Surviving Cannon Registry Update

By Jim Bender · Originally published April 2016 · p. 3

Eleven cannon were added to the Registry in 2015, for a net gain of seven, bringing the grand total of known surviving Civil War cannon to 5,778. The first is a carryover from 2014. Tom Batha shared a list of cannon at the Artillery Museum at Fort Sill, O.K., and it lists 6-pounder bronze field gun, M1841 Ames No. 140, dated 1844. Two have been added by Joe Gluckert, historian at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard; IX-inch Dahlgren shell gun, Alger No. 258, dated 1859 and 32-pounder Navy gun of 57 cwt Tredegar No. 380, dated 1848, both former bollards at Henderson Point. Three cannon have surfaced this year and noted as privately owned. 3.67-inch Sawyer cast steel rifle No. 13 was reported and bringing the number of these known survivors to two. No. 16 is in Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN. 3.5inch Blakely rifle, Type 2 Foundry Number 27 with an inferred Registry Number of 26 was also reported, making it the eleventh known survivor of this type. The third is a 3-pounder bronze field gun made by Ames, dated 1861, and was offered for sale online. The top of the reinforce is ornately engraved “Presented To / Brigadier General / Robert B. Moss / May 31, 1886 / By the / Wadsworth Flute and Drum Band / of New York City.” Two cannons previously mentioned in the Fall 2015 issue of The Artilleryman are 24-pounder flank howitzers, M1844 in Palmetto, GA. Unfortunately, my time in the Atlanta area was cut short before I could secure permission to remove the multiple layers of paint to search for markings. The final cannon were the major subject of the Winter 2015 issue of The Artilleryman, raising of the three cannon for the CSS Pee Dee. For the record these are IX-inch Dahlgren shell gun, Fort Pitt Foundry No. 513, dated 1862; 6.4-inch Brooke 2-band navy rifle, Selma No. 53, dated 1864 and 7-inch double-banded Brooke rifle, Selma No. 46, also dated 1864. Although many sent me information on their recovery, Roger Warden gets the credit for being the first. Some may wonder how adding eleven cannon in 2015 only nets seven. When good reason warrants, cannon added years ago without any reported markings may need to be removed. Tom Batha send a detailed email in June 2015, providing good arguments to remove the two flank howitzers with no data reported for Clement, N.Y. I also searched for these in the summer of 2010, inquiring of several locals and came up empty handed as Tom has for years. Additionally, Tom suggested removing two Napoleons with no reported markings which were at Springfield Armory in Massachusetts. Tom remembers seeing them there in crates and they were shipped out from the armory circa 1982. The fifth reduction comes with the addition of IX-inch Dahlgren shell gun, Alger No. 258, at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Four IX-inch Dahlgren shell guns were report at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in 1997 as “former bollard not yet cleaned” and the only marking reported was for one gun with the Ordnance Inspector initials “WRT”. No. 258 was inspected by William R. Taylor. This summer will be my 10th year as keeper of the Registry and with some luck we may just top the century mark for new cannon added under my tenure.