Artillery and Armour in the USA: Georgia (1)

Artillery, Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles preserved in Georgia (Part 1)

Chickamauga and Chattanooga, Cordele, Fort Benning, Fort King George, Fort Morris, Fort Stewart, Kennesaw Mountain, Fort McAllister and Fort Screvin

One of the aims of this website is to locate, identify and document every historical piece of artillery and all armoured fighting vehicles preserved in Georgia.  Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these tangible pieces of our military history and the list you see here is constantly being revised as new finds are discovered and the data is updated.  The photos have come from various contributors, but the author likes to "ground truth" the reports, so a good number of the photos are by the author unless otherwise credited.  Any errors found here are by the author.   It often happens that military monuments that are relatively mobile, have been moved for restoration or scrapped, sometimes they are repainted with different markings and serial numbers, or they are replaced with a different piece of kit.  For those reasons, any additions, deletions, corrections or amendments that you may be able to add to this list of Artillery and AFVs in Georgia would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at hskaarup@rogers.com.  The primary aim is preserve our military history and to keep the record accurate.

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

(Lhughesw5 Photo)

Bronze 6-pounder Model 1841 smoothbore muzzle-loading Field Guns located on "Cannon Row".

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, located in northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee, preserves the sites of two major battles of the American Civil War: the Battle of Chickamauga and the Chattanooga Campaign.

Cordele, Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park

The Georgia Veterans Memorial State park was established on 4 December 1946, as a memorial to U.S. Veterans.  The 1,308-acre (5 km2) park features a museum with aircraft, vehicles, weapons, uniforms and other memorabilia dating from the Revolutionary War to the present day.

(Dsdugan Photo)

(Michael Rivera Photo)

155-mm Gun M1 "Long Tom" later known as the M59.  Developed to replace the Canon de 155-mm GPF, the gun was deployed as a heavy field weapon during the Second World War and the Korean War, and was also classed as secondary armament for seacoast defence.  The gun could fire a 100 lb (45.36 kg) shell to a maximum range of 13.7 miles (22 km), with the gun tube having an estimated lifespan of 1,500 rounds.  The gun carriage provided a stable, yet mobile, base for the gun.  The split-trail carriage featured an eight-wheel integral two-axle bogie and a two-wheel limber that supported the trails for transport.  

After the gun was placed in a firing position with the gun pointing in the desired direction, the trails were lowered to the ground and the limber was removed.  The carriage wheels would then be raised using built-in ratcheting screw-jacks, lowering the gun carriage to the ground.  Once on the ground, the limber-end of the trail legs were separated to form a wide "vee" with its apex at the center of the carriage pivot point.  A recoil spade at the limber-end of each trail leg required a correctly positioned hole to be dug for the spade, which was attached to the trail end, to transmit the recoil from gun carriage through the trails and into the earth.  This made the gun very stable and assisted its accuracy.  The removable spades were transported in brackets on the trail legs.  The Long Tom was adopted by a number of other nations, including the United Kingdom, Austria, Israel, and the Netherlands.

(Michael Rivera Photo)

37-mm M3 Anti-tank Gun.

(Dsdugan Photo)

(Michael Rivera Photo)

57-mm Gun M1, anti-tank gun.

(Dsdugan Photo)

(Michael Rivera Photo)

55-mm Howitzer M1918A3 Schneider.

(Dsdugan Photo)

(Michael Rivera Photo)

Soviet 85-mm D44 Divisional Gun.

(Michael Rivera Photo)

(Dsdugan Photo)

Soviet 120-mm Mortar M-843.

(Michael Rivera Photo)

M47 Patton Medium Tank.

(Eoghanacht Photo)

(Michael Rivera Photo)

(Dsdugan Photo)

M4A2E8 Sherman tank.

(Michael Rivera Photo)

M3A1 General Stuart Light Tank.

(Michael Rivera Photo)

(Dsdugan Photo)

LVTP-5 (Landing Vehicle, Tracked, Personnel) , an amphibious armored fighting vehicle formerly used by the United States Marine Corps.   It was designed by the Borg Warner Company and built by the Food Machinery Corporation (FMC) along with a few other companies.  It was first accepted into service in 1956. S ome 1,124 basic units were produced, plus the specialist variants, and many saw action in the Vietnam War.

