We have a remarkable rifled cannon, 12-pdr., superior to any
other here. . . The piece was a gift to the people of South Carolina
from Charles K. Prioleau of Frazer & Co. of London and is said to have
born a plaque inscribed. . . "Presented to the State of South Carolina
by a citizen resident abroad in commemoration of the 20th December,
1860. . ."
General P. G. T. Beauregard to Confederate Secretary
of War L. P. Walker, quoted in Ripley, Artillery and Ammunition of the
Civil War, New York: Promontory Press, 1970. Chapter 8,
pp. 148-149.
British Captain Theophilus Alexander Blakely was a prolific designer of rifled cannon, in a variety of models. Since his own government did not adopt his designs, he sold his weapons overseas; several of his guns were purchased by the Confederacy and used during the Civil War. This particular Blakely, a 12-pounder, had the distinction of being the only rifled cannon used on April 12, 1861, to bombard the Union garrison inside Fort Sumter. One of the projectiles fired from this gun was picked up by a member of Major Robert Anderson's command and later donated to the U.S. Military Academy, where it remains on display.
The rifle drew some attention in the northern press, with an article and picture in Harpers Weekly, from which the following picture and its caption are taken:
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The rifled gun which did so much execution on Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina |
After its participation in the opening salvo of the War, the Blakely disappears from the pages of history until nearly the closing days of the conflict. South Carolina, whose interior was until 1865 nearly untouched by Union forces, was suddenly center stage for the invasion of troops led by William Tecumseh Sherman. In skirmishing outside Cheraw, the Blakely, along with a several other pieces of ordnance, was captured by Union troops.
Private James G. Birney Palmer, Company A, 32nd Wisconsin Infantry, referred to this capture in a letter written from his camp near Goldsborough, North Carolina, on March 27th:
These stores had been removed from Charleston previous to the evacuation. The most valuable pieces of artillery were brought along. The 3rd Michigan Battery has two pieces, English made, one of them with the following inscription upon it. "Presented to the Sovereign State of South Carolina, by one of her citizens residing abroad in commemoration of her noble conduct on the 20th of Dec. 1860"
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As the rebels fled across the river, Maj. Gen. Mower sent after them a few shells from a Blakely gun which he had captured and which had been presented to the state of South Carolina by citizens residing abroad. |
The cannon was again featured in Harper's Weekly, which published, on April 1, 1865, a sketch of Federal troops firing a captured Blakely across the Peedee River during the invasion of South Carolina.
These guns were sent north after the War as trophies. In 1892, for the dedication of Grant Park, in Galena, Illinois, the gun was requested from the Rock Island Arsenal. The plaque on its breech has been lost, probably to vandals, but the marks of its placement leave no doubt that this is the Blakely that fired on Fort Sumter and finished the War fighting for the Union in the service of the Third Battery, First Michigan Light Artillery. Its location was forgotten for many years, until it was "found" by the authors of Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War, James C. Hazlett, Edwin Olmstead, and M. Hume Parks.
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Britten bolt, 3.43 inches West Point Museum Photograph courtesy Jack Melton |