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Author Topic: Terry's hometown cannon  (Read 1698 times)

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Offline Terry C.

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Terry's hometown cannon
« on: September 03, 2005, 11:17:46 AM »

NOTE: I've been doing a little maintenance on some old posts. This is one that bears saving so I fixed the broken photo links.
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Here is a little something I've been meaning to post since I first joined. Finally, inspired by the "Sunday cannon hunt" topic, I decided to get off my arse and get some photos. Not as easy as it sounds since this park is currently in the middle of a construction zone (renovations to the historic Phoenix Hotel) and I had to charm some workers and sneak past some yellow tape just to get into the park. :wink:

This cannon sits in front of the Confederate Veterans Memorial in Phoenix Park (originally called Confederate Park) in downtown Waycross, Georgia.

The bore diameter of just under 6" indicates that this is a 24-pounder. In the book Round Shot and Rammers I found images of a 24-pounder gun of this type mounted on a siege carriage.

It's been there as long as I can remember, probably much longer. I'm going to make some inquiries and see if I can find out when this cannon was placed here and where it might have originated.












The only markings on this gun are as follows:

Left trunnion: 1851
Right trunnion: T.F.
Top of barrel (just forward of trunnions): S.C.





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Offline Cat Whisperer

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Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2005, 01:47:33 AM »
Terry -

Good series of pix -

I'll be posting a few too, later today.

Thanks!
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Offline Dictator

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Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2005, 04:31:17 AM »
Nice shots Terry. This is going to be fun
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Offline Terry C.

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Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2005, 07:10:08 AM »
Searching the web turned up some facts:

This is a 24-pounder iron siege gun, Model of 1845.

It was cast in 1851 by Tredegar Iron Works, in Richmond, VA.

The state of South Carolina bought the gun prior to the Civil War for use in coastal defense. This is one of four known specimens so marked, out of only fourteen known survivors.

The only other information I have on the history of the gun is that its last service was at Doctortown (Jesup), Georgia on the Altamaha River (no dates given). Jesup is about 40 miles from Waycross. How it came from South Carolina to southeast Georgia is a story I would love to hear, but that information may be hard coming.

It was at some point given to the Frances S. Bartow Chapter #83, United Daughters of the Confederacy who erected the Confederate Veterans Memorial. I don't know yet if the cannon was a part of the original park dedication in 1910, I'll have to dig into that. I'll try to contact the U.D.C. to see if they might provide more details.
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Offline Double D

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Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2005, 07:44:18 AM »
I am glad to see that tube being saved, but that cement block it sits on worries me.  I see signs of corrosion weeping out between the barrel and block.

If it was a coastal gun what kind of carriage did it originally have? Wonder what it would take to restore it...oh yeah $$$$$$$$$
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Offline GGaskill

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Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2005, 08:20:44 AM »
The most important thing for its restoration would be a local interest group that cared about it.
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Offline Terry C.

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Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2005, 08:33:52 AM »
It's not cement, it's either white granite or marble. And yes, there is some rust showing where the stone has cracked away from the the left rimbase.

As fas as I can tell, the rest of the barrel has been kept painted but the bottom halves of the rimbases are tight against the stone base and the tube would have to be lifted out to paint these surfaces.

The underside of the tube has open space between the iron and base. Only the trunnions and rimbases are a snug fit. This damage is probably recent, as the park and memorial is usually very well maintained. Only since the restoration work on the hotel has limited access has this area been somewhat neglected.

I don't know if the cannon is currently the property of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, or the City of Waycross. Most likely, it technically still belongs to the U.D.C. and I will certainly mention this to them if and when I make contact.

Either way, I doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon.


The images of this type of gun that I referenced earlier show it mounted on a siege carriage, kind'a like a field carriage on steriods!  :eek:

I imagine this gun has seen a variety of mounts over its lifetime. If it could talk, I would ask it...  :wink:
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Offline Terry C.

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Re: Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2007, 06:16:14 PM »
I've been doing a little maintenance on some old posts. This is one that bears saving so I fixed the broken photo links.

The work on the Phoenix Hotel that was underway at the time these photos were taken was eventually completed and the park has since returned to normal.
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Offline Max Caliber

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Re: Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #8 on: June 23, 2007, 07:19:41 AM »
Here is a picture of the gun taken 27 years ago.



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Offline intoodeep

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Re: Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #9 on: June 23, 2007, 08:17:28 AM »
Since, I pulled out the documentation for another post. Here the info on this. According tho Wayne Stark's registry the info is:

24-pdr. siege gun M1845
Foundry= Tredegar
Registry= none listed
Inspector=none listed
Year= 1851
Note= tube marked "SC"
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Offline Terry C.

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Re: Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #10 on: June 23, 2007, 09:31:04 AM »
Quote from: Max Caliber on June 23, 2007, 07:19:41 AM
Here is a picture of the gun taken 27 years ago.


Cool, did you take that one yourself?

I used to have some even older photos, taken during my high school daze (early to mid '70s), but they were lost long ago.

It's been almost two years since the photos above were taken, but I took this one about an hour ago. I had to ride to the Post Office and I stuck the camera in the saddlebag:



I love this gun!  ;D
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Offline Terry C.

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Re: Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #11 on: June 23, 2007, 09:48:05 AM »
Intodeep, is this registry available online, or are you getting your information from a book?

Although it doesn't really tell me anything I hadn't already found out about this cannon, I wouldn't mind getting a look at this registry for myself.
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Offline intoodeep

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Re: Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #12 on: June 23, 2007, 10:24:36 AM »
Terry,

Unfortunately it is not available online. The registry is 73 pages containing all known surviving Civil War Cannons and locations. Mr. Wayne Stark has done indepth research for many years keeping the info current. I believe that mine is the last current revision before Mr. Stark past away. I do not know if it's still available from his family. Maybe someone else here has that info.

Edit: Terry, PM sent.
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Offline Max Caliber

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Re: Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #13 on: June 23, 2007, 10:57:11 AM »
Terry, I took the picture in August of '80. At that time the barrel was unpainted but had a beautiful, fine grained rust finish.

Max
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Offline sammy v

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Re: Terry's hometown cannon A new project
« Reply #14 on: February 17, 2012, 07:08:50 AM »
I have just completed crafting a copy full scale of this cannon. Built of wood and fiberglass, from the original antique ordnance blueprints, for Fort Defiance in Clarksville,Tn. It now is awaiting it's carriage from Paulson Brothers.
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Offline Zulu

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Re: Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #15 on: February 17, 2012, 07:17:56 AM »
sammy v,
That's nice!  Do you have any pictures of the build process?  I would really like to see them.
Zulu
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Offline sammy v

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Re: Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #16 on: February 17, 2012, 08:43:10 AM »
I do indeed have 50 or so pictures of the build from start to finish. You can also see all the cannons I build at www.greatguns.org
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Offline BoomLover

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Re: Terry's hometown cannon
« Reply #17 on: February 17, 2012, 07:57:43 PM »
 ;D sammy v, welcome to the forum! Nice work! Thanks for the posting of the link...BoomLover
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