(Michael Rivera Photo)

LVT-3C Bushmaster.

Columbus, Fort Benning

(David Vergun Photo)

Model 1917 Six Ton Tank armed with a 37-mm Gun, National Infantry Museum, Fort Benning.

(National Infantry Museum Photo)

M3 Stuart light tank, National Infantry Museum, Fort Benning.

(John Helms Photo)

Bradley Armoured Fighting Vehicle, National Infantry Museum, Fort Benning.

(National Infantry Museum Photo)

Light Field Gun, Pacific War display, National Infantry Museum, Fort Benning.

Fort King George

Fort King George is a located in the McIntosh County, adjacent to Darien, Georgia.  The fort was built in 1721 along what is now known as the Darien River and served as the southernmost outpost of the British Empire in the Americas until 1727.  The fort was constructed in what was then considered part of the colony of South Carolina, but was territory later settled as Georgia.  It was part of a defensive line intended to encourage settlement along the colony's southern frontier, from the Savannah River to the Altamaha River.  Great Britain, France, and Spain were competing to control the American Southeast, especially the Savannah-Altamaha River region.

The fort was a model for General James Oglethorpe when he set up his southern defence system for Georgia and established a settlement along the Altamaha River.  In 1736, Oglethorpe brought Scottish colonists to settle the site of the abandoned Fort King George.  They called their village New Inverness, later named Darien.  That same year, Oglethorpe built Fort Frederica on Saint Simons Island.  Oglethorpe borrowed extensively from ideas laid out earlier when South Carolina imperialists, such as John Barnwell, Joseph Bowdler, and Francis Nicholson, planned Fort King George as part of a defensive system.

Operated by the state of Georgia, the fort has been reconstructed.  (Wikipedia)

(Jud McCranie Photo)

Five Cast iron smoothbore muzzle loading guns (possibly replicas) mounted on naval gun carriages guard the wall on the riverside of Fort King George.

(Jud McCranie Photo)

Bronze Coehorn SBML Mortar on the grounds of Fort King George.

Fort Morris

Fort Morris is an earthen works fort in Liberty County, Georgia, sited on a bend in the Medway River.  It played an important role in the protection of southeast Georgia throughout various conflicts beginning in 1741 and ending in 1865 at the conclusion of the American Civil War, including the French and Indian War, the American Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812.  The historic site is 70 acres.

The first fort built at the site was constructed in 1741 to protect a plantation owned by Captain Mark Carr.  Carr owned 500 acres (200 ha) of land in the area that was granted to him by the Georgia Trustees.  Carr was the commander of a company of marine rangers in the British Colonial Army from 1732 - 1751.  His plantation came under attack on 18 March 1741 by a group of Indians who were allies with the Spanish colonial forces in Florida.  Several soldiers defending the fort were killed in the raid and the contents of the fort and plantation were taken away in a large boat that belonged to the plantation.

The next fort at the site was constructed in 1756 at the encouragement of locals who were being attacked during uprising of Creek Indians in the era during the French and Indian War.  The fort was expanded in 1758 to provide protection for the new settlement of Sunbury which was built on land owned by Carr.  The fort was a square with each side measuring 100 yards (91 m).  Governor Henry Ellis noted that the fort had a battery of eight guns.  By 1762 the fort had fallen into disrepair.

The need to defend the Medway River and Sunbury rose again at the outset of the American Revolutionary War.  The Continental Congress authorized the construction of two forts in Georgia.  One was to be built at Savannah and the other at Sunbury.  A company of artillery consisting of fifty men was sent to the area.  Fort Morris was built to the southeast of Sunbury and would be used first as a base for several campaigns to take British Florida and then as a defensive position in defending Sunbury and points upriver.

The colonial forces were never able to establish control of Florida, which had become a refuge for loyalists.  Royal Governor Patrick Tonyn of East Florida sought to invade Georgia.  The East Florida Rangers were loyalists from Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.  Indian allies and the British 60th regiment was part of the plan to take Georgia from the Continental Army.  The East Florida Rangers, a naval fleet, and loyalists from New York were quickly able to take Savannah in 1778.  They next moved to Sunbury and Fort Morris.  A small contingent of British soldiers attempted to take the fort on 25 November 1778.   The 200 Americans at Fort Morris were led by Colonel John McIntosh.  McIntosh defiantly replied, "Come and take it!" after the British demanded the surrender of the fort.  The British declined to attack and pulled back only to return in January with a larger force.

