Restoring a piece of history: Civil War cannon gets a facelift

“I didn’t even know that it wasn’t mounted on a proper carriage,” Limoge said. That is, until he became a cannoneer and gunner for the Vermont Civil War Hemlocks — a reenactment group — later in life, and found out that it was an original cannon tube.

Now decades later, Limoge has helped to restore the cannon to its original glory. In battle, the cannon tube would have been mounted on a carriage with two large wheels for movement on the field, and the carriage alone weighed nearly 1,000 pounds. Earlier this month, that’s how the cannon reemerged in memorial park.

Over the last year, Gary Rushford, Mike McCole and Limoge, from the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9653 of Morrisville, were able to garner the $14,500 necessary to restore the piece of history through a grant from Alexander Copley Trust Fund.

Another $3,500 was raised from the community for site work and a new foundation.

After a few issues at the foundry trying to cast replacement parts, Limoge trucked the tube down to Steen Cannons in Ashland, Ky., where a replica of the carriage was built.

The tube was painted and mounted over the course of just two days, before the finished one-ton cannon was hauled back to Vermont and set back in the park on Nov. 14.

A dedication ceremony will be held on Memorial Day next May, the same month the cannon tube was forged 153 years ago.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, the 3-inch ordnance rifle was the most dependable weapon. It was made of wrought iron instead of cast iron, and unlike many other cannons, it wasn’t prone to fracturing or bursting.

There aren’t many of the 3-inch ordinance rifles left from the Civil War, because during World War II, many of them were melted down to forge new weapons. It is fortuitous that both Morrisville and Stowe held onto an original, displayed in their downtowns.

Morrisville ended up with No. 783, which was built by Phoenix Iron Co. of Phoenixville, Pa., and inspected by Stephen Carr Lyford.

The cost to the government at that time was $350, which today would total $5,213 when considering the Bureau of Labor estimates an average 1.78 percent annual inflation rate between 1864 and 2017.

Now, Limoge hopes that people understand the importance of the cannon.

“There were a few nutcases like me who wanted this piece of history displayed properly,” Limoge said. “My only fear is vandalism. I hope that people appreciate what we have, and treat it with respect.

“It’s not just something Mattel made and stuck in a park,” he added. “It’s not a jungle gym, and if I see a mother letting her kid climb all over it, I’ll probably end up in jail.”