South Coastal Georgia

Last Update: 10/JULY/2026

Compiled by Pete Payette - Š2026 American Forts Network

Fort Frederica (National Monument)
(1736 - 1749), St. Simons Island FORT WIKI
Built by the British in 1736 - 1739 as a defense against the Spanish in Florida. Frederica Town was enclosed within moated palisades and earthen redans. An inner bastion or citadel was located by the river to fend off water-born attacks. Attacked by the Spanish in July 1742 (Battle of Bloody Marsh), and rebuilt with stronger works in 1743. This was part of the Anglo-Spanish "War of Jenkin's Ear". The town burned in 1758 and was not resettled, the fort having already fallen into ruin by then. Only tabby ruins remain today. The 250-acre National Monument was established in 1945.

See also Colonial Coastal Fortifications from the New Georgia Encyclopedia

Lt. Philip Delegal's Fort
(1736 - 1742), St. Simons Island
A marker and small stone monument is located near the site of this 13-gun colonial militia tabby blockhouse, which was surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped earthen wall, on the southeastern end of the island at the junction of Ocean Blvd. and Demere Road. Also known as Sea-Point Battery. Exact site may have been eroded away. Located about 400 yards east of Fort St. Simons. A three-gun field battery was located just east, and a five-gun battery was located between the two forts.

Pike's Post
(1739 - 1743), St. Simons Island
A GA colonial militia outpost on the northern tip of the island.

Fort St. Simons
(1738 - 1742), St. Simons Island
This GA colonial militia earthen square seven-gun fort, also known as the Soldiers Fort, was captured by the Spanish to be used as a base for attacking Fort Frederica in July 1742. It was burned as they retreated after the attack. It was not rebuilt. No trace remains except for a stone marker. Exact site eroded away.

In 1743 the South Point Lookout was established here by the colonial militia, in use until about 1748.

Another British or Patriot fort was here sometime before the first lighthouse was built. A second lighthouse was built in 1810, destroyed by Confederates in 1862. The present light was built in 1872. Of interest is the St. Simons Lighthouse Museum and Heritage Center (admission fee).

Fort Brown (1)
(1861 - 1862), St. Simons Island
A Confederate fort once located on the site of Fort St. Simons. No trace remains except for a stone marker. It was built of sand covered with scrap rail iron. It was abandoned after Port Royal, SC fell to the Union in 1862.

Confederate camps located nearby were:
Camp Philips (1) (November-December 1861), Company A, 27th Regiment Georgia Infantry. Possibly the same as Camp Styles.
Camp Styles, Jackson Artillery (November 1861); Company A, Atlantic and Gulf Guards, 3rd Battalion Georgia Cavalry (October 1861 - February 1862); Company E, Irish Volunteers, 1st Volunteer Regiment of Georgia (December 1861); 13th (Styles') Regiment Georgia Infantry (August 1861 - February 1862); 27th Regiment Georgia Infantry (October-December 1861).
Camp Thomson (December 1861 - February 1862), Thomson Guards.
Camp Whittle (January-February 1862), Jackson Artillery.

St. Simons Island Post
(1862 - 1865), St. Simons Island
The Union occupied the island beginning in 1862.

St. Simons Island Batteries
(1898 - 1899), St. Simons Island
Two temporary Spanish-American War batteries were built here (two each 10-inch RML Rodmans), one on the south-end of the island, and one on the east-end. Possibly damaged in the same October 1899 storm that damaged the two batteries on Jekyll Island. Camp Gordon (1) was the tent camp on the south-end of the island near the lighthouse.

Bachelor's Redoubt
(1741 - 1743), near New Hope
A GA colonial militia palisaded blockhouse located on the mainland at the head of Grant Creek at "White Post", or Carteret's Point, about four miles northwest of Frederica, serving as an advance outpost of Fort Frederica.

Camp Hazzard
(1864), near Sterling
A CSA cavalry camp (January-April 1864) (Company C, 4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry) located near the rail station.

Camp Carteret
(1861 - 1862), Glynn County
A CSA cavalry camp located at Carteret Point, above Ridgeville (?). The 1st Battalion Georgia Cavalry, Lamar Mounted Rifles, was here in October 1861. The 13th (Styles') Regiment Georgia Infantry, Brunswick Riflemen, was also here in October 1861. Company A, 4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry was here in August-September 1862.

Camp Bragg
(1862), Glynn County
A CSA cavalry camp (November and December 1862) (Company K, 4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry) located 14 miles from Camp Wayne (2) in Waynesville (Brantley County). Undetermined location, possibly near the railroad junction at Anguilla ?

