Hartshorn Memorial Cannon
Encyclopedia
The Hartshorn Memorial Cannon is a decommissioned American Civil War
naval cannon that forms the centerpiece of the South Lyndeborough Village Common in Lyndeborough, New Hampshire
. The cannon is named for John Alonzo Hartshorn, the town's second Civil War casualty and a former member of the town's Lafayette Artillery Company
.
, and is believed to have remained there until substantial changes were made to the fort in the late 1890s. The black thirty-pounder Parrott rifle
is approximately 102 inches (259.1 cm) long, weighs 3495 pounds (1,585.3 kg), and was made at West Point Foundry in New York. Currently it sits on a low granite base which probably dates from about 1902. When in use, it was capable of firing 29 pounds (13.2 kg) shells with a munition charge of 3.25 pounds (1.5 kg) a maximum distance of 6700 yards (6,126.5 m), with a flight time of 27 seconds. Typically, nine people were required to operate it. The Hartshorn Cannon's use as a naval gun is suggested by an anchor insignia inscribed near the base of its barrel. Inscribed on the cannon is the letter-number combination "R.P.P. No. 140 3495 LBS," probably indicating the inventor (New Hampshire native Robert Parker Parrott
), order of manufacture, and weight of the cannon. Additionally, the year of manufacture (1862) and classification ("30 PDR") are indicated on one side of the gun, and the initial "P" is engraved on the other.
a cannon to place near its local headquarters, Citizens' Hall
, with the stipulation that the gift be considered a loan. The GAR post petitioned the town to allow it to grade a spot on which to place the cannon, and the town granted permission for it to do so on March 14, 1900. The post received the cannon in 1902. That year, at a dinner attended by more than 200 people at Citizens' Hall, the GAR dedicated the artillery piece to the memory of John Alonzo Hartshorn.
Hartshorn was born on July 14, 1840 to Susannah Putnam Hartshorn (1816–1903) and her husband, John Hartshorn (1811–1878), a deacon in the Baptist Church. The younger Hartshorn grew up in South Lyndeborough in a house at the corner of what today is Citizens' Hall Road and Forest Road/Route 31
. On May 20, 1861, he enlisted in the 2nd New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment
, infantry division, and served as part of the Army of the Potomac
in Virginia
. On May 5, 1862, Hartshorn was killed during the Battle of Williamsburg
in Virginia, becoming the second Lyndeborough resident to die in the Civil War. Harvey Holt, the namesake for the GAR post, was the town's—and according to Lyndeborough's official town history, state's—first Civil War fatality, having perished during the First Battle of Bull Run
.
In the early 1980s, Route 31 was widened, as a result of which the Hartshorn Cannon saw increased damage from winter plowing and salt use on the roadways. Therefore, in 2009, amidst some controversy, an unknown person or people moved the cannon to what the Board of Selectmen
eventually termed a "temporary location" in the Lyndeborough Center Historic District
, some three miles away. With the endorsement of the local newspaper, the Milford Cabinet
, the Selectmen appointed a committee of seven local experts to find a permanent location for the cannon, two additional war monuments, and a new Vietnam Memorial. This committee consisted of seven people who together included the Town Moderator, two Lafayette Artillery members, three Vietnam War
-era veterans (including one combat veteran), two former selectmen, two college professors, and three lifelong residents of the town. In April 2010, citing the desire to maintain the historic integrity of the Lyndeborough Center Historic District as well as South Lyndeborough, the group decided to place the memorials on the South Lyndeborough Village Common. The Hartshorn Cannon was moved back to the common (to a new location away from the road) in May 2010, and the cannon was a center of focus in the town's 2010 Memorial Day
ceremonies.
On August 21, 2010, the Monuments Committee unveiled a $30,000 plan for the South Lyndeborough common, which includes a redevelopment of the spot with fencing, trees, granite benches, walkways, and a Vietnam monument, as well as a new base for the Hartshorn Cannon. Sale of personalized bricks for the walkway and other fundraising ventures will finance the redevelopment.
