Scientists from South Carolina plan to take the final step in recovering three artifacts important to the state’s history and key to providing insight into Civil War weaponry this week. An underwater archaeology team from the university will raise three Civil War cannons from South Carolina on Tuesday, Sept. 29 from the Great Pee Dee River in Florence County. The cannon raising will begin at 10 a.m.
The three cannons weigh upwards of seven tons each. Two of the cannons are Confederate Brooke Rifle cannons, 11.8 and 12.25 feet each, and one is a captured Union Dahlgren cannon that is approximately 8.9 feet long.
After the cannons are raised from the sediment in the river, they will be transported at approximately 12:30 p.m. to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston before a permanent outdoor display can be made for them at the new Florence County administration building.
The team of archaeologists, led by USC and state underwater archaeologist James Spirek and state archaeologist Jonathan Leader, began its search for the cannons in 2009 after archaeologists discovered the remains of the 150-foot Confederate gunboat C.S.S. Pee Dee. The ship was built at the Mars Bluff Navy Yard in Florence County. The three pieces of artillery were reportedly heaved overboard in the final days of the Civil War before the gunboat was burned.
The ship never saw the Atlantic Ocean because it was halted by the famous march of Gen. William T. Sherman’s Union troops (The troops had taken the coastal city of Georgetown and were advancing northward through South Carolina). The naval yard was destroyed March 15, 1865.
The Daily Gamecock will be providing more coverage on the cannon recovery after they are raised from the river.
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