Fort James Jackson -- usually called Old Fort Jackson -- is a restored 19th-century fort located on the Savannah River, two miles east Savannah, Georgia. President Thomas Jefferson authorized the construction of a national defense system of fortifications to defend his new nation. Jefferson's system included Fort Jackson, constructed between 1808 and 1812 over an old earthen battery from the American Revolution. James Jackson, the namesake of the fort, was a British native who fought for the American cause and rose to the rank of colonel. Photo by Carol Highsmith.