Visitors to Fort Pulaski National Monument take a self-guided tour of Fort Pulaski

The National Park Service offers free tours of Fort Pulaski. There is no need to sign up, so just meet inside the fort at the proper time. Tours last about a half hour and cover the lower level of the fort. Afterwards, you can explore the top level on your own. For a current tour schedule, see the National Park Service’s Calendar web page for Fort Pulaski National Monument.

Volunteer at Fort Pulaski National Monument leads a tour of Fort Pulaski

For those who cannot make one of the Ranger-guided tours of Fort Pulaski, feel free to walk around the fort on your own. The park brochure has some information, and there are information panels and exhibits throughout the fort, but you won’t learn nearly as much as you will on the Ranger tour, so try to catch one if you can. I also suggest doing the Moat Walk before heading inside. This easy, half-mile walk follows the moat, giving you the closest view of the damage done during the bombardment by Union artillery stationed on Tybee Island.

Damaged walls of Fort Pulaski

When leaving the Fort Pulaski Visitor Center, the first part of the fort that you will come to is the demilune (“half moon” in French), a triangular island that is located on the backside of the fort and surrounded by the moat. The hills that you see did not exist at the time of the Civil War. The demilune was originally a flat piece of land with a waist-high wall around it that held storage buildings, kitchens, the enlisted men’s mess hall, a guard house, and a few guns. Its purpose was to protect the entrance to the fort from a land invasion. Enemies facing cannon and gunfire would have to get across the moat to the demilune and then would still have to cross the moat again to get to the entrance of the fort, which by that time would surely have its heavy wooden doors and steel gates shut and its drawbridge retracted. As was the case with all forts of its type up until April 10, 1862, there was no possible way for an enemy to take control of Fort Pulaski other than to sit outside and wait for the soldiers inside to starve until they surrendered.

Fort Pulaski’s demilune, Fort Pulaski National Monument

To enter the fort, walk around the right side of the demilune until you come to a footbridge that spans the moat. This connects to the demilune, and another bridge connects to the actual fort.

Path to the entrance of Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Bridge to the demilune at Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

After the war, three powder magazines and a command center to control mines placed in the Savannah River were built into the ground of the demilune and covered by the large, earthen mounds you see today. A series of tunnels connects everything together, and you are welcome to walk around inside.

Entrance into the interior of Fort Pulaski’s demilune, Fort Pulaski National Monument

To get inside Fort Pulaski you must cross the drawbridge and enter through the sally port, fort jargon for “entrance.” Again, this is at the back of the fort. The front of the fort faces the water, which is where any attack would have come from. In the 1800s, a rear assault by land would not have been feasible because this area of Cockspur Island was marsh. Any army landing to the rear of the fort would not be able to move cannon and supply wagons through the water and mud. However, precautions were taken nonetheless with the installation of the demilune.

Drawbridge to Fort Pulaski’s sally port, Fort Pulaski National Monument

As you enter the sally port, notice that you pass through a corridor before actually arriving inside the fort. Heavy doors and steel gates are located at both ends, and narrow slits in the corridor walls called loopholes allowed men stationed behind the walls to shoot at anyone entering. Thus, after the difficult task of overrunning the demilune, the enemy would still have to break down the front door of the fort without the help of a drawbridge, get to the other end of the corridor without getting shot, and then break down another set of doors before entering the fort.

Drawbridge and sally port at Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Once inside you will be on the parade ground, a large field where troops drilled, exercised, and played sports. Cannon are displayed on the grounds. All of the cannon at the fort are authentic Civil War-era artillery pieces. However, only three are thought to have actually been at Fort Pulaski when it was in operation.

Parade ground at Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Cannon exhibit on the parade grounds of Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

The best way to proceed on a self-guided tour of Fort Pulaski is to first visit the lower level, starting in a clockwise manner (left turn when you enter). The side of the fort that you will be walking along is called the gorge wall and faces the demilune. The wall is lined with rooms of various sizes, most of which were the offices and quarters for the officers stationed at the fort. Today the rooms house exhibits, and some are even furnished as they would have been back when the fort was in service. You are welcome inside any room with an open door. For a few of the exhibits, you must look through the windows.

