John Walker Guss

Forts are a lasting tribute to the prominence of the US military, and Fort Pulaski stands among these magnificent fortresses. Overlooking the mouth of the Savannah River and the Atlantic Ocean, Fort Pulaski is named in honor of Gen. Casimir Pulaski, Revolutionary War hero and father of the US Cavalry, which endured some of the most damaging artillery combat in early American warfare. In addition to its unfortunate notoriety for serving as the first fort where a rifled cannon was successfully tested in combat against masonry forts, it played a part in other significant events, including a baseball game during the Civil War where one of the first photographs of the sport was taken with the newly invented camera. Ultimately, the fort was considered important enough to be preserved and designated a national monument.

Pierce County, Georgia was founded in 1857, honoring the fourteenth President of the United States, Franklin Pierce. Blackshear, which became the county seat, was founded in 1859 and named after David Blackshear, an American Revolutionary soldier, brigadier general of the Creek Indian War, and later Georgia politician. Shortly after the establishment of the county and its seat, the tenacity of its residents was tested against the horrors and hardships of the Civil War. The men of Pierce County faced with both bravery and uncertainty the greatest challenge of their lives, while the women and children they left behind toiled to sustain the community, with the hope that their loved ones would return. After the war, Pierce County families joined together to re-build their community, which was nearly destroyed in its infancy. The late nineteenth century brought growth and change, as a determined citizenry built new homes, churches, and schools to nourish and educate its young. From the abundant green pines and beautiful white sands of Southeast Georgia arose enterprising businesses and a successful agricultural economy. Residents of the county kept their eyes toward the future while always honoring and remembering the sons and daughters they lost through the ages. The proud faces of generations past and the tangible results of their pioneering efforts to build a home fill the pages of this treasured volume.