Camp Brookfield
(1862 - 1863), Glynn County
A CSA cavalry camp (September 1862 - February 1863) (Company D, 4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry), undetermined location.

Camp Clinch (1)
(1862 - 1863), Glynn County
A CSA cavalry camp (June-September 1862) (Company D, 4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry), undetermined location. Company G was later here (at presumably the same camp) from October 1862 to February 1863, and again in May 1863.

Camp Readdick
(1862), Glynn County
A CSA cavalry camp (June-September 1862) (Companies D and F, 4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry), undetermined location.

Capt. Mark Carr's Fort (1)
(1741 - 1748), Hermitage Island
A settlers' tabby-built plantation complex, known as "Hermitage", built in 1739 on the north bank of the Turtle River on Hermitage Island, about 4.5 miles northwest of Brunswick, near Arco. Attacked and burned by the Spanish in March 1741. Rebuilt in May 1741 and fortified with four blockhouses. A marker is at Union Street and First Ave..

Camp Fancy Bluff
(1862, 1864), Fancy Bluff
A CSA cavalry picket post camp (4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry) located on the south bank of the South Brunswick River, just west of Colonels Island, and 17 miles east of Camp Wayne (2) at Waynesville. A Union gunboat shelled the area in March 1862. Company A was here in March 1862 during the shelling. Company C was here later in June 1864. Company H was here in April 1864. Other companies of the 4th Regiment may have also been here at different times.

Fort Wayne (2)
(1821 - 1823), Brunswick
A temporary Federal fort.

Camp Semmes (1)
(1861), Brunswick
A CSA camp located on the ridge just south of town, facing Oglethorpe Bay to the west, about 100 feet from the water's edge. The Jackson Artillery was here in October 1861. The 2nd Regiment Georgia Infantry was here in June-July 1861. The 13th (Styles') Regiment Georgia Infantry was here in August-October 1861.

Camp Brunswick
(Blythe Island Regional Park)
(1942 - 1944), Brunswick
A WWII U.S. Army battalion-sized coastal defense shore patrol combat team base camp and military police headquarters, located on Blythe Island. Specific units undetermined. Occupied a former C.C.C. work camp, now the Blythe Island Regional Park (6616 Blythe Island Highway / GA 303). Platoon-sized detachments were also posted at Fort Clinch State Park in Florida.

Jekyll Island Post (1)
(1742), Jekyll Island
A British fortified garrison was on the island during the July 1742 Spanish attack. After the Spanish destroyed Fort St. Simons, they destroyed the post here and moved south to Cumberland Island. No trace remains.

Jekyll Island Battery (1)
(1861 - 1862), Jekyll Island
Two Confederate gun batteries were once located here. Marker on Horton Road. Remnants of earthworks still exist within the local airport grounds. No public access, but visible from the access road. See also Explore Southern History

CSA Camp Wayne (1) (October 1861 - February 1862) (7th Battalion Georgia Infantry) was nearby.

Jekyll Island Post (2)
(1862 - 1865), Jekyll Island
The Union occupied the island beginning in March 1862.

Jekyll Island Batteries (2)
(1898 - 1899), Jekyll Island
Two temporary Spanish-American War emergency batteries were built here (two each 10-inch RML Rodmans), one on the north-end of the island, and one on the south-end. Damaged by a storm in October 1899, then abandoned. The two Rodman iron gun carriages of the south battery are still extant along a wooded trail from a picnic area.

Camp Hopkins (2)
(1862), Hazzards Neck, Camden County
A CSA cavalry camp (October-November 1862) (Capt. T.S. Hopkins' Company of mounted partisan rangers (aka Mercer Rangers)) located on Hazzards (Camden) Neck between the Little and (Great) Satilla Rivers, east of Waverly. Reportedly located four miles north of the (Great) Satilla River, and two miles south of the Little Satilla River, and about 20 miles southeast of Camp Fort (Waynesville).

Camp Wayne (2)
(1862), Waynesville
A CSA cavalry camp (June-September 1862) (4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry) located on the old Savannah Road about one and one-half mile from town. Site is probably where the modern-day racetrack was located.

Camp Walker (2)
(1863 - 1864), Waynesville
A CSA cavalry camp (January-June 1863, and February 1864) (4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry, Companies B, D, G, I, and K) located in or near town.

Camp Fort
(1862), near Waynesville
A CSA cavalry camp (September-October 1862) (Mercer Rangers) located near town.

Camp Hazlehurst
(1862), near Waynesville
A CSA camp (January and March 1862) (Company D, 13th (Styles') Regiment Georgia Infantry) located about one mile north of the railroad on Browntown Road.