Fort Morris was attacked by the British on January 9, 1779, and was taken the next day. The number of lives lost in the siege is not well documented. Historians suppose that less than twelve American soldiers died and fewer British.  The fort was renamed Fort George and was occupied by the British until September 1779, when the fort's garrison was ordered to Savannah to provide for its defense.  After the fort was abandoned by the British it was taken again by colonial forces who found an empty fort with a few, damaged guns left behind. They were only able to hold the fort for a month before it was retaken by the British in October. Fort Morris/Fort George remained under the control of British forces until 1782.

The fort fell into disrepair once again in the years following the Revolution.  The need to defend Sunbury and the river rose again with the outset of the War of 1812.  Fort Defiance was constructed on the site of the former Fort Morris in 1814.   Construction of the fort was not completed prior to the end of the war and it was left unfinished.

Fort Morris and Sunbury played a minor role in the American Civil War.  A small group of Confederate soldiers were stationed at Sunbury and may have used the fort.  General William T. Sherman's March to the Sea brought an influx of Union soldiers to the area.  They removed some cannons from the fort in 1864 to be taken to Union-controlled forts on the Atlantic coast.  (Wikipedia)

(Jud McCranie Photo)

Cast iron SBML gun mounted on a field carriage.

(Jud McCranie Photo)

Cast Iron SBML gun mounted on an iron stand.

Fort Pulaski National Monument, located on Cockspur Island between Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia.  The artillery preserved in Fort Pulaski is listed on a separate page on this web site.

(Edibobb Photo)

Fort Stewart

(Erick Ritterby, U.S. Army Photo)

M1 Abrahms Maine Battle Tank, Bell AH-1 Cobra Attatck Helicopter mounted on a pylon, Bradley AFV, 155-mm M109 SP Howitzer, 3rd Infantry Division Headquarters at Fort Stewart, Georgia.

Kennesaw Mountain

(Mikereichold Photo)

Bronze 6-pounder Model 1841 smoothbore muzzle-loading Field Gun, mounted on a Field Carriage.

Savannah, Old Fort Jackson. The artillery preserved in Old Fort Jackson is listed on a separate page on this web site.

(Author Photo)

Savannah, Artillery preserved within the city is listed on a separate page on this website.

Fort McAllister

Fort McAllister was a Confederate earthen-work fort used to defend Savannah, Georgia during the American Civil War.  It was the southernmost of the forts defending Savannah and was involved in the most battles.  It was located on the Ogeechee River in Bryan County.  Fort McAllister was one of three forts protecting Savannah, the others being Fort Pulaski and Fort James Jackson standing in Confederate defiance of the Union naval blockade. The southeast coast of the United States was the place where both combatants tested the latest in naval artillery and coastal defenses.  Fort McAllister was the key to unlocking the defenses around Savannah, one of the most important Confederate ports on the Atlantic Ocean.

(Kevin Naking Photo)

Earth ramparts of Fort McAllister.

(US GOV PD Photo)

Diagram of Fort McAllister.

The fort was designed by Capt. John McCrady.  In 1861 General Robert E. Lee inspected the fort and recommended making it stronger.  McCrady made the changes recommended by Lee and the earthen walls were better able to withstand bombardment from artillery fire.  The fort had seven cannon emplacements.  The bombproof area in the center housed a hospital, supply area, barracks, officer's quarters, gun power, and additional guns.  A 10-inch mortar was kept outside the fort to keep it from shaking the dirt off the walls when it was fired.

(Kevin Naking Photo)

Cast iron 10-inch Mortar, weight 3,860 lbs, firing a shell weighing between 85 and 98 lbs to a range of 4,250 yards (3,886 metres).   This mortar stands outside the walls of the fort.

The fort was attacked seven times by ships over the next two years.  The fort withstood all of these attacks with only minimal damage and few casualties.  There were four naval attacks in 1862.  Union ironclad monitors began to attack the fort on 27 January 1863, starting with the USS Montauk and later with the USS Passaic, USS Nahant and USS Patapsco.  The Montauk had an 11-inch and a 15-inch cannon, the largest size used in the war.  The ironclad bombarded the fort for 5 hours but caused no casualties and little damage because the earth absorbed the artillery shells and the damage was easily repaired.  Similarly, the fort's cannons hit the ironclad 15 times but caused no significant damage.  The Montauk made another unsuccessful attack on 1 February, except that fort commander Maj. John B. Gallie was killed.  A 7-hour bombardment on 3 March also failed to damage the fort.

