates completely torn to pieces, the outer wall fallen into the moat, and adjoining casemates cracked and crumbling from top to bottom. At Fort Pulaski, new technology coupled with time-honored tactics prevailed.

Georgia · United States