The peaceful cannons surround the war dead at the Blossom Hill Cemetery. JAMES W. SPAIN / For the Monitor
When I was just a young child growing up in Concord, N.H., my thoughts were never far from the history that surrounded me. Our ancestors participated in every war, battle after battle, to secure the freedom and liberties that we enjoy today. Our history is certainly intriguing, especially for a young boy with a summer of adventure before him. I journeyed on a great adventure back in the summer of my early youth. My parents decided to enjoy a vacation on Lake George and Fort Ticonderoga was introduced to me along with the many reenactments and many cannons contained within this fascinating fort.
I learned a great deal about the Revolutionary War that summer so many years ago, I brought home a better appreciation for the many soldiers that battled, with General John Stark from New Hampshire being my new hero. Stark and his men from New Hampshire contributed so very much, leading attacks that cost the British dearly, leading to the surrender of British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga by blocking his retreat line across the Hudson River in 1777.
As my early years in Concord continued, I learned many additional stories from my elderly friends. I was told the early celebrations in Concord over a century before always included the firing of old cannons. War relics left over from both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Some of the cannons in local possession were cast iron while other cannons were gleaming brass. The majority of these old cannons did see battle and were made by our federal government, but there were indeed some cannons that possessed the British Crown, they were taken in battle and turned against the British Troops during the revolution. I heard the story about the small signal cannons that were presented to the people of Concord following the Revolutionary War, one cannon in particular was the coveted game piece for the north and south end boys. They constantly fought to gain possession, stealing the cannon back and forth for many years. As the young Concord boys grew old the cannon remained in the possession of an elderly north ender. With the fear that a descendent of a south end boy might steal the coveted cannon he visited Horseshoe Pond late one evening, rolled the cannon onto a small boat and pushed it over the side. Perhaps there is a cannon to this very day in Horseshoe Pond, I certainly would like to think there was. I often visited the cannons on display at Boudreau Square in Penacook, admiring where they were displayed, a tribute to those that made the ultimate sacrifice during the war.
I was both fascinated and always inquisitive about the cannons that dotted our community, I visited the hallowed fields of Gettysburg years later and found cannons in pristine condition, cannons used by the northern and southern armies at Gettysburg, they were restored and protecting the hallowed fields where our ancestors fought.
On May 17, 1882 an act was approved by the United States Congress that authorized the United States Secretary of War to present six cast iron cannons to the E. E. Sturtevant Post Number Two of the Grand Army of the Republic of Concord, New Hampshire. The cast iron cannons were identified as condemned and the government presented these cannons to many towns across the United States as a tribute to the communities that served during the Civil War.
The six cast iron cannons were crated and shipped to Concord, arriving at the train depot, the very same train depot that our Civil War soldiers boarded trains to war. The members of Post Number Two, all Civil War Veterans, accepted the government shipment reverently while recalling their own experiences during the war. They remembered the fellow soldiers that never returned to Concord on the train after the war. They especially remembered the eleven unknown New Hampshire soldiers that slept eternally at the Blossom Hill Cemetery.
The members of the E. E. Sturtevant Post Number Two of the Grand Army of the Republic brought the six cannons to Blossom Hill Cemetery and honored their fallen comrades by encircling their final resting place with the cannons. The old soldiers welded cannon balls into the open ends silencing them forever so that the cannons would never again be used on the field of battle. They hand dug the six holes around the Unknown Union Soldiers, inserted each cannon upright into the holes, alternating them with some open ends upright while others open ends were buried deep in the earth. The ceremony and process of burying the cannons was simply a sign of peace.
As I grow older each year I still travel about our community in Concord, I admire the strong essence of preservation and still mourn some of the old buildings that we have lost. I search for the old cannons that once lived in Concord after the wars ended. Many are now missing, claimed by the years or hidden at the bottom of Horseshoe Pond, our next generation will never be inspired in the way that I was that summer of my youth.
Vintage Views is a local history column that explores Concord and its surrounding towns. It runs every week in the Sunday Your Life section. The author is a historian and not a member of the Monitor’s staff.
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