People

Fort Pulaski National Monument tells the stories of the people who have called Cockspur Island home at one time or another. From Army engineers and enslaved men who built the fort, to the men and women sought refuge inside, the people of Fort Pulaski have a wealth of stories to share.

 

People of Fort Pulaski

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  Casimir Pulaski

  Casimir Pulaski may never have set foot on Cockspur Island, yet his legacy will forever be linked to the masonry walls that bear his name.

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  David Hunter

  After the battle, Hunter achieved fame by his unauthorized 1862 order, immediately rescinded, emancipating slaves in three Southern states.

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  Florence Martus

  Florence Martus, more commonly known as the "Waving Girl" was born on Cockspur Island in 1868.

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  John Wesley

  John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, landed briefly on Cockspur Island in 1736.

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  Joseph King Fenno Mansfield

  In 1831, the Army Corps of Engineers chose Major Joseph Mansfield to oversee the construction of Fort Pulaski.

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  March Haynes

  He was ready, on the capture of Fort Pulaski, to aid the Union and assist his fellow slaves in securing their freedom.

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  Quincy Adams Gillmore

  Quincy Adams Gillmore became the first officer to use massed rifled artillery to reduce a masonry fort at long range.

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  Robert Edward Lee

  In 1829, Robert E. Lee graduated the Military Academy at West Point. His first assignment? Cockspur Island.

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  Susie King Taylor

  Throughout her life, Susie King Taylor experienced hardships that would have stopped many people in their tracks. But she never stopped.

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  Ralston B. Lattimore

  The most influential early employee at Fort Pulaski from 1934 to1969. He created the first interpretative history of the fort.