Battlefield Memorial Park

On October 9, 1779, 8,000 soldiers from three different armies clashed for control of Savannah, Georgia’s colonial capital. Entrenched inside the small city were roughly 2,500 British defenders who wanted to keep Savannah within the clutches of the crown. They faced down an Allied force of 5,500 French and American troops equally determined to bring the city back within the Revolutionary fold. But this was much more than a Revolutionary War battle; in fact, it represented a world-wide conflict that spilled over onto American shores, as soldiers from Haiti, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, and Poland took part in the fighting. When the smoke cleared, more than 800 troops were dead or wounded, and the city remained in British hands.

An archaeologist displays artifacts and a trench from the Battle of Savannah on October 9, 1779.

In 2003, the City of Savannah purchased the battlefield from the Norfolk Southern Railway, successor of the Central of Georgia Railway which built a facility on the land in the 1830s. Now the nonprofit Coastal Heritage Society is working to finish the monument you see there now. Today’s Spring Hill Redoubt is a representation of the earthen fortification at the center of the fighting. Stand inside and imagine what it was like to face the French and American onslaught, or walk up the slope and imagine risking your life to climb over the wall. This memorial is being completed with more than $450,000 in private donations from members of the Savannah community with major support from the City of Savannah.

In August 2005, Coastal Heritage Society archaeologists found evidence of the original Spring Hill Redoubt nearby, including musket balls, gun parts, and traces of the original trench. Our modern-day memorial is positioned a safe distance away from this archaeological treasure.

In October 2007, Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson helped cut the ribbon on the almost-finished Battlefield Memorial Park. Now you can walk on the ground where hundreds fought and died for freedom.