Buried Cannon

[kevikens]

I am reading a book on the last few months of the war. On two occasions the author cites Confederate artilleryman burying cannon when it appears that things are not going well. Apparently they burned the carriages and then buried the tubes.

Two questions. Was this a common practice or only done in extremis? Second, have these buried cannon ever been discovered and unearthed?

 

[Barrycdog]

I have heard about spiking guns. During the battle they may not have had time.

 

[AndyHall]

I know of some non-ACW examples. When the French abandoned Fort St. Louis here in the 1680s -- a completely isolated French outpost in the New World, surrounded by Spaniards actively trying to hunt them down -- they buried guns that were found 300 years later by the Texas Historical Commission. Here is the late (and greatly missed) Curtis Tunnell, Executive Director of the THC at the time:

 

[James N.]

I've heard of other examples as well, one of them when The Pathfinder, explorer and Filibusterer John C. Fremont, was on an expedition into either the Sierras or Rockies and buried his two mountain howitzers, which were small cannon carried on mule-back. He had encountered rougher terrain and worse weather than anticipated, so ditched them in order to travel faster.

 

[jpipes]

I haven't read much about burying cannon but dumping them down wells or over cliffs and into rivers happened frequently.

At Fort Branch in eastern North Carolina 11 cannon were emplaced in a strong defense position on cliffs above the Roanoke River. When the war came to an end the cannon were dumped over the cliffs and forgotten for over 100 years. In time the scuttled cannon were located buried in the riverbed and 8 were recovered. Fort Branch is now the only Confederate fort to have on display nearly all of it's original artillery!

Pics from the original recovery.

These are pics of the recovered cannon on site.

 

[Frederick14Va]

If one had to depart and unable to bring the respective guns with you, it was not an uncommon practice to blow up, disable, or discard the weapon so it cant be used by the enemy, and/or immediately back against you. Many accounts of gun tubes being dumped in rivers, old wells, or detached from its carriage and buried if no other options were immediately at hand... and you had the time to do so...

When leaving Petersburg a number of Confederate guns were dumped in the Appomattox River... one was located and retrieved back in the 1960's by a couple locals swimming in the river one summer day... They also found three others nearby... The one they retrieved was quickly confiscated by the Govt. a few days later... they didn't tell about the others.... and they still remain in the river....

Some of the Confederates stationed on the Howlett Line just North of Petersburg, ditched their gun tubes in a nearby water well... never yet recovered to my knowledge...

I know of at least one gun tube discovered in the Chickahominy Swamp just east of Richmond... the location being so remote and very difficult to reach.... it also still remains there...

I personally found a 10in mortar tube in the James River around Richmond.... its still there too... no means to recover...

Ft.Branch in NC tossed several in the river both large siege guns and field pieces still attached to their carriages... A few tried to recover them for their own profit but NC stopped that... and they later recovered the others found in the river too... all on display at a small museum there at the site now....

Appomattox Campaign.... various accounts of CS artillery units burying their detached gun tubes, when the artilleryman were consolidated into Infantry battalions... and/or lost ability or horses to carry them any further... Federal accounts of discovering and retrieving at least a couple of them... No one knows how many may have been buried or if there are others still out there to be discovered....

Spiking was a quick method if you didn't have time to do anything else... it was also considered a temporary measure... It typically would prevent the enemy from immediately turning the guns on you till you could get away or recover it.... most experienced gunners could un-spike a gun tube rather quickly... Another method that took a little longer to fix was to fill the gun tube with shot or shells interlaced with mud... a couple shells secured with small wooden wedges rammed in... so the gun couldn't be emptied by inverting the gun tube or fished out with the worm as easy...

 

[James N.]

At Fort Branch in eastern North Carolina 11 cannon were emplaced in a strong defense position on cliffs above the Roanoke River. When the war came to an end the cannon were dumped over the cliffs and forgotten for over 100 years. In time the scuttled cannon were located buried in the riverbed and 8 were recovered. Fort Branch is now the only Confederate fort to have on display nearly all of it's original artillery!

What especially impresses me about this is the survival of the wooden carriages! In the last two photos, the iron carriage is, I believe, on an imported British Armstrong cannon.

 

[bankerpapaw]

It has long been rumored that Union forces dumped a cannon in the Saline River at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry.
However, once the Union forces were across the river and headed to Little Rock, they burned their wagons to prevent the Rebs from capturing them. Many have looked for the cannon, but it has yet to be found.

 

[jpipes]

>It has long been rumored that Union forces dumped a cannon in the Saline River at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry.

Indeed. Steven Warren writes about another such rumored cannon left in a river in a chapter in his book Brilliant Victory about the Battle of Cabin Creek in September of 1864.

 

[AUG]

When Henry Hopkins Sibley decided to retreat back to Texas while at Albuquerque in April 1862, artillery commander Major Trevanion T. Teel buried eight 6-pound Mountain Howitzers there to lighten the load. Teel returned 27 years later in 1889 and excavated the guns from a chili pepper patch. They were put on display, but today only one original still remains on display at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History.

 

[Patrick H]

All very fascinating and I'll admit I know nothing much about it. Some were probably buried. Whether it was a common practice, I couldn't say. It seems to me it would be far more expedient to blow them up to keep them out of enemy hands. On the other hand, if you thought you could hide a cannon REALLY well, and if you were pretty confident you'd be in the neighborhood again, maybe you'd detail a work crew to bury the darn thing. But it seems to me that would not be the first choice.