“Every layer of history about the cannon is compelling,” said Lt. Grover Godwin,
Charlotte Artillery, Reactivated. “The artifact draws interest from both Southern and
Northern perspectives,” he added, noting that individuals such as General Burnside,
Col. Zebulon Vance, and poet Emily Dickinson are associated with its history.
The cannon tube features an elaborate inscription that describes its capture at New
Bern and lists 20 men of the 21st Regiment who were killed in the battle.
The Museum of History acknowledges the generous support of the Ella Ann L. and
Frank B. Holding Foundation for the transport of the cannon; Amherst College for the
loan; and the Charlotte Artillery re-enactors for their ongoing support.
Emily Dickinson’s father, Edward, presided over the dedication ceremony when the
cannon was presented to Amherst College in memory of 1st Lt. Stearns. The poet’s
brother, Austin, was a close friend of Stearns.
“A factor that helped dramatically in locating the cannon is that the original dedication
of the gun to Amherst College was highly publicized and thus left a good historical trail,”
remarked Ted Stables, Charlotte Artillery, Reactivated.
Articles about the dedication ceremony appeared in New York and Boston newspa¬
pers, and the event drew so many people that extra trains were needed from Boston to
Amherst.
The cannon is on exhibit at the Museum of History during the N.C. Civil War
Sesquicentennial, which continues through 2015. The N.C. Department of Cultural
Resources is presenting programs in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the
Civil War in North Carolina. For a calendar of events, go to the Civil War 150 Web site
www.nccivilwarl50.com.
Understanding Fort Dobbs
By Scott Douglas
In December of 1756, Francis Brown and Richard Caswell, acting under commission
from the Royal Colony of North Carolina, made a formal report of their inspection of a
newly completed western fort. They found it to be:
A good and Substantial Building of the Dimentions following (that
is to say ) The Oblong Square fifty three feet by forty, the opposite Angle;
Twenty four feet and Twenty-two, In height Twenty four and a half feet
as by the Plan annexed Appears, The Thickness of the Walls which are
made of Oak Digs regularly Diminished from sixteen Inches to Six, it
contains three floors and there may be dischaged from each floor at one
and the same time about one hundred Muskets the same is beautifully
scituated in the fork of Fourth Creek a Branch of the Yadkin River.
After the French and Indian War, Fort Dobbs was closed, and its supplies were
removed. In 1766, Gov. William Tryon described it as, “a ruin.” In the years following
the American Revolution, the log structure may have experienced a destructive fire and
was certainly scavenged for usable building material, leaving an empty field by the turn of
the nineteenth century.
Since none of the original plans for the fort have survived the passage of time, the
seemingly brief description above has led to varying interpretations as to what the fort
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