Forts and Prisons

The things we can learn when we least expect it!  I visited Fort Pulaski this week which was built as part of a coastal fortification system after the War of 1812.  It contained 25 million bricks and was considered invincible.  After Georgia seceded from the Union at the beginning of the Civil War, the state transferred the fort to the Confederate States of America.  Eventually the Federals attacked the fort.  What was once invincible was now falling to the Union which was using new technology in their cannons that ate through the fort’s seven-foot-thick walls like no artillery could ever do before.  Within 30 hours the Confederates surrendered the fort to the Union.

Fort Frederica, down the coast from Fort Pulaski, was an early Georgia settlement when England was still colonizing America more than 250 years ago.  Settlers from England set up the fort as a military town to defend against the Spanish, who also laid claim to the land between St. Augustine and Charleston.  The town was populated not only with soldiers, but tradesmen of all kinds;  literally butchers, bakers and candlestick makers.  The Spanish advanced to within sight of the fort, but were beaten back by the British.  Within a week the Spanish evacuated the area.  Born of war, the fort expired with the coming of peace.  Without the money brought in by several hundred soldiers, the shopkeepers, tradespeople and the town could not prosper.  It had outlived its purpose and stands today as a reminder of the grim struggle for empire in the southeast during colonial times.

I did not know, until doing my genealogical research in Tennessee several weeks ago, that someone in my family had been kept prisoner at the infamous Andersonville Prison during the Civil War.  Until then I had no idea I had any Union ancestors at all.  So I was even more interested than I had been before, having read the novel by MacKinlay Kantor twice.  I arrived just in time for a ranger-led tour of the prison grounds accompanied by a very informative talk.  The ranger told us about the unbearable conditions suffered by the prisoners in the relatively short time the prison was in operation.  After watching an interesting film about the life of Andersonville prisoners, I asked about finding more information regarding my relative and was told there was a computer station in the visitor center that could help.  I entered the name and up popped information about him!  His rank, regiment, cause of death and location of his remains!  I was thrilled.  A helpful ranger showed me the layout of the Andersonville Cemetery and I went looking for Private Philip Conaster.  I found his resting place easily and spent a few minutes reflecting on history and family.  I placed a coin on his headstone and wondered if he, or his widow, would have had any idea that someone would be paying respects to him and shedding a tear five generations later.

The battlefield at Kennesaw Mountain was also the site of the demise of one of my ancestors, although I did not have the success in tracing him as I did at Andersonville.  I was able to merely verify he had been there, but I got the name and email address of the historian who may be able to help me.

One more Civil War site to visit, a few more stops along the way, then I will be headed home.  With the assistance of local Starbucks stores in the absence of decent internet at campsites, posts will continue as adventures warrant.