A cannon that saved the Union?

[major bill]

I have some doubts on if the cannon slaved the Union but it is a good story.

 

[major bill]

Volcano Blues is a great name for a Civil War militia company.

 

[Mrs. V]

Volcano Blues is a great name for a Civil War militia company.

Band name...pretty much any genre too!

 

[UCVRelics]

Great story to get tourist to stop and pay money.

 

[Larryh86GT]

I would stop and shop there.

 

[John Winn]

Well, at first I doubted the whole thing but it seems there were Confederate sympathizers in the town and the gun was brought in by Union sympathizers in a hearse (and so, not just a coffin which would have been a very heavy coffin). Supposedly it was fired down the main street at one point.

I still don't think one gun or one gold town saved the Union but it is a good story and a very cool artifact.

 

[major bill]

If the gold was lost to the Union cause and is usedvto aid the Confedercy it could have an impact but not enough to win the War.

 

[5fish]

The town of Volcano has a history ... it has a couple of army stories...

http://goldcountrycowgirl.com/volcano-ca-perfect-walking-tour/

History of Volcano
Mi-Wok Indians inhabited the area prior to the arrival of the first white men during the winter of 1848. When the soldiers of Jonathan Stevenson's New York 7th Regiment arrived and found a few flakes of gold, they decided to make camp until spring when finding gold would be easier. This led to the town's first name of Soldier's Gulch.

The soldiers found placers (stream bed deposits) so rich that they were able to mine $100 a day in gold. The value of gold at that time, set by Congress in 1834, was $20.67 per ounce. I couldn't find an exact amount that soldiers were paid in 1849, but a few years later, during the Civil War, they were paid around $13 per month. It's easy to see the attraction.

The soldiers mined the gold without taking time out to build permanent structures. As the weather got worse, some of the soldiers left. Without shelter and adequate supplies, the soldiers who stayed died during the winter and their bodies were not found for a couple of years.

By the following year, gold-seekers began pouring in from everywhere and the community quickly grew to a booming 5,000 inhabitants.

Here old Abe story...

Highlight,,,

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/times-past/article39055818.html

The little valley town of Volcano, located off Highway 88 northeast of Jackson, was the most productive part of the Mother Lode in 1860. The town only has a population 117 today, but in 1860 it was a bustling place with more than 5,000. Members of the Knights owned many of the downtown businesses.

A pro-Union group, "the Volcano Blues," petitioned the arsenal in Benicia for some artillery. All that could be spared was a 737-pound, Boston-manufactured brass cannon from the Mexican era. It fired a 6-pound ball and could do a great deal of damage to the quickly built wooden structures in Volcano. The gun was transported by riverboat to the Carson Pass road and smuggled into town. It was renamed "Old Abe" and mounted on a movable wooden carriage.

There are many versions of what followed. One, my favorite when I first heard the story as a young boy, is that as the Knights were marching on the town's main street, a blank charge was fired by the Blues. Some of "The Chivalry," the Knights' leadership, was conspiring in the St. George Hotel. They ran out carrying their concealed rebel flag with them. There was no more talk of secession. The image of the cowering Knights of "Old Dixie" delighted me.

A yet more ingeniously fashioned scenario of the events in Volcano in 1862 involves "Old Abe" actually doing some damage to the Confederate cause.

The Volcano Blues sent messages to all the supporters of the Union cause to "open your windows" to keep them from breaking. A blank charge with lots of powder was detonated along Consolation Street. The windows of all the rebel businesses were shattered by the concussion.

Glass was very expensive in 1862.

I hope you read the articles... the first a walking tour of the town of Volcano and the second the whole story of Old Abe...

 

[John V]

There were Confederate sympathizers and those who wanted California to join the Confederacy. As I recall the town of "Rough and Ready" (still there) voted to succeed from the Union and hoisted a Southern flag of succession. Hearing about this "activity" regular US Army soldiers marched in from San Francisco and put up the Stars and Stripes again.....it seemed that the Southern passion didn't run quite deep enough to take on regular US Army troops from the Presidio of San Francisco.

 

[John Winn]

There were Confederate sympathizers and those who wanted California to join the Confederacy. As I recall the town of "Rough and Ready" (still there) voted to succeed from the Union and hoisted a Southern flag of succession. Hearing about this "activity" regular US Army soldiers marched in from San Francisco and put up the Stars and Stripes again.....it seemed that the Southern passion didn't run quite deep enough to take on regular US Army troops from the Presidio of San Francisco.

There were confederate sympathizers in California and southern Oregon but Rough and Ready did not secede during the Civil War but, rather, in 1850 so as to avoid taxes on gold mines. Within three months they re-joined so that they could celebrate the Fourth of July; troops were never sent there. It's a famous local story.

