Savannah Under Fire, 1779: Expanding the Boundaries

Savannah Under Fire, 1779: Expanding the Boundaries represents the second phase (2009-2011) in the search for the Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah. The first phase, Savannah Under Fire, 1779: Identifying Savannah's Revolutionary War Battlefield was conducted between 2007-2009. Both projects were funded by the National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program with grants awarded to Coastal Heritage Society, Savannah, Georgia. Each incorporated extensive primary document research, geographic information systems (GIS) mapping, shovel test excavation, ground penetrating radar (GPR), test unit excavation, and public outreach. This report is an addendum to the first project report (Elliott and Elliott 2009) and the reader is referred to it for additional historical context and results from the first phase of work. The first project's success was rooted in major discoveries of intact battlefield features. The second project sought to locate additional tangible remains of the battle in order to expand the geographical boundary of the site and provide a foundation for its preservation. In addition, the second phase sought to expand other boundaries by working with constituencies interested in and/or able to protect the battlefield site and its many varied components. The second phase project expanded the existing site boundary 400 yards farther south through the documentation of artifact collections made several years ago during construction in a key area held by French Reserve Corps. These artifacts, in tandem with the project's archeological study of the area, indicate that more portions of this part of the battlefield are likely to have survived at that location. This project also identified two key areas of buried A-horizons likely to represent the battlefield landscape. Investigation of twelve target areas in Savannah revealed promise for additional battlefield and period-related resources in two of those locations. The work also served to eliminate geographic areas of site potential, reducing the scope of future searches. The project also successfully shared information from both studies with the general public in a myriad of ways, and produced a 4th and 5th grade curriculum packet. Both phases of the Savannah Under Fire projects have created an extensive body of information unknown previously. This historical and archeological information holds much promise; the promise of a new understanding of the southern colonies' role in the American Revolution; of this momentous global event unfolding in the everyday lives of those finding themselves in Savannah in 1779; of the revelation to many today that history survives in our everyday world - one just needs to pick up his feet. But the promise of that history can only be fulfilled if it is protected and if its story is retold in a thousand different media and venues to a thousand different audiences. We are pleased to have produced a compendium of information that can provide the content for such stories and urge the City of Savannah and its residents to protect the resources (both newly discovered and those that await discovery) that contribute to these stories. This should be just the beginning, not the end.