There are many old stories circulating about people along the upper Tombigbee River finding cannons or cannonballs of unknown origin.
Most of the stories around Columbus have a simple explanation. There were about 20 miles of Confederate fortifications encircling Columbus that were constructed in 1862 and 1863. Several artillery batteries were part of the defenses, and the guns would have been fired during practice and training. Also, some cannons and artillery shells were made at the Briarfield Arsenal on Southside, and artillery shells were made at the foundry of Cummings and Prescott in Columbus during the Civil War. But there are older and stranger accounts of cannons and cannonballs being found in this area for which there is often no explanation.
Perhaps the strangest account is from 1848. The Columbus Commercial printed an interview in 1910 with Major Thomas Harrison in which Harrison told how, “In 1848, two small cannons carrying the Spanish arms were found in the river almost opposite Columbus. These implements of war were deposited in the Capitol at Jackson.” The cannons were said to have been seized by Union troops during the Civil War. On May 29, 1897, Mississippi Congressman Patrick Henry wrote to a colonel at the War Department inquiring about the two “guns,” which formerly stood in front of the (Mississippi) Capitol. In 1891, the chief of ordinance had reported that “two Spanish pieces (brass) about 5 1/4 in caliber, one of which was marked ‘El Orion’ the other ‘El Ivesto,’ were at Rock Island Arsenal.” Henry had hoped that information on where they had been obtained might show that the cannons were from Mississippi. However, the arsenal had no record of where the cannons had come from, and the congressman did not know what the inscription on the Mississippi cannons had said. However, a 5 1/4-inch cannon was a large gun and would not fit the description of a small cannon.
An 1881 article in a New Orleans newspaper related how a cannon had been found near Cotton Gin Port, just south of present day Amory. It was said to have been found in “the cannon hole” of the Tombigbee which was associated with a 1736 French fort. A 1903 article mentions two cannons were found at Cotton Gin Port. While many artifacts probably associated with the French fort are documented as being found there, I have not seen any primary source documentation to confirm the story of any cannons having been found there, but the site is so significant it would not be surprising if a cannon had been found there.
In 1899 The American Antiquarian published a letter from historian Henry S. Halbert, who had grown up in Lowndes County. Halbert wrote, “I know three places in Mississippi where cannon shot have been plowed up … the three places referred to are: A village on the west bank of the Tombigbee, a few miles east of West Point; a village site on the south side of Line Creek in Oktibbeha County, eight miles northeast of Starkville; and a village site, a few miles northeast of Philadelphia.” Halbert, who had served in the Confederate cavalry, related that none of the sites were related to Civil War activity.
The best documentation of an early cannon is the broken end of the barrel of a 3-inch cannon found on Plymouth Bluff by civil engineer C.L. Wood in 1925. In 1813 John Pitchlynn, U.S. interpreter and sometimes acting agent for the Choctaw Nation, fortified his residence at Plymouth Bluff, and it became known as Fort Smith. This was in response to the War of 1812 and the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and the Creek Indian Nation. In an 1846 letter, Peter Pitchlynn recalled the days of the Creek Indian War. His letter told the story of the cannon at his father’s fort. When news of peace with England reached the fort in 1815 the fort’s cannon was fired to celebrate the end of hostilities. The gun exploded when it was fired and John Pitchlynn responded, “Well we have no further use for her – she has served us through the war, and bursted in telling us the news of peace.”
An artillery projectile was found during the restoration of the Ole Homestead on College Street in Columbus. It was a Confederate 3-inch Archer type artillery shell. Fortunately, it had never been loaded with gunpowder and was inert. It is a type of artillery shell that would have been made at the Confederate arsenal that was located only about seven blocks from the house. How might an inert artillery shell from the Civil War have been buried at the Ole Homestead. During the Civil War the house was owned by Dr. James Hopkins, a Confederate surgeon. His son E.R. Hopkins was a child there during the war and later wrote of trying to trade buttermilk to a Confederate soldier for a souvenir. An inert artillery shell would make a pretty good souvenir, and I could see Hopkins trading with a soldier or a workman from the arsenal for the shell.
Hopkins also wrote an account of a cannon from the arsenal exploding. “A large arsenal building and barracks were built early in the war by the Confederate Government. The two-story brick arsenal building was on the north side of the square now owned and occupied by J.L. Walker and Co. A large cast iron cannon was moulded in the foundry of this arsenal and was taken to the bank of Tombigbee River near Mobile and Ohio R.R. Bridge to be tested.
At its first discharge, and only discharge, the cannon burst into fragments, killing a Negro man who stood nearby. Col. William Baldwin was standing by this Negro who was holding his hand but was not hurt.”
The Briarfield Arsenal had employed as many as 1,000 workers and was part of a large manufacturing complex on the south side of Columbus that made everything from cannons to swords and bullets and repaired rifles. It moved from Columbus to Selma, Alabama, in January 1863. There is a cannon marked Briarfield Arsenal on the Petersburg National Military Park Battlefield. Thanks to Carolyn Kaye, Gary Lancaster and Jack Elliott for helping with this column.
Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].
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