US Navy 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Two US Navy 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds are displayed flanking a monument in Lawton Park in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Two US Navy 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds are displayed flanking a monument in Lawton Park in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The monument was dedicated in 1894 to the “Heroic Sons of Allen County fell in defense of the Union: 1861-1865.” (See additional photos of the monument on the Historic Marker Database.)
Many thanks to friend of the page Louis Robert Bob Dispenza for sharing these photos.
The two 32-Pounders are:
32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds Number 17 manufactured by Seyfert, McManus, and Co. in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1865. Weight as manufactured was 4,620 pounds.
32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds Number 89 manufactured by Fort Pitt Foundry in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in 1865. Weight as manufactured was 4,520 pounds.
While number 17 may have originally been assigned to the Naval Academy, it seems that by 1868 both were mounted as part of a saluting battery at the Washington Navy Yard. (According to Bureau of Ordnance Records.)
In March of 1897 the two 32-Pounders were donated by the US Navy to Encampment Number 51 of the Union Veteran Legion of Fort Wayne, Indiana. A 1913 Guidebook to Fort Wayne states of the group:
“UNION VETERAN LEGION: Ft. Wayne Encampment, No. 51—Meets 1st Sunday afternoon of each month at the Arcade, W. Berry, between Calhoun and Harrison, ½ sq. w. of c. h. Organized Dec. 19, 1889. To be eligible applicants must have enlisted in civil war prior to July 1, 1863, and must have served 2 years unless disabled by wounds or illness.”
From my understanding the U.V.L. had stricter eligibility requirements than the Grand Army of the Republic and remained a good deal smaller than the G.A.R.
The 32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds: This type of cannon was designed by the Bureau of Ordnance in 1864 due to a perceived need for lightweight 32-Pounders. The resulting 32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds borrowed the general shape from Admiral Dahlgren’s 9-Inch, 10-Inch, and 11-Inch cannons. However, the 32-Pounders, like the similar 8-Inch Shell guns of 6,500 Pounds, had a simplified ring cascabel. Few if any of this type of cannon would have seen service during the Civil War.
