USS ALASKA
Captain
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2016
Remembering the time when a guy freed stuck cannonballs from the town cannon and things went ... wrong
Updated Sep 15; Posted Sep 15
By Johnathan Croyle
A small taste of the Civil War came to Waterloo, N.Y. on Sept. 12, 1923, 58 years after the war ended
Residents of the Seneca County village, best known for being the birthplace of Memorial Day, must have been surprised when three cannon balls were fired from a cannon from Lafayette Park while people and schoolchildren walked home for lunch.
The park had recently been struck by vandals, believed to be "mischievous boys," who had taken the eight-pound cannon balls from a pyramid-shaped display and dropped them down the muzzle of the cannon nearby.
Park commissioners tried to remove them and successfully got all but three out of the cannon.
That is when Charles Genung, who lived next door to the park, decided to try to help.
Armed with two ounces of gunpowder and a fuse from a firecracker, Genung thought he could fire the balls out, figuring that the small amount of powder would prevent the balls from traveling too far.
The Medina Daily Journal wrote that the powder Genung used should "have been only sufficient to dislodge the balls."
Unfortunately, Genung was unaware of the extra powder already inside of the cannon, left over from a previous firing. Or he may have used more gunpowder than he figured.
Instead of merely dislodging the three cannon balls, they were sent "soaring over the trees."
(Thankfully the cannon was displayed with its muzzle pointed up rather than parallel to the ground which would have sent the balls screaming into a street of pedestrians.)
One ball clipped large limbs from trees and landed in the yard of Charles Terwilliger. Another traveled 500 feet and crashed through the second story of the Waterloo Hotel.
The third plowed into the west side of Genung's home, cut through one of the upper rooms and lodged inside a front wall.
No one was injured in the so-called "Bombardment of Waterloo," though Mr. Genung may have been a bit embarrassed after the story was picked by newspapers across New York State.
"Fools Not All Dead Yet" was the front-page headline of the Medina paper.
Full article with pics can be found here - https://www.syracuse.com/vintage/20...l_war_cannon_fire_skakes_village_in_1923.html
Cheers,
USS ALASKA
Updated Sep 15; Posted Sep 15
By Johnathan Croyle
A small taste of the Civil War came to Waterloo, N.Y. on Sept. 12, 1923, 58 years after the war ended
Residents of the Seneca County village, best known for being the birthplace of Memorial Day, must have been surprised when three cannon balls were fired from a cannon from Lafayette Park while people and schoolchildren walked home for lunch.
The park had recently been struck by vandals, believed to be "mischievous boys," who had taken the eight-pound cannon balls from a pyramid-shaped display and dropped them down the muzzle of the cannon nearby.
Park commissioners tried to remove them and successfully got all but three out of the cannon.
That is when Charles Genung, who lived next door to the park, decided to try to help.
Armed with two ounces of gunpowder and a fuse from a firecracker, Genung thought he could fire the balls out, figuring that the small amount of powder would prevent the balls from traveling too far.
The Medina Daily Journal wrote that the powder Genung used should "have been only sufficient to dislodge the balls."
Unfortunately, Genung was unaware of the extra powder already inside of the cannon, left over from a previous firing. Or he may have used more gunpowder than he figured.
Instead of merely dislodging the three cannon balls, they were sent "soaring over the trees."
(Thankfully the cannon was displayed with its muzzle pointed up rather than parallel to the ground which would have sent the balls screaming into a street of pedestrians.)
One ball clipped large limbs from trees and landed in the yard of Charles Terwilliger. Another traveled 500 feet and crashed through the second story of the Waterloo Hotel.
The third plowed into the west side of Genung's home, cut through one of the upper rooms and lodged inside a front wall.
No one was injured in the so-called "Bombardment of Waterloo," though Mr. Genung may have been a bit embarrassed after the story was picked by newspapers across New York State.
"Fools Not All Dead Yet" was the front-page headline of the Medina paper.
Full article with pics can be found here - https://www.syracuse.com/vintage/20...l_war_cannon_fire_skakes_village_in_1923.html
Cheers,
USS ALASKA