The Historic Naval Cannons of Glen Island Park, New Rochelle, New York
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 1077 is displayed at Glen Island Park in New Rochelle, New York. Photo by James Touza
Five historic cannons are displayed at Glen Island Park in New Rochelle, New York. Many thanks to friend of the page James Touza for sending these photos!
Five cannons are displayed at Glen Island Park, a park of Westchester, New York that was originally a resort developed by John H. Starin. The cannons and stone "castles" were part of the whimsical scenery of the resort. My hunch is that Mr. Starin purchased the cannons at auction from the Navy for display in his park. This makes these five guns displayed in a county park unusual in that nearly all other surviving examples displayed in public parks were donated (or loaned) by the Navy to veterans and civic organizations.
The guns are:
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 917 which was cast at Fort Pitt Foundry in 1864. As originally manufactured, it weighed 9,130 pounds. It is not known to have seen service aboard a Navy vessel. It was sold by the Navy at auction in May of 1897. The 9-Inch Dahlgren was the standard broadside gun of US Navy steam frigates and steam sloops during the Civil War. It also saw extensive use abord vessels built by the Navy for service on rivers and in coastal waters.
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 1077 which was also cast at Fort Pitt Foundry in 1864. As originally manufactured, it weighed 9,215 pounds. It is not known to have seen service aboard a Navy vessel. It was sold by the Navy at auction in May of 1897.
US Navy 32-Pounder of 51 Hundredweight Number 48 was manufactured by Tredegar Foundry in 1848. It weighed 51-1-25 (5,765 pounds) as manufactured. Bureau of Ordnance Records show it at Norfolk - suggesting it was captured by the Virginia Secessionists who took the Gosport Yard in April 1861. The bore shows significant scaling from rust. It is not known to have been aboard a Navy vessel. It is of a type designed to be mounted in small numbers of the spar decks of heavy frigates and ships of the line for use as chase guns.
State of Georgia 18-Pounder Siege Gun which was one of six ordered by Georgia from Tredegar in December of 1860, prior to secession. Upon completion, the six 18-Pounders were sent to Savannah in March of 1861. This is the lone survivor of the order. It apparently is marked “GA” on the tube. It is marked as weighing 4,930 pounds.
US Navy 20-Pounder Parrott Rifle - unknown registry number. In the 2000 edition of the registry, this is listed as an Army 20-Pounder, however the cascabel is most certainly of the Navy pattern. Also, nothing is stamped on the muzzle face as would be expected with an Army Parrott. The Parrott is displayed upside down. I would be interested to know if the registry number is legible on the portion of the band facing down.
