golden cannon lost in swamp

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erik12152003

erik12152003

Full Member
Nov 5, 2006
228
9
cape may nj
Detector(s) used
garrett cx

AnOldPro

Full Member
Jan 14, 2007
129
17
Northern Kentucky
Detector(s) used
Fisher 1266XB & CZ6
Okay erik... here are two true cannon stories for you...

Had a friend who hunted CW relics in the rivers and made a wonderful find down in a river in virginia... 9 cannons (if I remember right) that had been pushed into the river to prevent their capture along with the limbers with ammunition chests. The water had preserved the wood well and several of the cannon barrels were still mounted on their wood carriages just sitting on the bottom like they were waiting for someone to load and fire them. He spent a whole lot of money raising those cannons and placing them on a floating barge.

He did not know that during the entire salvage operation he was being watched by the sheriff and his men. As soon as the last cannon had been raised the sheriff appeared and seized them all. So.... he lost the cannons and the money spent on them but at least the sheriff did not prosecute him.

I was hunting the Confederate lines at Vicksburg and found a huge brass siege cannon that had exploded while being fired. It blew-up into very large and heavy pieces. The cannon was quite famous during the siege of Vicksburg and the Rebs had given it a name I found in the records but I have forgotten it. The records tell of the gun exploding but it location had been lost with the passing of time. When I found it the pieces were only a few inches deep and scattered over the slope of the bluff where it had once been positioned when it was being fired. All the pieces I found were literally too heavy for me to lift and carry out of the deeply ravined area I was hunting (none weighed less than 200lbs... it was a BIG gun!). So... I re-covered them with dirt and vegetation and left them where I found them. Would have loved to have found all the pieces and layed them out like a jigsaw puzzle but was pretty sure that if I tried the gummint boys would hear about it and claim my finds real quick and cause me a lot of trouble. But.. they can't ever take away the thrill of actually finding the remains of that once famous cannon.

DC
 

TNglen

Jr. Member
Feb 24, 2008
36
10
NE Tennessee
Detector(s) used
Garrett 1500, Garrett 2500
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Try the book called "The Lost Cannon on Cotton Hill" by John F. Clark. Mr Clark has good information in this book. I got mine from the info center at Gauley Bridge.
 

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