The US 24-Pounders of 45 Hundredweight in Savannah, Georgia
24-Pounders of 45 Hundredweight Numbers 83 (left) and 81 (right) at the old Savannah Guards Building in Savannah, Georgia
US 24-Pounders of 45 Hundredweight Numbers 81 and 83 are displayed on the former building of the Savannah Volunteer Guards at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. Olmstead/Stark/Tucker states that they were “manufactured circa 1800 by Cecil Furnace near Harve de Grace Maryland” and suggests their order may have been connected to that of the original “Six Frigates” of the US Navy (pg. 34). I would be interested to know if further research has been done on them and if any link could be made to USS Constitution and her sisters. An article by the Naval History and Heritage Command states that by 1808 USS Constitution carried a main battery of thirty 24-Pounders made by Cecil Foundry, but these seem to have been of a later pattern than the those cannons preserved in Savannah. https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/18-20thC-USSC-Guns.pdf
Of the two cannons at Savannah, Number 83, in particular, shows a beautiful Federal Eagle above the trunnions. A third example of this type, Number 95, was recovered near Georgetown, South Carolina in 1991 and is displayed there.
Many thanks to my friend for taking these photos for me on a recent trip to Savannah!
24-Pounder of 45 Hundredweight Number 81
24-Pounder of 45 Hundredweight Number 81
24-Pounder of 45 Hundredweight Number 83
24-Pounder of 45 Hundredweight Number 83
Plaque about the Savannah Volunteer Guards
24-Pounder of 45 Hundredweight Number 95 displayed in Georgetown, South Carolina in Joseph Rainey Park
