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SAVANNAH, Ga. – A chunk of Revolutionary Struggle historical past that spent greater than two centuries hidden underwater is now on show in Georgia’s oldest metropolis, simply in time for America’s 250th anniversary.
Nineteen cannons found on the backside of the Savannah River have been unveiled Thursday as part of a brand new exhibit on the Savannah Historical past Museum. The cannons spent almost 240 years underwater.
“That is the biggest discovery of 18th century artillery from a single Revolutionary Struggle naval occasion,” mentioned Nora Fleming Lee, CEO of Coastal Heritage Society. “So the invention is admittedly vital nationwide, not only for Savannah.”
A crew with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stumbled upon the cannons in 2021 whereas dredging the river to accommodate bigger cargo ships.
Seventeen Revolutionary Struggle cannons have been restored and placed on show on the Savannah Historical past Museum. (Amy Galo)
“In complete, they introduced up 19 cannon and a dozen or so are small artifacts.… That they had fairly a little bit of concretion on them, oyster shells, all types of marine life that had connected itself to the cannon,” defined Fleming Lee.
Among the cannons have been discovered nonetheless full of cannonballs and gunpowder costs, together with different small artifacts.
The cannons have been discovered lined in marine life and concretion. (Amy Galo)
After being pulled from the river, a lot of the cannons left Georgia for a number of years for cleansing and preservation work at a Texas A&M University lab.
“Operating electrical currents primarily by a water tub that they have been in, and it desalinates the iron works, so it stabilizes iron to be on land,” mentioned Fleming Lee. “After which within the ultimate remedies, they’re painted with acid and given a spa remedy and waxed and that they’ll have a really lengthy life right here on land.”
Seventeen cannons have been restored. The opposite two have been left unrestored to permit guests a side-by-side comparability.
All 19 are completely on show as part of the brand new “Loyalists & Liberty: Savannah within the American Revolution” exhibit.
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Historians imagine the cannons sank shortly earlier than the siege of Savannah in 1779. On the time, Savannah was underneath British occupation.
A ship drives down the Savannah River in Savannah, Georgia. (Amy Galo)
“We imagine these cannons are the final of a number of ships that have been scuttled, on the narrowest a part of the Savannah River to behave as a blockade for the French fleet to forestall them from crusing up river and reclaiming Savannah for the American facet,” mentioned Fleming Lee.
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The cannons would’ve sunk simply weeks earlier than the Battle of Savannah, often known as one of many bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary Struggle, with over 800 casualties in underneath an hour. It was fought on the very floor the place the Savannah Historical past Museum now stands.
A memorial for the Battle of Savannah sits subsequent to the Savannah Historical past Museum. (Amy Galo)
“The cannons are actually the tangible artifacts which are telling the story of revolution,” mentioned Fleming Lee. “And thru that lens, we’re increasing Georgia’s revolutionary story. Extra in regards to the naval occasions, however extra importantly, we’re telling the story by the lens of those that aren’t usually targeted on.”
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The brand new exhibit tells the story of Savannah’s position in the birth of America from the lens of 5 distinctive historic figures, together with indigenous, free and enslaved individuals, girls and kids.
