The Gibson's Point Battery Database includes the artifacts recovered during the course of two archaeological surveys conducted by the faculty, staff, and students of Morehead State University and Georgia Southern University - Armstrong Campus in 2025 and 2026, and the documents collected as part of the Gibson's Point Battery Public History Project. The following on-line catalogue shares the artifacts and historical documents associated with this battery on Whitemarsh Island, Georgia.
The Confederate Battery built on Gibson's Point was named after the landowner, Richard T. Gibson, who acquired the property from his father Robert S. Gibson in 1834. Constructed in early 1864 to protect the Confederate held city of Savannah, Georgia, the Battery was built by enslaved labor to protect Whitemarsh Island, which was a battleground between Union and Rebel forces over the last two years of the war.
Gibson's Point Battery consisted of two gun implacements closer to Richardson Creek and a central redoubt. The battery was armed with two 8-inch siege howitzers and two 32-pounder cannons. The redoubt has been preserved and was the subject of an archaeological survey in 2025 and 2026.
Photographs by Serenity Jo Baughman
Metadata for artifacts and research materials by Emma McClure and Joan Rose
The Confederate Battery built on Gibson's Point was named after the landowner, Richard T. Gibson, who acquired the property from his father Robert S. Gibson in 1834. Constructed in early 1864 to protect the Confederate held city of Savannah, Georgia, the Battery was built by enslaved labor to protect Whitemarsh Island, which was a battleground between Union and Rebel forces over the last two years of the war.
Gibson's Point Battery consisted of two gun implacements closer to Richardson Creek and a central redoubt. The battery was armed with two 8-inch siege howitzers and two 32-pounder cannons. The redoubt has been preserved and was the subject of an archaeological survey in 2025 and 2026.
Photographs by Serenity Jo Baughman
Metadata for artifacts and research materials by Emma McClure and Joan Rose
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Works at Eastern Point of Whitemarsh Island
Library of Congress. Map Division.
Engineer's diagram of Gibson Point Battery following the capture of Savannah, Georgia by Federal troops under the command of General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1865. Housed at the Library of Congress, Map Division.