Published by Mumper & Co. of Gettysburg and labeled as a “CONFEDERATE BALL LODGED IN A UNION GUN”.  Overall good condition , does have light soiling throughout.

The “Gettysburg Gun” was on the Gettysburg battlefield on July 3, 1863. In the artillery barrage before Pickett’s Charge, three soldiers of Battery B, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, were manning the cannon as shells fell.  The gun already had been hit. Private Alfred Gardner was about to reload it when an enemy shell hit the barrel, denting the muzzle. Gardner and Private William Jones, who were on either side of the cannon, were killed. Sgt. Albert Straight, who was behind the cannon, came to the front and tried to reload the gun. But the shell that struck the gun heated the muzzle, and when Straight tried to force in a cannonball, it fused to the muzzle. He did not give up, striking the shell with an ax and a hammer to try and dislodge it.

Today, the gun sits in the Rhode Island State House. Those who see the 12-pound bronze cannon can see the cannonball, the size of a melon, fused at its mouth, half sticking out. They’ll also see the marks from Straight’s ax and the punishment the gun sustained: dents and a missing spoke on the original carriage.

So what happened when the cannon became disabled? It was removed. And Straight did not die at Gettysburg, but months later from disease. Eventually, the gun was recovered and displayed in Washington. In 1874, Rhode Islanders petitioned to bring it home, and eventually, it made its way to the State House.

With approval from the governor and in a partnership with the Pennsylvania and Maryland National Guard, the cannon was trucked back to Gettysburg in 1988 to commemorate the 125^th anniversary of the battle. It was placed on the actual spot where it was disabled 125 years earlier.  [ld][ph:L]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS.

THANK YOU!