The Mystery Brooke at The Citadel
Post #2
Tucked between some bushes in front of Bond Hall at The Citadel is a Brooke Rifle. There is nothing identifying the cannon, and unless you know a bit about Civil War cannons, it sits quietly as a rusty mystery.
It turns out, according to an article published on October 27th, 2005 on the front page of the Post and Courier, the Brooke was salvaged from Charleston Harbor in 1929 during efforts to dredge the harbor. It was one of three cannon pulled from the harbor, though the two others were lost in the salvage process. The 2005 article claims that one of the two which were lost has been located by a diver, but, as far as I know, it remains on the bottom of Charleston Harbor.
The Post and Courier article says that the Brooke was thought when salvaged to be part of the battery of the ironclad CSS Palmetto State.
1897 Illustration of Palmetto State from the US Navy History and Heritage Command
