Cockspur Island Before Fort Pulaski

A 1751 map of the Savannah River, showing Cockspur Island.

Library of Congress

Key to Our Province

The Savannah River forms a natural boundary between South Carolina and Georgia. About twelve miles from the sea, the river splits into two channels divided by low grassy islands that are almost completely submerged twice daily by the rising of the tide.

Cockspur Island is the easternmost of these islands. A mile long by less than half a mile wide, Cockspur Island received its name from the shape of its dangerous reef that juts out toward the open sound. Within sight of the Atlantic Ocean, Cockspur guards the two entrances into the Savannah River. Even though very few of its hundred or more acres lie above the highwater mark, this island has played a significant role in the economic development and military defense of coastal Georgia throughout the history of colony and state. The island was considered so important that one Royal Governor called it the "Key to Our Province." Twenty acres on the eastern point were set aside as a site for harbor fortifications.

In February 1733, English settlers led by Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe sailed past Cockspur Island, then known as "Peeper Island." They established Savannah twenty miles up the Savannah River on Yamacraw Bluff. This was the beginning of Georgia, the 13th American colony.

Three years later, John Wesley, founder of Methodism, arrived at Cockspur Island after a long sea voyage. He wrote that this was the first place he stepped on American land in his journal. While there, he had deep talks about religion that helped shape his ideas for Methodism.

A sketch of Fort George.

Georgia Historical Society

A few years later, colonial leaders were worried about attacks from Spanish Florida. They advocated for the construction of a fort on Cockspur Island to protect the growing port of Savannah. Construction of Fort George began in 1761. It was a simple palisaded log blockhouse with earthen embankments.

This first fort on Cockspur Point provided a measure of defense for the Savannah harbor. But mostly, it was used for enforcing quarantine and customs regulations. The fort was mostly in shambles by 1773 and it was dismantled and abandoned by the Patriots in 1776. They knew the fortification could not stand against a strong fleet.

Soon after Fort George was abandoned, two British warships arrived off Tybee Island. They needed fresh provisions and information regarding the uprising in Georgia. Under their guns, Cockspur Island became a safe haven for Loyalists escaping Savannah. Among them was the Royal Governor, Sir James Wright, who escaped to the island on the night of February 11, 1776. He brought with him the colony’s official seal. So, for a short time, Cockspur Island became the capital of colonial Georgia.

In March, the British ships boldly sailed up the river to Savannah. There they fought the Patriots in a brief clash of arms and made off with several ships full of rice. After that, Cockspur Island’s role in the Revolution mostly ended. When the British came back in December 1778, they stopped near the island, but it was empty and quiet.

New Defenses

After the United States became a country, new defenses were needed. A second fort was built in 1794-95 on Cockspur Island. This fort was named Fort Greene in honor of the Revolutionary hero, Gen. Nathanael Greene. Greene made his home at Mulberry Grove Plantation near Savannah after the Revolutionary War. The fortification consisted of a battery designed for six guns and was constructed of timbers and earth enclosed behind pickets. There was also a guardhouse for the garrison.

The history of Fort Greene was brief and tragic. Nine years after the fort was built, it was destroyed by a great hurricane in September 1804. Part of the garrison and their families drowned, and all traces of the fort disappeared beneath the waves. Due to its complete destruction, the exact location of Fort Greene is unknown.

Click here to continue on to the construction of Fort Pulaski.

Based on:
Lattimore, Ralston B., Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia, National Park Service Historical Handbook Series, No.18