Fort McAllister is the best preserved  Civil War earthworks fortification in the Savannah area. It gives one an example of how the positions would have looked during the war. Unfortunately, many of the remaining earthworks in the area are not in such pristine condition. 

Talley Kirkland on Ft. McCallister Earthworks from Savannah EarthWorks on Vimeo.

 This is one of the original artillery positions at Fort McAllister. The cannon would fire over a parapet with the mounds on either side designed to protect this piece,as well as, adjacent positions from enemy fire. Note that the mound on the left side has an entrance. This was a magazine used to store ordnance for this cannon.

This photograph gives another perspective of how the mounds were designed to protect artillery and personnel from enemy fire. The large mound behind the cannon is a bombproof, which was used to protect the soldiers from bombardment from the Union naval vessels.   

This part of the fort was added later in the war. These positions were designed to support field artillery and soldiers in order to repel an infantry attack. Ironically, the fort would be taken by infantry assault in December 1864 after repulsing every attack by the Union Navy.