4.5-Inch Blakely Rifles at Fort Pulaski
4.5-Inch Blakely Rifle, Registry Number 43, at Fort Pulaski near Savannah, Georgia
Two 4.5-Inch Blakely Rifles are displayed at Fort Pulaski near Savannah, Georgia. These two rifles were manufactured in Liverpool by Fawcett, Preston, and Company in 1861. These two Blakely Rifles were part of a shipment of four such cannon carried aboard the merchant steamer Fingal (later converted to the ironclad CSS Atlanta), and were both present as part of the Confederate defenses of Fort Pulaski when the fort was bombarded and taken by the US Army in 1862.
The Blakely Rifles still bear plaques from when they were part of the trophy collection at West Point. A circa 1939 photo shared on the National Park Service’s Facebook Page for Fort Pulaski appears to show the the Blakelys at Fort Pulaski along with the Brooke Rifle which they presently flank. They are mounted on the barbette of the fort on center-pintle barbette carriages.
4.5-Inch Blakely Rifle, Registry Number 41, at Fort Pulaski near Savannah, Georgia
National Park Service photo from Circa 1939. I believe the two cannons at the rear of the row are the two Blakelys. Park Service caption: “A double-banded Brooke rifle, once part of the Civil War defenses of Savannah, awaits its turn to be placed on the terreplein of Fort Pulaski in 1939. The National Park Service purchased the 10,200 pound cannon from the Knight Scrap Iron Company for $50.00!”
Two 4.5-Inch Blakely Rifles and one 6.4-Inch Brooke Rifle mounted at Fort Pulaski near Savannah, Georiga.
The interior of Fort Pulaski. The two Blakelys are mounted on the parapet at left.
The interior of Fort Pulaski viewed from the parapet where the Blakelys and Brooke are mounted.
