Historic Cannon
Forty-five of them were sent to
this country, but Xorlh Carolina
didn't have the money to pay for
her share, so the captain of the
ship dumped them overboard.
«I/
JASPER
И
AT a .story could bo told by
the old cannon of Edenton if
they only bad the power of
speech ! Their lengthy, diversified and
interesting history far exceeds the life¬
time of any human being and theirs
would be a talo worth listening to.
Sometime during the month of May
1778, Captain William Boritz of the
staunch vessel. Holy Hear I of Jesus,
sailed out of the harbor of Marseilles,
France, with forty-five Swiss cannon
aboard. Thcso had been ordered
through an net of Congress at the re¬
quest of the delegates from Virginia
and North Carolina, although there
was no appropriation from Congress
with which to pay for the guns. The
terms under which the cannon were
sent were that Captain Boritz would
receive 150 pounds of tobacco for each
!00 pounds of cannon delivered.
Captain Boritz reached Edentou in
July 1778 and asked Congress what
disposition he was to make of the
cannon, but received no reply. In the
meantime, the colony of Virginia sent
an agent with an order for the deliv¬
ery of the Virginia portion of the
guns to South Quay at the head of the
Blackwnler River, a tributary of the
Chowan River and at that time a port
of entry for Virginia. Captain Boritz
unloaded 22 of thu cannon there and
received his pay in tobacco since Vir¬
ginia had a lot of tobacco stored at
South Quay.
These Virginia cannon were hauled
overland to Suffolk, Virginia, a dis¬
tance of 20 miles, and there were dis¬
tributed. The guns were conveyed by
ox wagon and several were lost on the
way when the wagons broke through
the bridges and the cannon sank into
the water. What finally became of the
Virginia cannon is not known, but at
Fort Ethan Allen, Bennington, Ver¬
mont, there are mounted several guns
of a similar type.
During Captain Boritz’s absence
up the Chowan and Bbckwater riv¬
ers, Thomas Benbury and Robert
L. WIGGINS
Smith of Edenton applied to Gover¬
nor Richard Caswell for funds with
which to pay for the 23 cannon that
North Carolina was supposed to re¬
ceive. As the guns were estimated to
weigh 100.000 pound*, it would re¬
quire 150,000 pounds of tobacco to
pay for them. Messrs. Benbury and
Smith had a small quantity of to¬
bacco on hand, but not enough to pay
for the cannon. In this dilemma, they
appealed to Governor Caswell. Tie
told them to buy what tobacco they
needed from Virginia, which they
tried to do. But Virginia would not
take North Carolina’s shin plasters
as payment.
Captain Boritz. was then beginning
to get impatient. Finally, becoming
disgusted at the delay, he dumped the
cannon overboard n^ar the Joseph
Hewes Shipyard ( nine 24-ponnder«
and thirteen 18-pounders) and took
his vessel, the Holy Heart of Jesus.
up Mattacomack Crock near the
present site of the
Г.
S. Government
fish hatchery. There he scuttled his
boat. At very low tides the skeleton
of this vessel and others can be seen
even now. The captain settled in Eden¬
ton, bought property and reared a
family, according to colonial records.
And what happened to the cannon
after they were thrown overboard?
Two of them now guard the en¬
trance of the State Capitol, pointing
up Fayetteville Street in Raleigh.
Three of them are mounted on gran¬
ite at the foot of the Court House
Green, pointing out over Edenton
Bay. One of them is mounted on con¬
crete in a small park on Broad Street
near the county dock. One of them is
used for a “lean on" post at the cor¬
ner of Broad and King streets, the
most prominent corner in Edenton.
This cannon has been the silent wit¬
ness of many conversation* and there
have been many business deals con¬
summated while two prominent citi¬
zens were draped over it.
Another one of the cannon is partly
One of the old cannon in front of the
ancient courthouse at Edenton.
buried on the corner of Queen and
Granville streets.
This accounts for eight of the guns,
two in Raleigh and six in Edenton.
The remainder of the 23 are prob¬
ably still sunken low in the mud near
the old Joseph Hewes Shipyard and
would require mining operations to
reclaim them.
It is very improbable that these
cannon were ever used in battle ns
there is no record of any of them be¬
ing carried from Edenton. But two
of them were used in blufling the
Yankees during the Civil War. They
were mounted on the Green overlook¬
ing Edenton Bay by the Confederates.
When the Federal gunboat- appeared
off Edenton Bay on February 12,
1862, the officers observes! these guns
through their glasses and \vaited
awhile for them to start shooting.
Since they did not shoot, the Yankees
became curious and went ashore. When
the forces from the Federal fleet dis¬
embarked, the commanding officer or¬
dered his men to break tho trunnions
and spike the guns, saying “there were
more danger standing behind them
than marching in front.”