33°50′08″S 151°15′29″E / 33.835471°S 151.258049°E
The Lower Georges Heights Commanding Position is located in the urban locality of Georges Heights in the suburb of Mosman, on the shores of Port Jackson, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Lower Georges Heights Commanding Position was constructed and designed to stop enemy ships from entering into Sydney Harbour, and worked in conjunction with several others forts located within close proximity.
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Transcription
Thomas and Mary Rutherford and their eight children - alongside the war’s flailing claws - had a flag made for Stonewall Jackson to take into battle in 1861 at First Manassas/Bull Run; entertained at dinner Federal General Nathaniel Banks with Stonewall’s returned flag precariously hidden away in an upstairs hearth; enjoyed Sam Sweeney’s banjo as he sat beside Gen J.E.B. Stuart who was visiting and sharing momentos with the family of his ride around Gen. McClellan’s army in October, 1862. They cared for wounded in late 1862, one who died and they buried. Daughter Mary dodged a bullet fired at her upstairs window, all while our callow narrator, Richard, nosed around town, saw things, and above all daily milked their two cows, that he often had to roam to find, bribing thankful Federal pickets with pie. Then the most historic two hours at Rutherford House/Carriage Inn was the meeting of Federal Generals Grant and Sheridan (almost two years to the day after the terrible Antietam/Sharpsburg battle), having surrounded the Rutherford home with a huge security cordon, and used new information smuggled into them by an African-American named Thomas Laws - correctly convincing them the time was propitious to attack Confederate General Jubal Early on the Opequon Creek. A lasting memory after the war was, for Richard, - one night sky’s hideous glow in all directions from the burning barns and, in some cases, homes torched as part of General Sheridan’s punitive campaign through the Valley, the one where his orders from Grant were curt and cruel - so that, to periphrase, a crow flying overhead would have to carry its own rations. Part Two here is about events affecting the Rutherfords in 1862, 1863 and the second half of 1864. On the Eve of the Battles of Antietam and Harper’s Ferry: A Gift of sweets to Stonewall before battle. September 12-15, 1862, Harper’s Ferry and environs: In position for attacking, surrounding and capturing Harper’s Ferry east of Halltown on Schoolhouse Ridge, Gen. Jackson was pleased to accept some delectables sent to him by Mrs. Rutherford, three miles to the west. After the Antietam Battle, the Confederate Army moves into Virginia and along the Opequon, with Gen. Stuart at the home of the Dandridge family, called The Bower in Jefferson County. Gen. Jackson’s men, and briefly General Robert E. Lee, encamped to the west in the vicinity of Bunker Hill, Va. (now West Virginia).
History
The fortification was built in 1877 and became part of the Sydney Harbours outer defences. At the time this method of fortification was considered to be the most efficient way of defending this entry point into Sydney Harbour.[1]
The two cannons that were first placed at the site were RML 9 inch 12 ton guns. Rifled Muzzle Loaders (RMLs) are artillery pieces loaded from the muzzle, but with a rifled bore liner, invented in the mid-19th century. In contrast to smooth bore cannon which preceded it, the rifling of the gun barrel allowed much greater accuracy and penetration as the spin induced to the shell gave it directional stability. Initially smooth-bore cannon were converted into rifles by re-boring and lining; but later new guns were manufactured from scratch as RMLs. The RML 9 inch 12 ton gun could discharge shells weighing 249 pounds (113 kg) as far as South Head (Watsons Bay); approximately 3,000 yards (2,770 metres).
As technology improved, these cannons were replaced in 1889 by much lighter weight guns that could fire an 80-pound (36 kg) projectile for 3,170 yards (3,000 metres).
From 1903 to 1907 the fortifications were upgraded to allow for the installation of two BL 6 inch Mark 7 guns that were “breech loading” which meant that the explosive charge and projectile were to be loaded into the rear of the cannon. They could fire a 100-pound (45.4 kg) shell a long way out to sea; up to 14,000 yards (12,900 metres).
The underground rooms of the fortifications were used to store ammunition and charges which were brought along Military Road, giving the road its name.
Gallery
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Main tunnel as seen from the main gate
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One of the rooms inside the fort.
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A shaft that leads down into the forts tunnel system.
References
External links
- www.harbourtrust.gov.au Middle Head history.
- www.ozatwar.com / Australia @ war.
- Australian Bunker and Military Museum.
This page was last edited on 28 April 2022, at 16:10