British Military used the waters of the St. Lawrence River
off Fort Haldimand for the abandonment of unserviceable iron ordinance to place
them beyond use by the Americans in 1807.
Orders were issued in a letter written by Lieutenant Colonel James Green,
Military Secretary, Quebec
1807.
In the early 1960’s
scuba diving was in its infancy.
The commercialization of the on-
demand regulator invented by Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan had started a
revolution in underwater discovery. This
invention made diving equipment affordable and easily available to sport
diving. Two scuba divers from Binghamton NY area, Jack
Schum and Harold Baker Jr. came to North
Bay Carleton Island in 1962 and while looking for old
bottles discovered what Colonel Green had denied the Americans 150 years
earlier.
Headline October
31st 1962 as recorded in the Auburn Citizen:
“For Sale: Cannon
from the St. Lawrence River Bottom” The
article went on to detail that the divers had recovered an 18 pound Iron Cannon
near Carleton Island in Cape Vincent, NY.
It was 12 foot in length, its bore was 5 ½ inches and the barrel was
marked with a Tudor-rose Crest and an arrow.
By March 1963 the
cannon was in Oswego , New York . It fell under the stewardship of
Wallace F. Workmaster, curator of history for the State Education Department at
Fort Ontario Historic site, on loan from the New York
Museum in Albany .
At the time there was much speculation about the age of the cannon and
how it came to be in the River. Mr
Workmaster knew that much more research was needed to document its history. The
cannon was too early a piece to be displayed in the mid-19th Century
Fort Ontario. An appropriate carriage was constructed and the gun was mounted
and displayed prominently on the approach to the fort.


The two cannon recovered in 1962 & 1963
by Jack Schum of Harpursville NY and
Harold Baker, Jr., of Binghamton
NY are
technically Iron Guns of the Calverin type. This is a class of artillery with a
bore of 5.2 inches and that fired an 18 pound ball. Each cannon has a Rose and
Crown Cypher which dates to before 1714.
The third cannon recovered in 1973 by Peter Perrault and the Syracuse Scuba
Society Dive Club weighs about 3400 pounds and belongs to a type of artillery
know as a Demi-Calverin that fired a 9 pound ball. This cannon had the Rose and Crown cypher of
George II which would make its age between 1727 and 1760. (ref “Artillery
Through the Ages” by A. Manucy)
Ordnance of these types were listed as being
at Carleton Island as late as 1804 in the British Military Records RG8 series. These records also indicate that in 1807,
with the possibility of the outbreak of hostilities between the US and Britain ,
steps were taken to prevent ordnance at Carleton Island
from falling into American hands. The guns were most likely sunk in the River
where they rested for over 150 years before being discovered.
The Rose and Crown 18 pound cannons were displayed
publicly at Fort Ontario from 1963 to about 1994. For a period of years, they were protected by
annual hand treatments with Crown Metal Preservative which had worked
well to protect the cast iron. At some point in time,
these treatments were stopped. The exhibition of the two large cannons outside
was ended when the guns were taken to the Peebles Island Resource Center of New
York State Office of Parks, Recreation , and Historic Preservation, Waterford , New
York . The 12
pound George II is on public display at Sackets Harbor
and remains outside all year.
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Gerorge I I cypher third cannon recovered. |
As to the origin of the guns, the most detailed information is a letter documenting the guns location at the end of the seventeenth century based on inscriptions found on the cannon and recorded in the 1698 Board of Ordnance survey in Britain. The information was provided to Parks in 1985 by Adrian Caruana of Swansea, Hampshire, U.K., a retired Royal Artillery officer and researcher. There are some issues with this information and it is not collaborated or conclusive. The 12 pound cannon of George II seems to have less know about it.
Futher research done Charles Trollop of Ordinance Society of Great Brittan. From the marking on the iron guns and information in the “The Browne survey” which was carried out by British ordnance in 1699 and preserved in the British National Archives, he was able to specificly identify the guns as follows.
The second gun , weight 54-0-19, was cast at Brede in Sussex (left trunnion has a small "B") by Thomas Westerne (b) (see a "T and W" either side of the vent) and was entered in the Board of Ordnance Bill Book on the 4th July 1678 as part of a batch of 16 culverin of 11 Ft (PRO WO50-13). This gun and one other weighing 53-1-26 were allocated to the freshly launched 2nd rate ship "Vanguard" which would appear to have been broken up in 1739. The main action fought by the Vanguard was the Battle of Barfleur in 1692.
The number 5633 is, as above, part of Browns survey and inscribed when this gun was aboard the Vanguard. This gun also went to New York in 1739.
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Rose & Crown at the Canadian War Museum |
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George II at Sackets Harbor Battle Field |
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Rose & Crown at the Canadian War Museum |