Also, soon after the war broke out all regulars were withdrawn and replaced by state militia, in the case of the Presidio the 2nd. California Infantry.

 

[JOHN42768]

Looks like an interesting place

 

[redbob]

Gold and silver was shipped to the mint in San Francisco and then back East. The Union evidently thought that an attack on the mint was such a possibility that they built fortifications (including Alcatraz) around the bay and built, disassembled, shipped and reassembled a monitor (the Camanche) to protect the bay against raiders.

 

[frontrank2]

Nice gun and limber.

 

[WJC]

The town of Volcano has a history ... it has a couple of army stories...

http://goldcountrycowgirl.com/volcano-ca-perfect-walking-tour/

History of Volcano
Mi-Wok Indians inhabited the area prior to the arrival of the first white men during the winter of 1848. When the soldiers of Jonathan Stevenson's New York 7th Regiment arrived and found a few flakes of gold, they decided to make camp until spring when finding gold would be easier. This led to the town's first name of Soldier's Gulch.

The soldiers found placers (stream bed deposits) so rich that they were able to mine $100 a day in gold. The value of gold at that time, set by Congress in 1834, was $20.67 per ounce. I couldn't find an exact amount that soldiers were paid in 1849, but a few years later, during the Civil War, they were paid around $13 per month. It's easy to see the attraction.

The soldiers mined the gold without taking time out to build permanent structures. As the weather got worse, some of the soldiers left. Without shelter and adequate supplies, the soldiers who stayed died during the winter and their bodies were not found for a couple of years.

By the following year, gold-seekers began pouring in from everywhere and the community quickly grew to a booming 5,000 inhabitants.

Here old Abe story...

Highlight,,,

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/times-past/article39055818.html

The little valley town of Volcano, located off Highway 88 northeast of Jackson, was the most productive part of the Mother Lode in 1860. The town only has a population 117 today, but in 1860 it was a bustling place with more than 5,000. Members of the Knights owned many of the downtown businesses.

A pro-Union group, "the Volcano Blues," petitioned the arsenal in Benicia for some artillery. All that could be spared was a 737-pound, Boston-manufactured brass cannon from the Mexican era. It fired a 6-pound ball and could do a great deal of damage to the quickly built wooden structures in Volcano. The gun was transported by riverboat to the Carson Pass road and smuggled into town. It was renamed "Old Abe" and mounted on a movable wooden carriage.

There are many versions of what followed. One, my favorite when I first heard the story as a young boy, is that as the Knights were marching on the town's main street, a blank charge was fired by the Blues. Some of "The Chivalry," the Knights' leadership, was conspiring in the St. George Hotel. They ran out carrying their concealed rebel flag with them. There was no more talk of secession. The image of the cowering Knights of "Old Dixie" delighted me.

A yet more ingeniously fashioned scenario of the events in Volcano in 1862 involves "Old Abe" actually doing some damage to the Confederate cause.

The Volcano Blues sent messages to all the supporters of the Union cause to "open your windows" to keep them from breaking. A blank charge with lots of powder was detonated along Consolation Street. The windows of all the rebel businesses were shattered by the concussion.

Glass was very expensive in 1862.

I hope you read the articles... the first a walking tour of the town of Volcano and the second the whole story of Old Abe...

Great story! Thanks for the link!

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

The rammer is in the wrong spot!

 

[Rusk County Avengers]

Interesting pre-war artillery piece, but I cant see it, the carriage, the caisson, and limber being smuggled in via coffin, or hearse. My bet is it was either bought after the War and set up with a fictitious story for tourists, or if Secession sentiment did exist, and such a tactic was used the gun was "borrowed" from somewhere and snuck in at night when everyone was asleep to greet the potential Secessionists. My bet is the former, but nice old piece either way.

 

[drezac]

The rammer is in the wrong spot!

yep, should be a hand spike there. The carriage is strange, looks to be rather roughly made for display - wrong (and missing) ironwork, wrong wheels, wood is not quite correct - fine for display, but not a functional field carriage. from what I can tell, tube looks like a M1841 6-pdr field gun. still a very cool piece and it's nice to see what appears to be an original gun still on display.

 

[mofederal]

I thought something about the carriage was off, but I don't know enough about them to say what exactly. I like to hear expert opinions, as it is a specialty of which I know little.

 

[drezac]

I thought something about the carriage was off, but I don't know enough about them to say what exactly. I like to hear expert opinions, as it is a specialty of which I know little.

I'm not going to go into a lot of details (I don' t want to hijack the thread) , but mainly it's the shape of the wood, and some critical missing ironwork with no indications it had ever been there. The most glaring is under the cap square (the piece on top of the trunion). there should be a piece of continuous iron from behind the cap square, under the trunion, continuing to fold over the front of the gun then folding back underneath. This is to transfer the force of the recoil to the carriage in a manner so the barrel won't detach