Cannon firing at Castillo de San Marcos, full uniform

[Cannoneer]

If y'all want to take the cook's tour of Castillo, just push da lil' arrow.  I made this so long ago it was still in the silent era of the movies.  One of my favorite weapons in the whole world is shown right on the you'se tubes startup screen.  Anybody remember what's special about it?

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Are you referring to the trophy engraving date of capture on the mortar being wrong?
The muzzle face is engraved: "Captured at Fernandina, Fla., by Rer. Ad. Dupont Febuary 3rd, 1862."
Federal forces actually took the ownership rights of this mortar away from the CSA on March 3rd, 1862.

[cannonmn]

Thanks, yes that post is the one I was looking for.  When I got home I was able to find my file on this Dutch gun and compare the marks with the similar one in storage in the V&A museum thanks to their website's details.  I was a little worried that somehow one had been stolen out of the museum, gone to auction, and eventually bought by myself, however unlikely it would have been to have a major public auction of an item in the same town where it was stolen.

The answer came in the tiny detail of what are apparently the castle's inventory numbers stamped into the underside of either cannon.  The number on the (assumed) underside of the one in the V&A museum storage cannon, no. 39-1887, is "IV" as in Roman Numeral four.  The same number on mine is "I."  That and the engraved weight in Dutch pounds is the only difference between the one in the V&A and mine (well, they have a ramrod and I don't.)  Even the fancy tompions are identical-a cast bronze disc at the front, backed by a turned wood plug, held in by a piece of spring steel.  I'll look for my photos of that gun today and post them when I can get them scanned.

So it looks like there are four of these similar cannons.  The two still in the Netherlands are the same except for a difference in the coats of arms, one for each of the two families that was joined by marriage (?)  I'm guessing those are marked "II" and "III" underneath-don't know if I have that in writiing anywhere however.

The remaining mysteries about this cannon for me to follow up on someday when I get lots of time to do such things include:

-What do the cast-in initials "JS" stand for on the bronze tompion?
-What can I find out about the carriage maker, whose cast bronze tag on the carriage includes "C.A.&T. Ferguson, London"
-Exactly how did the three cannons which were in London (two in V&A and mine) get from the Netherlands to the UK?  The V&A seems to have acquired their two from a local business in 1887, but I haven't found anything on that business.

[cannonmn]

The tompion, shown here.  I'd like to know what the "JS" stands for on the bronze plate.  The design is not a proper coat of arms so it will be difficult to find out who chose ot use this as their personal, or perhaps, organization's insignia.

My second question relates to the hex nut:  I know hex nuts were used during the American Civil War  because they are a part of many different types or mortar beds, etc. But I'd like to know when hex nuts first came into common usage, to get an "earliest" date for this tompion.

[cannonmn]

Email reply to my question, from Victoria and Albert Museum, received today.  I think this may have solved the mystery of the "JS" on the tompion-it must mean "J___ Somes" a former owner.  I'll have to look around for who that may have been back in 1887.

________________________________________________________________

We do indeed have the two cannon you mention. They used to be on
display in the old arms and armour gallery and I hope to get at least
one out again in the next couple years when we re-do our Baroque
1600-1800 galleries.

Both cannon were acquired in 1887. Our museum numbers tell how long an
object has been in the museum as they are on a  year sequence so 38 and
39 of 1887 were the 38th and 39th acquisitions of that year. The one on
the 1960s catalogue cannot therefore have been the same one which makes
an interesting puzzle.

We bought both cannon from a London dealer called Lee and Saxton, the
1628 one for £30 and the 1681 one for £33. They were acting for a Mrs
Somes. Both cannon were on matching carriages dating from the 19th
century suggesting they had been mounted by a collector. Neither has
been published as far as I am aware. Very little work has been done on
our artillery collections unfortunately. I do not have any further
details.

I hope this information is of some use.

(signed by conservator)

____________________________________

[cannonmn]

Well, just a few more googles and I got to exactly who I think owned the cannon back during the 19th C., even has a picture of him:

http://www.fairhall.id.au/resources/maitland/joseph%20somes.htm