10-Inch Confederate Columbiad in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
A 10-Inch Confederate Columbiad manufactured in 1863 by Tredegar is displayed in front of the Horse Soldier in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Photo by Tom Nank.
A 10-Inch Confederate Columbiad manufactured in 1863 by Tredegar is displayed in front of the Horse Soldier in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This cannon bears Tredegar’s registry number “1873” on its muzzle. This number corresponds to a 10-Inch Columbiad cast at Tredegar on July 30th, 1863.
Many thanks to friend-of-the-page and historian Tom Nank for taking these photos and sharing them with me.
This is the same Columbiad that was previously displayed outside the Texas Civil War Museum near Fort Worth, Texas. (The museum has since closed.)
The 10-Inch Confederate Columbiad, though modeled on the US Army 10-Inch Rodman, was cast solid rather than according to Rodman’s hollow casting technique. It is also somewhat shorter and lighter than the Rodman. Total weight of this piece, which may be marked on top of the breech, is about 13,250 pounds. The Confederate Columbiad may also be distinguished from the Rodman by the longer trunnions (for use with wooden carriages) and rougher finish (the lathe was only used when necessary for function) of the Southern cannon.
This Columbiad was recovered from the wreck of the schooner Philadelphia near Georgetown, South Carolina. In 1877 the schooner was loaded in Charleston, South Carolina with a cargo of around twenty-six obsolete cannons and railroad iron which had been sold as scrap. The vessel and her cargo were lost at sea. In the 2010s Long Bay Salvage recovered and conserved six heavy cannons from the wreck. I believe they retain ownership of the wreck and yet-to-be-recovered cargo.
I have previously posted photos of two of the other recovered cannons, both 10-Inch Columbiads, one at Fort Macon and one at the South Carolina Military History Museum.
Given that this Columbiad was shipped from Charleston as scrap, it is likely that it had been placed somewhere in Charleston’s defenses during the Civil War. At least ten 10-Inch Confederate Columbiads still survive in the Charleston area to this day. (Two at White Point Garden, two at Magnolia Cemetery, at least two at Castle Pinckney, two at Fort Moultrie, and two mounted as gate guards on Sullivans Island.)
A 10-Inch Confederate Columbiad manufactured in 1863 by Tredegar is displayed in front of the Horse Soldier in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Photo by Tom Nank.
The Tredegar Foundry Number “1873” may be seen on the muzzle of the Columbiad.
The left trunnion shows the manufacture date of 1863. The (now damaged) right trunnion would show “J.R.A. & Co. T.F.” for Joseph Reid Anderson and Company, Tredegar Foundry.
The breech shows the “mushroom knob” shape borrowed from the US Army Rodman design but the elevating ratches retained by Confederate Columbiads.
