"Savannah is so beautiful that the dead never truly depart."  

—James Caskey 

The Artillery in the Georgia Hussars Armory  

When you're in Savannah, stop by for a satisfying cocktail and meal at the not so old-fashioned Artillery located between Liberty Street and Madison Square at 307 Bull Street in the Historic District. 

This Russian Girl, partial to vodka, recommends your initial round be some Ring Around the Posies. 

This pretty building, painted en Plein air, is the old Georgia Hussars Armory, built to house the cavalry unit originally organized by Georgia Founder General James Oglethorpe in 1736 to protect the floundering new Colony from its enemies, both foreign and domestic. 

When you're standing in front of the Artillery establishment on Bull Street, be sure to note two unique Moorish Revival qualities of this beautiful building — the ogee arch and the quatrefoil motif. The ogee arch is a standard Gothic decorative design element introduced to European and Russian buildings copied from influences in the Middle East. The quatrefoil motif is a decorative complement consisting of a symmetrical shape forming four partially overlapping circles. Both designs are fun to look at closely. 

Constructed in 1897, The Georgia Hussars Armory is found close by my favorite selection for the most beautiful building in all Savannah: The Scottish Rite Masonic Temple (see PFS-15). 

Madison Square is a stone's throw away. One of the most beautiful squares in Savannah's Historic District, I have painted several other Postcards from Savannah nearby: 

The Green-Meldrim Mansion (see PFS-61), which headquartered General William Tecumseh Sherman's stay in Savannah during the last Christmas of the Civil War;  

St. John's Church (see PFS-62), built in 1853; 

Sorrell-Weed House (see PFS-18), from which the feather floated in the opening scene of Forest Gump; 

The Monument to Revolutionary War Hero William Jasper (see PFS-59), and; 

The Savannah Volunteer Guard Armory (see PFS-14), built in 1892 and the first building used and restored by the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) at its founding in 1979. 

The Georgia Hussars Cavalry unit fought in every official American war, including the Revolutionary War. After the War of 1812, the Chatham Light Dragoons and the Chatham Hussars merged into the Georgia Hussars militia. Later, the collection of cavalries served as a single unit in the 1835-36 Indian War and the 1846-48 Mexican-American War. 

At the end of the Civil War, the United States Congress disbanded all active militias located in the southern states. Once military activities of the Georgia Hussars became suspended, its active members formed a civilian social organization named the Savannah Sabre Club. 

The Savannah Sabre Club marched in parades, sponsored marksmanship competitions, and held numerous social events until the organization was allowed to resume military operations. 

The volunteer military unit continued its historic cavalry operations on May 23, 1872. The Georgia Hussars went overseas in 1918 to serve in France during the Great War and remained a cavalry regiment until 1940. The unit is now part of the Georgia National Guard and served in Afghanistan.