#759 Fort Pulaski #759
by William Lum
Original - Not For Sale
Price
Not Specified
Dimensions
15.000 x 11.000 x 0.100 inches
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Title
#759 Fort Pulaski #759
Artist
William Lum
Medium
Painting - Watercolor
Description
I visited the Fort Pulaski National Monument last year on Cockspur Island, Georgia. Built in 1847, with brick walls that were 11 feet thick (amassing 25 million bricks), Fort Pulaski was thought to be impenetrable except by only the largest land artillery. The Fort’s smoothbore cannons had a range of a half a mile and the nearest land was much further away than that. It was assumed that the Fort would be invincible. The Confederate Army had control of the Fort during the Civil War. The Union Army developed new rifled cannons that had a range of 4 to 5 miles. On April 12th, 1862, the Union Army opened fired on the Fort from 2 ½ miles away, well beyond the range of Fort Pulaski’s cannons. Within 30 hours, the new rifled cannon had breached one of the Fort's solid brick corners walls. Shells now passed through the Fort dangerously close to the main powder magazine. Reluctantly, Colonel Olmstead had to surrendered the Fort or be obliterated. This type of brick fort became obsolete only 15 years after it was built because of the newly developed cannon technology. When Colonel Olmstead was told the wall was being breeched by the surprising rifled cannon shots, I would not be surprised if he said “What The Fort!”
This 11” X 15” watercolor painting is on Arches, 140 lb., rough paper.
A large black cannon is perched on top of a red brick rampart, overlooking an expansive green field. In the backdrop, a massive container ship with the letters "HMM" sails past under a blue sky with scattered clouds.
Uploaded
March 22nd, 2024
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