I don't know the answer to these questions; Norm may be right that the gun is mounted backwards, or Tim & Leesecw could have it correct in that the gun is mounted muzzle tipped down as a sign of respect for fallen CW soldiers. George , I did have the same thought, that the gun might be mounted upside down, so the vent wont let water get into the tube, maybe Tap can check on this and some other things if he goes back to the cemetery.
What I was having doubts about was the guns ID; the 3-inch Wrought Iron Gun/3-inch Ordnance Rifle has a smooth muzzle face that curves smoothly into the chase of the barrel. Now, as far as I know, when the US Army Ordnance Board's recommendations for modifications to John Griffen's original design (so that it would fit the standard # 2 carriage, and weigh less) were put into practice, and they approved the government contracts to purchase the newly designated "M 1861 3-inch wrought iron rifle cannon", that this gun's design had remained exactly the same right up until the time the Phoenix Iron Co. manufactured its last 3-inch ordnance rifle.
Here's the pic of the muzzle that Tap posted. If you save the pic, and enlarge it you can easily see that it has a narrow concave ring that appears after the flat face of the muzzle, and this then leads to the top surface of the barrel (the chase) of the gun, this is called a cavetto, or cavetto molding. As far as I know, none of the Phoenix Iron Co.'s 3-inch ordnance rifles ever had this feature.
This is the muzzle of another rifle made by the Phoenix Iron Co., Reg. No. 185, Inspected by JMW (James M. Whittemore - 1861-1886), Foundry No. 196, Year 1862, Wght. 817 lbs., Made of Wrought Iron, Grooves 7 Right-Hand, Cickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park, TN. You'll notice that this gun's muzzle face is flat, and makes a smooth transition into the chase of the barrel; no cavetto! You can also see the irregular outline of the rim of the bore caused by the rifling. The rim of the bore of the gun Tap photographed appears to form a smooth circle.
Another photo of a 3-inch ordnance rifle, giving a good view of the rimbases. The rimbases on an original ordnance rifle have a graceful sweep upwards, widening til they seamlessly join the barrel, there are no sharp angles. Look at the rimbases on the gun in Tap's photo, the lines formed by the top surfaces of the rimbases come straight out from the side of the barrel; no graceful sweep upward.
There certainly is a possibility that successive thick coats of paint have obscured all the markings on this gun's muzzle face, and filled the rifling grooves to the point that they can't be discerned, but I think it would be probable that something would be visible in these areas, maybe not to the point of being able to make out the letters, and numbers, but at least to know something was there. The U.S. that would be stamped between the trunnions could now be on the underside of the barrel.
Tapwater, is this cemetery just called the Peotone Cemetery, or could it also be known by other names?
Are there any other cannons displayed at this cemetery?
Do you know if there are cannons displayed in any other Peotone cemeteries?
Leesecw, I have the new version of the Registry, the one printed after W. Stark had passed; on this Registry, any artillery that is owned by private parties is simply listed as "privately owned", there is no city, or state given, and there are no descriptions give under "comments", such as cemetery, courthouse, town square etc.. This change was made by the current keeper of the Registry because of so many requests made by owners of CW artillery to do so, they were tired of being harrassed by dealers, buyers, agents, middleman consignment sellers etc.. This alleged ordnance rifle is listed that way (privately owned), so that's all I have to go by.
Is this gun's location given as: City - Peotone, State - Il, Comments - Peotone Cemetery?
On your copy of the Registry are there any other cannons listed at this same location?
Are there any other cannons listed as being in Peotone, Illinois?