Camp Satilla
(1861 - 1862), near Atkinson
A CSA camp (November 1861 - January 1862) (2nd Brigade Georgia State Troops) located on the railroad at "Atkinson's place", about two miles east of the Satilla River, and about three and one-half miles west of Waynesville.

Camp Carrington
(1862), near Atkinson ?
A CSA camp (January 1862) (Milledgeville Grays) probably located at or near Camp Satilla.

Fort McIntosh (1)
(1776 - 1777), near Atkinson
A Patriot stockade, 100-feet square with a center blockhouse, located on the Satilla River south of town, somewhere near the Brantley - Camden County line and north of Buffalo Creek. Attacked and captured by the British in February 1777. Marker located at intersection of US 82 and GA 110.

Burnt Fort
(1750's ?), Burnt Fort Station
A state marker once located the site of this supposed settlers' fort on the Satilla River at Magnolia Bluff in Camden County, but was removed in 1958.

Camp Lang
(1862), near Woodbine
A CSA cavalry camp (January-May 1862) (Company D, 4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry) located at or near the former townsite of Jeffersonton on the Satilla River, west of Woodbine.

Camp Refuge
(1864), near Hopewell
A CSA cavalry camp (January-April 1864) (Company E, 4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry) probably located at the Refuge Plantation on the Satilla River, just west of Hopewell.

Camp Hopewell
(1864), near Hopewell
A CSA cavalry camp (March 1864) (Company H, 4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry, and Clinch's Battery, Georgia Light Artillery) located at Hopewell Point on the north bank of the Satilla River, opposite Woodbine.

Camp Tattnall (3)
(1863, 1864), near Colesburg
A CSA cavalry camp (January-April 1863) (4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry) located about five miles south of Woodbine, near Cole's Cemetery. Company E, 29th Battalion Georgia Cavalry was later here in October 1864.

Camp Beauregard
(1863), Camden County
A CSA cavalry picket post camp (June 1863) (Companies C and H, 4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry). Undetermined location.

Camp Trouble
(1863), Camden County
A CSA cavalry picket post camp (May and June 1863) (Company D, 4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry). Undetermined location.

Camp Harris (1)
(1862, 1863), Camden County ?
A CSA cavalry camp (4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Cavalry), possibly a picket post camp. Company G was here in August 1862. Company A was here in June 1864. Company B was here in July 1864. Undetermined location.

Cumberland Island Battery (2)
(1898 - 1899), Little Cumberland Island
A temporary Spanish-American War battery (two 10-inch RML Rodmans) was built here on the north-end of the island, but not completed. Abandoned in 1899. The Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse was built here in 1838, walled-in in 1874 to protect it from the ocean. The island is private property, no public visitation.

San Pedro Island Presidio
(1569 - 1684), Cumberland Island
A Spanish presidio that protected two Franciscan missions on the island; San Pedro y San Pablo de Poturiba (1595 - 1597) on the northwest end of the island, and San Pedro de Mocama (1587 - 1660 ?) on the southern end of the island at Dungeness Wharf, later replaced by San Phelipe de Alave (2) (1670 - 1684) (on the northern end of the island ?), which was relocated from the North Newport River area. Raided by French and English pirates in 1683. Attacked and destroyed by South Carolina forces in 1684. Abandoned for Amelia Island, FL.

Fort St. Andrew
(Cumberland Island National Seashore)
(1736 - 1742), near High Point, Cumberland Island
A four-pointed star earthwork, about 65 feet by 130 feet, built by the British as a buffer against the Spanish. A palisaded triangular water battery was located at the base of the hill, connected by a covered way with the main fort. A second battery was located on the western side of the island to protect the approach through the inland waterway. The troops were quartered in a nearby village of huts named Barrimacke. The fort was abandoned before the 1742 Spanish attack. The Spanish destroyed the fort after their retreat from St. Simons Island. The fort was not rebuilt, although colonial rangers often used the site afterwards. Site located on a hill at the northwestern tip of the island at Terrapin Point, no remains (exact site discovered in 2006, undergoing archaeological excavations in 2011-12).

Fort William
(Cumberland Island National Seashore)
(1740 - 1748), near Dungeness, Cumberland Island
A British fort once located on the southern tip of the island. Also known as Fort Prince William. Reinforced by the Fort St. Andrew garrison in 1742. The Spanish attacked the fort after their retreat from St. Simons Island, but were repulsed. The fort was rebuilt in 1747, with a new battery added. No trace remains, exact site eroded away.

Of interest in St. Marys is the Cumberland Island National Seashore Museum (admission fee).

