Fort McAllister March 3, 1863 Bryan County Ga.

Written by Trent Golden

Late February, 1863 Rear Adm. Samuel F. Du Pont [US] ordered three of the new Passaic-class ironclad monitors from Port Royal, South Carolina to Fort McAllister on the Ogeechee River just south of Savannah. The USS Passaic, USS Nahant and USS Patapsco, were sent to test their guns, mechanical apparatus and artillery fire on the fort, then a small three-gun earthwork battery. They commenced their assalt around 8:40 on the morning of March 3rd.

Fort McAllister, under the command of Capt. George A. Anderson [CS], had fired a couple of initial volleys upon their approach but to no effect. Fire from the Union ironclads was extremely destructive, creating huge gaps in numerous walls of the fort. A few Confederate Batteries were damaged in the 8 hours of bombardment. Some were repaired and returned to service, others were simply withdrawn.

From the shore opposite, before the gun ships had moved into place, several men of the Hardwick Mounted Rifles crossed the Ogeechee and made their way through the marsh to within gun range of the ironclads. When the first Union sailor emerged, they opened fire, wounding him. After the defense of Ft. McAllister against the Union ironclads, Gen. Beauregard issued a special order for the unit to use the First National with the inscription "Fort McAllister" on it.

The union boats moved north on March 4th to join 6 other ironclads in the attack on Charleston on April 7th. The test was helpful in knowledge and experience gained, but the fort did not fall, showing that the ironclads’ firepower alone could not destroy an earthen fort. After the battle CS troops and possibly some slave labor repaired the walls and cannons damaged in the attack. Casualties in the attack are unknown.
One source lists only 2 wounded.