Rooms located in the gorge wall of Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Commanding officer’s quarters at Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Fort Pulaski Chapel, Fort Pulaski National Monument

All other walls of the fort have arched entranceways to casemates. Casemates are designed as fortified rooms to hold artillery pieces, though at Fort Pulaski there were not enough guns to fill all of them, so some were converted into enlisted men’s quarters and storage rooms. A few of the casemates are set up with artillery and other exhibits. You can walk around the entire fort through the casemates, as each has a connecting archway.

Casemates at Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Cannon exhibit inside a Fort Pulaski casemate, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Cannon exhibit inside a Fort Pulaski casemate, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Civil War-era caisson at Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Archways connect the casemates of Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Casemate used as enlisted men’s quarters at Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Notice that some casemates have grey doors on them. All would have originally had doors, but most deteriorated and were removed over the years. The ones now at the fort are replacements installed by the National Park Service.

Casemate doors at Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Installed outside one casemate at Fort Pulaski is a large, wooden wall that leans up against the fort wall. This is a reproduction of what is called blindage. Such wooden structures would have been erected around the entire fort during a battle for additional protection from flying shrapnel falling on the parade ground.

Blindage protects the interior of the casemates of Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Towards the end of the Civil War, the Union turned many of the casemates into prison cells for Confederate officers.

Casemates converted to prison cells at Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

The southeastern end of the fort, which is where the entire wall of casemates have doors installed on them, is the area that was directly exposed to the Union artillery shells coming from Tybee Island. It is here that actual holes were blown in the walls. Notice that three casemates have no embrasures (windows out of which a cannon fires) and are completely bricked up. These are the ones that had the holes blown through them. Once the Union Army occupied the fort, the soldiers repaired the walls within six weeks but did not bother to install embrasures. Also notice that some of the embrasures still show damage from artillery hits.

Damaged casemate at Fort Pulaski that was repaired by Union soldiers, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Damage done to an embrasure of Fort Pulaski during the Battle of Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

Two pecan trees once stood on the parade ground, but today there is only one, the other having been toppled by Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. After the fort was decommissioned in 1873, the Cockspur Island Lighthouse keeper and his family were the only people living on the island. He built himself a home on the upper level of the fort and was the one who planted the trees. Lighthouse keepers lived on the island until the lighthouse was decommissioned in 1909.

Pecan trees on the parade ground of Fort Pulaski, March 2016, Fort Pulaski National Monument

One pecan tree remained inside Fort Pulaski after Hurricane Matthew, Fort Pulaski National Monument

When done touring the lower level of Fort Pulaski, proceed to the upper level, which is called the terreplein. Staircases are located at the corners of the fort. Guns were mounted all along the upper level despite the much safer casemates below because they were not constrained by a ceiling and embrasure and could thus be angled to shoot higher. This allowed them to have a longer range. The gun mounts still exist today, and a few cannon have been installed for exhibit purposes.

Guns and gun mounts on the terreplein at Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

View of the moat from the terreplein of Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

While most of the cannon on exhibit are of the Civil War era or a little earlier, only three are thought to be original to Fort Pulaski. From these, only one can be confirmed: the gun with a chunk out of the barrel. This cannon appeared in a photo taken during the war.

Original cannon to Fort Pulaski, Fort Pulaski National Monument

You can also get good views of the surrounding area from the terreplein, which is why the fort was built on Cockspur Island in the first place.

Gun at Fort Pulaski aims out over the Savannah River, Fort Pulaski National Monument

A thorough self-guided tour of Fort Pulaski takes about an hour and a half. This is longer than a Ranger-guided tour, but it covers the upper level. However, most people just stop in to browse around and will spend anywhere from a half hour to an hour at the fort.

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