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
-
Troops in the District of Georgia, Brig. Gen. H. W. Mercer, C. S. Army, commanding, July 2, 1863
H. W. Mercer and J. F. Gilmer
Reports issued from July to December of 1863 of Confederate military units serving in or near Savannah, Georgia.
U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 128 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880–1901), Series I, Vol. 28, pt. 2, 176, 215-216, 245-247, 468-469, 577-578, 601-604.
-
Two Years at Fort Bartow. 1862-1864
Rogers W, Young
An article detailing the history and role of Fort Bartow near Savanah, GA, from its establishment in 1862 to its evacuation in 1864, published by The Georgia Historical Quarterly in September 1939.
Young, Rogers W. "Two Years at Fort Bartow, 1862-1864." The Georgia Historical Quarterly 23, no. 3 (September 1939): 253–64.
-
Under the Stars and Bars
Walter A. Clark
A chapter from Under the Stars and Bars detailing the transfer of Confederate Oglethorpes infantry unit to the 2nd South Carolina Artillery in Savannah, published by the Chronicle Printing Company in 1900.
Clark, Walter A. Under the Stars and Bars; Or, Memories of Four Years Service with the Oglethorpes, of Augusta, Georgia. Augusta, GA: Chronicle Printing Company, 1900, 79–84.
-
Union and Confederate Navy Reports on Whitemarsh Island
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. United States Navy. and William W. Hunter
Union and Confederate reports from naval forces in the vacinity of Whitemarsh Island, Georgia from February to September of 1864.
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, 30 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1894–1922), Series I, Vol. 15, pp. 346, 713-714, 771-772.
-
U. S. Naval Activity near Whitemarsh Island
Samuel Francis Du Pont
Correspondence and reports from the Commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Flag Officer S. F. Du Pont, from January to October of 1862 related to U. S. Navy activities near Whitemarsh Island, Georgia.
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, 30 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1894–1922), Series I, Vol. 12, pp. 526-528, 664-665, 700-701, 704, 713-714, 718, 754-755, 773, 812, 814-815.
-
Whitemarsh Island
Allen D. Candler and Clement A. Evans
An entry found in Volume 3 of Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form, titled "Whitmarsh Island."
Candler, Allen D., and Clement A. Evans, eds. Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. Vol. 3, 573-574. Atlanta: State Historical Association, 1906.
-
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.