Cockspur Island
Geography
Entrance to the Demilune, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Cockspur Island, Georgia.
Cockspur Island Cockspur Island Show map of Georgia Cockspur Island Cockspur Island (North Atlantic) Show map of North Atlantic
Location	North Atlantic
Coordinates	32°1′40″N 80°53′54″W / 32.02778°N 80.89833°W / 32.02778; -80.89833
Administration
United States
County	Chatham County, Georgia

Cockspur Island is an island in the south channel of the Savannah River near Lazaretto Creek, northwest of Tybee Island, Georgia, United States. Most of the island is within the boundaries of Fort Pulaski National Monument. The island was so named on account of its bent shape. It was originally called Pepper Island and is also called Long Island.^[1]

Historic buildings on the island include Fort Pulaski (built in 1847) and the Cockspur Island Lighthouse (built in 1837–39),^[2] designed by John S. Norris, the New York City architect.

History

The founder of Methodism, John Wesley landed at the island on February 6, 1736, and a monument marks the spot where Wesley conducted a service of thanksgiving. During the American Civil War, the Battle of Fort Pulaski was fought on the island, in which the United States Army captured the fort from the Confederate States Army on April 11, 1862. Confederate soldiers were imprisoned in the fort. During the Spanish–American War, a coastal artillery battery, Battery Hambright, was built on the island; it was reactivated during World War I and World War II.The Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1. 1863, established that all enslaved people in Conferderate states in rebellion against the Union"shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." But Many enslaved people, emancipation took longer to take effect. There is a photo of enslaved people outside their quarters on a plantation on Cockspur Island, Georgia, circa 1863.