Tybee Island

“Tybee Island, Savannah River, Ga.- Views of the lighthouse and barracks- destruction of the lighthouse by the Confederates. Among the numerous structures erected by the United States on the long line of the stormy Atlantic coast for the benefit of the commerce of the world and the safety of the mariners of all nations, none were finer or more useful than the lighthouse on Tybee Island, at the mouth of the Savannah River, familiarly known to sailors as Tybee Light. It was a fixed light, one hundred and eight feet high, and could be seen at a distance of twelve miles. In common with all the other lights on the Confederate coast, it was extinguished by the Georgians soon after the secession of their State. The day after the Federal fleet made its appearance off the mouth of the Savannah River, the Confederates set fire to the interior of the lighthouse, which was burnt, and the costly reflectors destroyed. A similar vandalic measure was resorted to by the Confederates of Charleston, when the Stone Fleet appeared off that harbor. They blew up the celebrated ‘Charleston Light.’"— Frank Leslie, 1896

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