September, 2021
SMOOTHBORE ARTILLERY PIECE DONATED TO BONT, TO BE OUTFITTED FOR DISPLAY ON NASHVILLE BATTLEFIELD SITE
The Battle of Nashville Trust (BONT) has been gifted with a reproduction 6-pounder field artillery piece based on those manufactured during the Civil War by the famous Noble Brothers Foundry of Rome, Georgia.
The cannon was donated by Ms. Graham Woolwine-Gilson, a Nashville native now living in Mamer, Luxembourg. When displayed by BONT, the cannon will be accompanied by a bronze plaque stating, “Donated in memory of Porter Anthony (Tony) Woolwine.”
BONT Board members Bobby Whitson and Pete McAlister prep cannon for delivery to Commercial Painting Inc. Photo by Mark Martin
The gift consists of a replica 6-pounder iron cannon tube designed to resemble those manufactured by Noble Brothers, a large ironworks factory in Georgia producing pre-war items such as steam boat engines, locomotives and furnaces. During the war, it turned some of its production to cannons for the Confederacy. The factory was burned to the ground by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in 1864, with nothing remaining except the huge lathe machinery used in cannon production.
Commercial Painting CEO Jon Petty (L) and BONT President Jim Kay (R), after the Noble Brothers tube had been delivered to prepare it for display.
In his letter accepting the canon barrel on behalf of BONT, President Jim Kay expressed special thanks and noted that it would be placed on “one of the battlefield properties for all to enjoy for decades in the future,” and that “it is people like you that make a difference in what we do.”
The cannon tube, weighing close to 1,000 pounds, was transferred by BONT board members Bobby Whitson, Mark Martin and Pete McAlister from its location in Nashville to Commercial Painting, Inc., where it will be sand-blasted and re-painted.
Afterwards, it will have to be mounted on a custom-built carriage in order to be placed, according to current plans, at BONT’s Redoubt No. 1 preservation site on Benham Avenue.
The muzzle-loading 6-pounder field gun was so-named because it was designed to fire a 3.58 inch-in-diameter round shot that weighed approximately 6 pounds for a range of about 1200 to 1500 yards, depending upon the type of shot used. In addition to solid shot, it could also fire case and canister. It was largely replaced by the U.S. Army early in the war with more advanced artillery, such as the 12-pounder Napoleon smoothbore, but was in use for a longer period by the Confederate armies.