Project Summary

Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Trades department proposes to build a precisely accurate and fully equipped reproduction of a Revolutionary War light 3-pounder cannon. It will be the highest quality, most accurate reproduction of an eighteenth-century cannon in the Historic Area and, quite possibly, in England or America.

Reproducing the cannon will require the participation of a number of trade shops: founders, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, gunsmiths, harness makers, tailors, weavers, brick makers, tool makers, and carpenters. Together, they will illustrate the complexity of production needed to support the Revolution. The finished cannon will be a showpiece of Colonial Williamsburg’s capabilities, and we will use it in a variety of special demonstrations and presentations.

The project involves casting and finishing a bronze barrel, mounting it on a wheeled carriage, building a limber to tow the gun, and equipping both with their full compliment of tools, accessories, and inert ammunition. With the exception of boring the barrel, for which we do not have historically appropriate machinery, all work will be undertaken in Colonial Williamsburg trade shops using 18th-century technology.

Casting the bronze barrel will be one of the more ambitious tasks ever undertaken by Historic Trades. It involves making a pattern, using the pattern to create a mold, and pouring hundreds of pounds of molten metal. The casting site will be near Great Hopes Plantation.

Schedule

The project will be undertaken in two phases over two years. During Phase I, we will produce the barrel and mount it on a carriage with detachable shafts and fitted with all side arms and boxes with their contents. Phase II will complete the project by producing the limber and remaining accessories.

Project Components

Phase I

Bronze barrel
“Butterfly” carriage, with iron hardware, carriage-mounted storage boxes
Rope components
Equipment straps, men’s harness, leather bucket
Inert ammunition: powder bags, round shot, case shot
Gun tools: forked lever, sponge, wad hook, handspikes, ladle, tampion
Tarpaulin cover
Felling axe
Pickaxe
Handbill
Wooden blocks

Phase II

Limber
Equipment straps
Wall gun (to be mounted on limber)