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Closeup of damage inflicted on Fort Pulaski, Georgia by Union artillery on Big Tybee Island April 12-14, 1862.

As we enter the year of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, re-enactments are kicking off all across the region and this weekend Savannah remember the January 3rd, 1861, seizure of Fort Pulaski.

WSAV was there and has a nice video of what transpired; watch it here.

The fort was quite new during the onset of the Civil War as it was completed in 1847 and was considered quite strong and out of the reach of many cannon.

While Charleston gets much praise for being the site of the first submersible attack (the Hunley), Savannah is also the site of another proving of new technology: rifled artillery. The effectively more powerful and accurate machining of cannon allowed the union to shell the fort from Tybee Island and reduce a brand new state of the art fort into surrender in a few days. 

Oh, and I should point out that the WSAV mentions that the fort was only occupied for a few months — it was actually held by Confederate forces from January 3, 1861, to April 11, 1862.

If you'd like to learn more I'll point you to this Wikipedia page on the fort  and the battle.