August, 2024
REPLICA SIX-POUNDER SMOOTHBORE ARTILLERY PIECE ADDED TO THE EARTHWORKS AT CONFEDERATE REDOUBT NO. 1
Confederate Redoubt No. 1 is now bristling with more fire power after a third artillery piece was added by the Battle Of Nashville Trust in August, 2024.
6-pounder cannon, newly cleaned and outfitted following donation by the Woowine family, takes its place at Redoubt No. 1. Transport and installation of the 1000-plus pound gun was done by BONT President Bobby Whitson with the help of Nashvillians Peter Darst and Jimmy Thompson. Photo by Bobby Whitson
The new piece is a replica six-pounder smoothbore designed to resemble those manufactured by Noble Brothers, a large ironworks factory in Georgia which switched from building steamboat engines and locomotives to cannon barrels for the Confederacy during the Civil War. The new iron tube was donated to BONT by Ms. Graham Woolwine–Gilson, a Nashville native who now lives in Luxembourg. The new field piece will eventually be accompanied by a bronze plaque stating, “Donated in Memory of Porter Anthony (Tony) Woolwine.”
Redoubt One was initially constructed in December, 1864, on the northernmost Confederate line to accommodate four Napoleon smoothbore cannons along with 200 men, half of which managed the battery, and the other half were infantry in support.
New firepower line-up on Redoubt No. 1, looking more like it did on Dec. 15, 1864, with four Napoleons. Photo by Bobby Whitson
The new field gun was rolled into place on the north wall of the Redoubt to a spot between the pre-existing 3-inch Ordnance gun to its left, and the replica Napoleon cannon which for many years had been positioned at the top of Shy’s Hill. It had to be brought down from the summit for repairs, and took its place on Redoubt No. 1 in 2020, symbolizing the battery of four which had been in place there on the morning of Dec. 15, 1864.
BONT had taken possession of the 1000-pound six-pounder barrel in September, 2121, after which it was sent for extensive work for display, including cleaning and painting of the barrel and being fitted for an aluminum replica gun carriage. For more detail on all three of the Redoubt’s artillery pieces, see individual stories about them on the Redoubt No. 1 page.
Photo by Bobby Whitson