Cumberland Island Battery (1)
(1861 - 1862), Cumberland Island
A six-gun Confederate shore battery was located at the southern end of the island to provide cross-fire with Fort Clinch on Amelia Island, Florida.

Camp Atkinson (1) (August-November 1861) (Company B, Camden Rifles, 13th (Styles') Regiment Georgia Infantry) was located on the island.
Camp Bartow (3) (September 1861 - February 1862) (Company A, Brunswick Riflemen, 13th (Styles') Regiment Georgia Infantry) was located behind or in the near vicinity of the shore battery.

Battery at Point Peter
(1795 - 1818), near St. Marys FORT WIKI
A Federal work located at Point Peter near the present-day Kings Bay U.S. Naval Base. Initially a log and earthwork battery, abandoned in 1802. Rebuilt in 1808 as a blockhouse with eight guns. This was also a U.S. Naval Station, with eleven gunboats stationed here by 1811. About 200 troops were posted here in 1814. The base was attacked and destroyed by the British in January 1815. Rebuilt in 1817 (possibly renamed Fort Scott (2) ?), but the site was abandoned as a defensive position upon the military occupation of Amelia Island, Florida, in 1818. A military hospital was built here in 1819. Site excavations were conducted in 2004 before a waterfront housing development was constructed. Marker erected in 2008 on Spinaker Road at USS Kamehameha Avenue. See also The Forgotten Invasion

The Point Peter Military Reservation was formally acquired by the Federal government in 1818, sold in 1870, reacquired in 1885, and sold again in 1929. No additional coastal defense works were ever built.

NOTE: State of Georgia Historic Marker for Point Peter - Fort Tonyn, located in St. Marys. Information appears to be in error. British Fort Tonyn (1776) was located in East Florida, one mile east of King's Ferry. Fort Pickering (1814) was located further upriver at Coleraine.

Fort St. George ?
(1755 - 1780's ?), St. Marys
A British fort, possibly used later by Patriots.
NOTE: not to be confused with Fort St. George on Fort George Island, FLORIDA.

Fort St. Tammany
(1787 - 1812 ?), St. Marys
Initially a town stockade defense, located on the southwestern edge of town. Rebuilt in 1794 as a Federal work known as Fort Gunn.

Camp McKee
(1862), Camden County
A CSA cavalry camp (November 1862) (Mercer Rangers) perportedly located about four miles from St. Marys (?). Undetermined location.

Wright's Fort
(1774 - 1779), near Coleraine
A Loyalist settlers' fort on Pagan Creek, upriver from Fort Tonyn in East Florida, built by Jermyn and Charles Wright, brothers of Georgia's Royal Governor Sir James Wright, to protect their plantations. The British forces from Fort Tonyn retreated here in 1778 after it was attacked by Patriot forces.

Post at Coleraine
(1793 - 1797, 1814), Coleraine
A Federal post defending against Indian and Spanish incursions into southern Georgia. Also a Federal Indian trading post, or Factory, with the creation of the Creek Indian Agency (November 1795 - 1797). The Treaty of Coleraine was signed here in June 1796, which pushed the Creek boundary westward and transferred the Agency to Fort Wilkinson. A stone monument was erected here by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1912. State marker (2007) located on GA 40 west of GA 110.

Fort Pickering was later built here in 1814 to continue to protect the local settlers from the Indians and the Spanish in East Florida, but also as a token answer to the Spanish authorities to help keep Georgia's settlers out of East Florida.

Colonial Spanish Missions of Mocama
Spanish Missions in Georgia from the New Georgia Encyclopedia

The following Franciscan Missions were established without presidios or other military protection, and are listed here purely for historical interest. The Spanish Mocama Province encompased the coastal area from the Altamaha River to the St. Johns River in Florida. (see also Amelia Island and Fort George Island, FLORIDA)

San Buenaventura de Guadalquini (1605 - 1684), on the south-end of St. Simons Island. Briefly garrisoned by soldiers during the 1661 northern Indian (Westos) raids. Destroyed by South Carolina forces. Abandoned for Fort George Island, FL.
Santa Cruz de Guadalquini (unknown dates), on St. Simons Island. Possibly the same site as above.
Santo Domingo de Asao - Talaje (2) (1661 - 1684), on the north-end of St. Simons Island, relocated from the Darien area. Destroyed by South Carolina forces. Abandoned for Amelia Island, FL. The later Christianized Colon Indian village of San Simon (possibly located near Frederica) gave the island its modern name.

NOTE: Tabby ruins of Old Spanish Mission in Dover Bluff, Camden County, are most probably not of Spanish origin as it does not correspond with any historic or archaeologic Spanish sites already known.

information courtesy of John Worth

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