Precious Moments: Sights of Georgia

November 8th was a day off, so I took the opportunity to explore Savannah, GA.

First stop was Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, GA.
I love walking through old cemeteries and reading tombstones. This cemetery is huge and contains a Jewish section, Spanish-American section, Jewish chapel, and many other interesting sections. Many Jews' bodies were shipped there from the Holocaust days.

I love this inscription: He who lives with integrity, does what is right, and speaks the truth in his heart.

They served for God and country to promote peace and good will on earth.

World War II section

This is by far the most creative tombstone.

Found someone from West Palm.

We will meet again in the brighter world above, where no sin or pain exist, all is perfect love.

This grave is of a 20- year old man who drowned at Tybee Island.

Peaceful Wilmington River

Next stop: Fort Pulaski on Cockspur Island

The welcome center has a very small museum inside which offers helpful information.

Cannon bullets

The bullet-shaped James bolt weighs just over 80 pounds, but had a devastating and accurate impact from more than two miles away. Fired from a rifled cannon which caused it to spin, the James projectile, and others of its kind, revolutionized modern warfare.

The significance of the battle at Fort Pulaski is seen in these two projectiles. The 10-inch round shot, fired from a smoothbore cannon, weighs 128 pounds and half an effective range of about 800 yards.

Once the Georgia militia seized the fort, there was much to be done. The canons and their carriages were desperately in need of maintenance and repairs. The militia had to learn how to handle the big cannons. They spent hours practicing the drill for heavy artillery. Inspections, military discipline, and caring for personal hygiene were also a big part of fort life. A steamboat made daily trips back and forth between Savannah and the fort, giving the troops and easy opportunity to visit loved ones. The soldiers supplemented army food with sweets and special treats from home. For Christmas of 1861, luxurious foods were sent down to the fort from the city, and the men threw eggnog parties in their casemates.

Look how beautiful the sky is!

This has 2 underground tunnels. The inside walls are made of Tabby, called the concrete of the coast. It's made by mixing sand, water, and crushed oyster shells together which makes them able to withstand damp, humid conditions.

The fort also still has the original doors which are in relatively good condition because of the high quality of materials and the fabrication techniques used. The wood is composed of longleaf pine, a now endangered tree long revered for its strength and shock resistance, and is studded with iron rivets that hold the two layers of 2" planks together.

The guard room is where the soldiers were able to access the drawbridge.

To raise the bridge, 2 men released the ratchet brakes. Then 6 iron balls like the ones in the picture served as counterweights and lifted the bridge while the wooden portcullis dropped into place. To lower it, 4 men inserted bars into the drums at either end of the crankshaft and wound the iron balls back into place. As the bridge went down, the portcullis withdrew into its slot above the door while a 5th man stood in the sallyport and called signals. It's really neat how everything works together.

Smoothbore cannons were the primary artillery for both the Confederate and U.S. forces at the start of the Civil War. They have a smooth barrel and fire spherical cannonballs that Fort Pulaski was specifically designed to withstand. These cannonballs used timed fuses that detonated after a set duration. However, rifled guns used bullet-shaped cannonballs, known as shells, which explode on impact. The shells were a threat to the fort and ultimately forced the Confederates to surrender. The bombardment of the fort marked the first use of rifled artillery against a brick fort which was a global shift towards rifled artillery in warfare.

Officers' dining hall

The infirmary

This is a portrait of General Casimir Pulaski, called the Soldier of Liberty.

Click on this picture to read more about him.

This is called a Casemate Gin, a machine used to lift cannons.

This is called a blindage. In 1862 Confederate soldiers used earth and timber to create a covered walkway to protect troops against incoming shots. This is a recreation of it. The blindage would've encircled the entire inside of the fort.

The scenery around the fort is just relaxing to look at.

This is actually a fig tree, a remnant of a grove planted in the late 1800s. After Fort Pulaski stopped serving as a military outpost, Cockspur Island Lighthouse keepers and their families began to live inside. They planted figs, pecans, and a garden. This and a pecan tree remain from that challenging and lonely time.

This room contained the water supply. So cool to read about how they kept it here in these underground cisterns. They could store a total of 200,000 gallons.

Thirteen unmarked graves contain the remains of Confederate officers from a group known as the "Immortal 600." Some of these soldiers were imprisoned at the fort from October 1864 to Mark 1865 where they endured starvation and sickness during the winter.

Next stop was downtown Savannah. I first stopped by this Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist. Old catholic church buildings have the most stunning architecture.

This is a baptismal font (which is a basin for holding water). It weights 8,000 lbs. and was carved in Carrara, Italy. There's a Celtic Knot, which is the Irish symbol for eternity, in a mosaic on the floor of the inside. The floor around the font (picture below) is from Pietrasanta, Italy.

The interior is of the French Gothic style with ribbed ceilings and pointed characteristics. The floor is cruciform - nave, transept, apse.

The stained glass windows were made by Tyrolean Glassworks of Innsbruck, Austria.

Such a sad sight! They had several depictions of Jesus on the cross but hardly any (I think I only spotted one maybe) of Jesus's resurrection. Aren't you thankful Jesus is not still dead?

Outside across the street this building says, "Our lady of grace, pray for us." I think they missed the memo that Jesus is the intercessor to the Father on our behalf.

I think this building is so neat. If you have to be an attorney at law, you might as well work in a quaint house like this. :)

Next, I walked downtown along the river.

Definitely the steepest 33 stairs I've ever walked up. It's like you're walking up a mountain. lol

They're called the Stone Stairs of Death. Well that's not sketch at all. 😅

This is a U.S.S. Savannah memorial. Commissioned by the United States Navy on May 8, 1937, as a light cruiser, this ship served throughout WWII and was subsequently decommissioned. In September 1943, while supporting the allied invasion of Italy, the Savannah was struck off Salerno by a new German bomb, which was a forerunner of the guided missile. Despite heavy damage and many casualties, the Savannah earned the acclaim of the invasion forces by continuing to engage the enemy in support of the troops landing on the beaches.