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unknown until you identified them?
So now do you notify the National Park Service so the guns can be documented?
http://gs19.inmotionhosting.com/~milita8/cmh/member/member.cgi/read/8107 THE COMPANY OF MILITARY HISTORIANS [ Post Response ] [ Return to Index ] [ Read Prev Msg ] [Mexican War] Three Mexican War Veterans, Neighbors in Florida Posted By: John Morris <Send E-Mail> (70.108.150.150) Date: Saturday, 26 December 2009 1142 hrs. EDT These three eight-inch siege howitzers were part of the U.S. Siege Train in Mexico during the Mexican War. In 1935, they were transferred from the U.S. War Department to the National Park Service, Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, FL., as part of “Accession No. 72.” * How do we know these particular siege howitzers had been in the US Siege Train in Mexico in 1847? Mexican War documents from Record Group 156 (Records of the Chief of Ordnance, U.S. Army) include a list dated February 17, 1847, which I found last week. The list includes “10 - 8-inch Siege Howitzers, No. from 5 to 14 inclusive, of 1846 (total weight) 26,088 lbs.” The document says these were turned over by Capt. W.A. Thornton, commanding New York Ordnance Depot, to “Capt. D. H. Vinton, Ass’t. Qr.Master, U.S. Army, for transportation to Capt. B. Huger Comd’g, Comd’g Siege Train in Mexico.” As you can see from the photos in the slideshow linked below, the howitzers bear registry numbers 5, 13, and 14, and are all dated 1846. This information matches that given in the RG156 list, for the Siege Train pieces destined for Mexico. The tubes were all cast at West Point Foundry, New York, and bear the initials of inspector Rufus L. Baker. The tubes were given catalog numbers 1651, 1602, and 1601 respectively, at the Castillo. * The howitzer tubes shown are about 5 ½ feet long and weigh about 2600 lbs. each. As far as I know, this trio of 8-inch Siege Howitzers, Model 1841, is the largest collection of U.S. Mexican War service artillery outside of Cullum Hall at the U.S. Military Academy, where two howitzers and six guns from Duncan’s and Ringgold’s batteries are preserved. Another one of the Mexican War Siege Train 8-inch howitzers, No. 7, reportedly survives at Fort Donelson National Military Park.** *Castillo de San Marcos, NM, Cannon Inventory dated 30 July 2008 **Omstead, Stark, Tucker, THE BIG GUNS, Museum Restoration Service, Alexandria Bay, NY, 1997, appendix C109 Slideshow, 11 photos, Mexican War Howitzers in FL [ Post Response ] [ Return to Index ] [ Read Prev Msg ] CMH Forum is maintained by The Company of Military Historians with WebBBS 5.12.