USS Montauk (right) and USS Lehigh (left) while mothballed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, ca 1902-1903.

The fort was the site of the sinking of the CSS Nashville on 28 February 1863.

On 13 December 1864, General William T. Sherman reached the fort on his March to the Sea.  General William B. Hazen's infantry division attacked the fort, defended by Major George Wayne Anderson and some 230 troops.  The Union force overpowered the fort's defenders in about 15 minutes of battle.  Fort McAllister was the last fort defending Savannah.  After it fell, General William J. Hardee withdrew his 10,000 troops that were defending Savannah and Sherman captured the city without resistance.  Sherman's army abandoned the fort and burned its bunkers.

(Internet Archives Book Image)

Cast iron SBML 10-inch (300-pounder) Parrot Rifle, Heavy Seacoast Artillery captured at Fort McAllister in 1864.  Weight 26,900-lbs, bore size 10-inches, tube length 156-inches, firing a 300-lb shell to a range of 9,000 yards (8,200 metres).

During the evening that the fort fell, Anderson was being held at the McAllister family home, the new headquarters of General William Babcock Hazen.  General Hazen and Lieutenant Colonel Strong invited General Sherman to dinner, to celebrate their victory.  In a kind gesture of respect, General Hazen also invited Major Anderson to attend the meal, after clearing the request with Sherman.  The discussion was surely lively - during the meal Anderson engaged in a heated exchange with General Sherman about the tactics employed to defend the fort and the bravery of all who fought there.  Cigars were exchanged and smoked, and tributes were made to the fallen.  However, Sherman remained greatly upset at Anderson's use of land mines in the defense of the fort, and ordered the Major to personally join his fellow captured Confederates on mine-clearing detail.  (Wikipedia)

(Kevin Naking Photo)

Artillery munitions on display inside Fort McAllister.

(Internet Archives Book Image)

Cast iron SBML 24-pounder Siege Gun with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring, mounted on a wood traversing Barbette Carriage,

(Kevin Naking Photo)

Cast iron SBML 24-pounder Siege Gun with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring, mounted on a wood traversing Barbette Carriage, inside the grounds of Fort McAllister.

(Jud McCrainie Photo)

Cast iron 30-pounder Parrot Rifle, M1841, weight 4,200 lbs, with a 4.2-inch bore, 132.5-inch tube length, firing a 29.2-lb shot or a 26.5-lb shell, with a range of 3,636 yards 3,325 metres), mounted on a Siege Carriage.

(Jud McCrainie Photo)

Replica Columbiad SBML Gun on the grounds of Fort McAllister.

Fort Screvin

Fort Screven was first commissioned in 1899 and was named for Brigadier General James Screven, a Revolutionary War hero who was killed in action near Midway, Georgia, in 1778 . The fort served as a valuable part of coastal defense until it was decommissioned in 1947.  Fort Screven is most notable for one of its former commanding officers, General of the Army George C. Marshall, later the architect of the Marshall Plan that helped rebuild Western Europe after the end of the Second World War.  Very little remains of the original fort due to redevelopment of the area for housing.  One of the most important remaining structures is the Tybee Post Theatre which was constructed in 1930.  It was one of the first theaters in Georgia to have sound features and was the highlight of recreational activities for the fort.  Other remaining buildings include the recently restored guard house, the bakery (now a private home), and barracks (now apartments). The ruins of the beach fortifications are also extant, and of the six original batteries, Battery Garland (built in 1899) is accessible to the public . Battery Garland houses the Tybee Museum, and several cannon and other military hardware are on display.  Another remaining area is Officer's Row, an impressive group of original homes that have a sweeping ocean view.  (Wikipedia)

(Jtesla16 Photo)

155-mm Gun M1 "Long Tom" later known as the M59, in front Battery Garland, part of the Tybee Island Museum.

The Tybee Island Museum is located inside a coastal defense fort first used during the Spanish American War.  The museum outlines the history of Tybee Island as an integral part of America's coastal defence system.

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