PETERSBURG, Va. — A bronze 12-pdr. Napoleon cannon, captured by Confederate forces in the Battle of Reams Station on Aug. 25, 1864, has a new home at Petersburg National Battlefield's visitor center.
Originally one of four guns manned by Battery B, 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, it was taken in battle by members of Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill's force under the command of Gen. Samuel McGowan.
The cannon tube, made by Revere Copper Company in Boston, Mass., was received in a trade involving Vicksburg (Mississippi) National Battlefield and Fort Washington Park in Maryland. It has been placed upon a reproduction wooden cannon carriage and is on display in the battlefield park museum.
Of the more than 60 original cannon tubes on display throughout the park, the Rhode Island barrel is the only one that is known to have seen service during the siege of Petersburg. Having its battle history makes it even more important as an acquisition to the park's collection, says historian Chris Calkins.
According to the battery’s regimental history, the gun was one of four captured as the Rhode Island soldiers abandoned their cannon after running out of ammunition. The surging Confederates then turned the guns on the retreating Federal forces. The defeated Union troops were forced to fall back to the Petersburg lines as the Southerners celebrated a victory at Reams Station.
The Battle of Reams Station, about nine miles south of the city, was fought in an effort to stop Union troops of the Second Corps from further destroying the Weldon Railroad toward Stony Creek Station. A few days earlier the Federal Fifth Corps had gained a foothold on this Confederate supply line at Globe Tavern to the north.