Fort Pulaski National Monument

Completed in 1847 after 18 years and nearly $1 million in construction, Fort Pulaski was built with walls eleven feet thick and an estimated 25 million bricks — and everyone assumed that made it untouchable. In April 1862, Union forces proved otherwise, using rifled cannons to breach those walls and compel the Confederate garrison's surrender. The experiment ended the age of masonry fortification. The National Park Service manages the site today on Cockspur Island at the mouth of the Savannah River.