The Guns of CSS Peedee
The three cannon of CSS Peedee on display at the Florence County Veterans Center in Florence, SC.
CSS Peedee was a wooden gunboat built for the Confederate Navy at Mars Bluff Shipyard on the Great Pee Dee River in South Carolina. The ship was commissioned in October of 1864, but she was scuttled by her crew to prevent capture in February of 1865.
The ship’s three cannon: a 9-inch Dahlgren smoothbore, a 7-inch Brooke Rifle, and a 6.4-inch Brooke Rifle remained on the bottom of the Great Pee Dee River after the war. Between 1995 and 2006, the cannons were rediscovered by the CSS Pee Dee Research and Recovery Team. The three cannons were recovered from the river in 2015. After conservation, the three cannons were put on display in 2019 at the Florence County Veterans Affairs Center in Florence, SC.
The 7-Inch Brooke Rifle is marked S-46. According to records of the Selma Naval Gun Foundry it was cast on April 12th, 1864 and delivered to “Pee Dee, SC” (The Mars Bluff Shipyard) on July 3rd. The 6.4-Inch Brooke is Marked S-53. Selma records indicate that it was cast on April 29th, 1864 and delivered on July 13th (Daniel & Gunter. Confederate Cannon Foundries, pg. 82.)
The 9-inch Dahlgren Smoothbore, US Navy Registry Number 513, was cast at the Fort Pitt Foundry in 1862. The gun went on to become part of the armament of USS Southfield, a gunboat sunk by the ironclad CSS Albemarle in 1864. The US Navy was unable to recover the gun, but it was recovered by the Confederates.
On May 12th and May 16th, 1864, the captain of CSS Albemarle, Commander James W. Cooke, wrote to John Mercer Brooke about raising the cannons of USS Southfield. On May 12th, Cooke reported that he had raised a 9-Inch Dahlgren the day before and planned to raised the 100-Pounder (6.4-Inch) Parrott Rifle that day. He indicated that he planned to mount the 100-Pounder aboard Albemarle until a replacement arrived for Albemarle's aft 6.4-Inch Brooke Rifle which had its muzzle shot away in action on May 5th. When Cooke wrote again to Brooke on the 16th of May, he reported that he had mounted the 100-Pounder instead "on the river fort" and he also asked "I wish to know what to do with the 9-Inch Dahlgrens as I have no projectiles for them." (Brooke, George M. Jr. ed. Ironclads and Big Guns of the Confederacy: The Journal and Letters of John M. Brooke. pg. 184).
9-Inch Dahlgren Number 513 was subsequently sent to the Mars Bluff Shipyard on the Pee Dee River to become part of the armament of CSS Pee Dee. (I do not know the subsequent fate of Southfield’s other Dahlgren and its 100-Pounder Parrott.)
Today the three cannon are form a display adjacent to Florence National Cemetery at the Florence County Veterans Affairs Center. The carriages are reproductions of four-truck naval carriages. In service the cannon would have either been mounted on pivot mountings or two-truck Marsilly Carriages. The display represents the complete main armament of a Civil War ship, and the Dahlgren can be tied to two specific ships on opposing sides of the war. It is well worth a visit!
A University of South Carolina article by James D. Spirek and Jonathan Leader describing the history and recovery of the cannon may be read here.
An additional article by James D. Spirek specifically about the 9-inch Dahlgren “Serendipity and IX-Inch Dahlgren Smoothbore Cannon “FP 513” Serendipity and IX-Inch Dahlgren Smoothbore Cannon “FP 513” may be found here: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1321&context=sciaa_staffpub
9-Inch Dahlgren Smoothbore
9 Inch Dahlgren of CSS Peedee
7-inch Brooke Rifle
7-Inch Brooke Rifle
6.4-Inch Brooke Rifle
6.4-Inch Brooke Rifle
Lieutenant Oscar F. Johnson, Commander of CSS Peedee, likely would have received the following communication from John Mercer Brooke regarding the operation of the Brooke Rifles:
17 October, 1864 - Brooke to Officers Commanding Batteries
“Charges of VII inch Brooke Rifles, Double Banded:
With shell, shrapnel, grape, or cannister - from 8 to 10 pounds
With wrought iron bolts - 10 to 12 pounds
With wrought iron bolts, only to be used in close action with Monitors - 13 to 14 pounds.
In all cases the smallest effective charge is to be used. The high charges strain the guns, and their employment is only justified by such emergencies as arise in contact with iron clads.
Charges of 6.4 inch Brooke Rifles, Double Banded:
With shell, shrapnel, grape or canister - from 7 to 8 pounds.
With cast iron bolts - 8 to 10 pounds
With wrought iron and cast iron bolts in close action with Monitors - 12 pounds
The same rule as regards high charges of VII inch rifle applies to the 6.4 inch rifle.”
(Brooke, George M. Jr. ed. Ironclads and Big Guns of the Confederacy: The Journal and Letters of John M. Brooke. pp. 193-194).
A 7-inch Brooke Shell and a 6.4-Inch Brooke shell recovered from the wreck of CSS Peedee are on display at the Horry County Museum in Conway, SC.
