Machine Tom, When I visited the Arsenal in 1979 after finishing my machinist training, I noticed that they had, at the Northeast Gate, one or two large 1861 13-Inch Seacoast Mortars. Also, in the park-like area North of the building near that entrance, was a large, rectangular pile of cannonballs which lay parallel to a north-south hedgerow. Although I did not notice any fence made of planted cannons and anchor chain, my travel on the site was limited to only about 50 yards to a northside parking lot and job application office. The vast majority of roads and buildings lay south of where I was.
When Mike and I visited Watervliet Arsenal in 2004 to see their museum, we walked over the grounds extensively and noticed that one big 13" Seacoast Mortar had been moved inside and that the big pile of cannonballs was gone. We entered from the South Gate and noticed that their were no fences made of cannon tubes at this time. They most likely were removed with the cannonball pile. After our tour of the old machine shop which was one-half competed at that time, looked through hundreds of artillery drawings in the office loft above the small artifact section of the museum. Only then did we make a discovery that made the whole trip worthwhile. The museum was housed in the "Cast Iron Building" in 2004 and may still be there. In front of this building were several huge naval artillery tubes, 8,12 and 16 inch I believe, as well as several armored vehicles. These were very interesting, to be sure, but when we rounded the corner to the south end of that solid, cast iron building, we saw six or seven 8 X 10 foot steel bins like you see in scrap yards. Each bin was filled with 3 to 4 hundred cannonballs!! See photo below:
JACKPOT!!! What a thrill it was to search through those bins looking for something unusual. Mike found a rare 10" mortar round and I found 1/2 of a 6 Pdr. Case Shot with the balls, the melted sulfur matrix and the powder cavity intact! See pic below. The assistant curator who gave us that tour did not allow us to take any samples home, however, if you don't ask, you'll miss out on lots of opportunities. He explained that the state demanded a separate document for each ball on location and condition where found.
Another thing we found in New York on that trip was that the large traversing carriage for the 150 Pdr. Armstrong (8”)Gun captured at Fort Fisher near Wilmington, North Carolina and now located at West Point on Trophy Point, has been replaced 3 times since 1864. As we have been told, the first time was in the late thirties after almost 75 years! The Brits made sturdy stuff back then, with the carriage being made of Rosewood and the Chassis of mahogany. It was replaced by parties unknown, then in 1978 by Champlain Cannon Works ( Mike obtained a second copy of the drawing they used from the West Point Museum staff). Mike told me that when the staff learned that they had a “live one” at the reception desk, they all came out to talk artillery with someone NOT associated with a school tour group. He describes the Museum staff as the most helpful, friendly and cooperative that he has ever met. Someone unknown infused a plasticizer into the wood to “make it last forever”. It lasted only about 17 years until it turned to “mush” and was replaced by a Paulson Bros. metal carriage.
So, The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York can use replacement carriages, for it’s absolutely Premier Trophy Artillery Piece captured in an extremely hard fought battle, but the State of Montana can’t?? Huh? What the?
Mike and Tracy of Seacoast Artillery say, “Political Correctness be Damned”, just do what is logical and follow common sense ideas based on the norm employed by other, similar institutions. In cases like this, it’s not foolish to follow the money. Find out how many new administrators have been hired recently and you might just discover where the cannon carriage money went.
M&T