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
naval cannon that forms the centerpiece of the South Lyndeborough Village Common in Lyndeborough, New Hampshire
Lyndeborough, New Hampshire
Lyndeborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,683 at the 2010 census.- History :Originally granted by the Massachusetts General Court to veterans of New England's first war with Canada from Salem, Massachusetts, the area was known as Salem-Canada...
. The cannon is named for John Alonzo Hartshorn, the town's second Civil War casualty and a former member of the town's Lafayette Artillery Company
Lafayette Artillery Company
The Lafayette Artillery Company was founded in Peterborough, New Hampshire, in 1804 as the Artillery Company of the 22nd Regiment. It was part of the State of New Hampshire's artillery system, a forerunner to the National Guard. The group has continued to operate continuously since its founding,...
.
Description
Prior to 1900, the Hartshorn Cannon saw service as a naval piece during the Civil War at Fort Constitution in New Castle, New HampshireNew Castle, New Hampshire
New Castle is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 968 at the 2010 census. It is the smallest town in New Hampshire, and the only one located entirely on islands. It is home to Fort Constitution Historic Site, Fort Stark Historic Site, and the New Castle...
, and is believed to have remained there until substantial changes were made to the fort in the late 1890s. The black thirty-pounder Parrott rifle
Parrott rifle
The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War.-Parrott Rifle:The gun was invented by Robert Parker Parrott, a West Point graduate. He resigned from the service in 1836 and became the superintendent of the West Point Foundry in Cold...
is approximately 102 inches (259.1 cm) long, weighs 3495 pounds (1,585.3 kg), and was made at West Point Foundry in New York. Currently it sits on a low granite base which probably dates from about 1902. When in use, it was capable of firing 29 pounds (13.2 kg) shells with a munition charge of 3.25 pounds (1.5 kg) a maximum distance of 6700 yards (6,126.5 m), with a flight time of 27 seconds. Typically, nine people were required to operate it. The Hartshorn Cannon's use as a naval gun is suggested by an anchor insignia inscribed near the base of its barrel. Inscribed on the cannon is the letter-number combination "R.P.P. No. 140 3495 LBS," probably indicating the inventor (New Hampshire native Robert Parker Parrott
Robert Parker Parrott
Robert Parker Parrott was an American soldier and inventor of military ordnance.-Biography:Born in Lee, New Hampshire, he was the son of John Fabyan Parrott. He graduated with honors from the United States Military Academy, third in the Class of 1824. Parrott was assigned to the Third Regiment of...
), order of manufacture, and weight of the cannon. Additionally, the year of manufacture (1862) and classification ("30 PDR") are indicated on one side of the gun, and the initial "P" is engraved on the other.
The cannon and the Grand Army of the Republic
In 1900, the United States War Department offered Lyndeborough's Harvey Holt Post of the Grand Army of the RepublicGrand Army of the Republic
The Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, US Marines and US Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. Founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, it was dissolved in 1956 when its last member died...
a cannon to place near its local headquarters, Citizens' Hall
Citizens' Hall
Citizens' Hall is the government office building and a community meeting place for the town of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire. Built in 1889 in the Eastlake/Stick Style, but one that is also heavily influenced by the Greek Revival, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its...
, with the stipulation that the gift be considered a loan. The GAR post petitioned the town to allow it to grade a spot on which to place the cannon, and the town granted permission for it to do so on March 14, 1900. The post received the cannon in 1902. That year, at a dinner attended by more than 200 people at Citizens' Hall, the GAR dedicated the artillery piece to the memory of John Alonzo Hartshorn.
Hartshorn was born on July 14, 1840 to Susannah Putnam Hartshorn (1816–1903) and her husband, John Hartshorn (1811–1878), a deacon in the Baptist Church. The younger Hartshorn grew up in South Lyndeborough in a house at the corner of what today is Citizens' Hall Road and Forest Road/Route 31
New Hampshire Route 31
New Hampshire Route 31 is a long north–south state highway in southern New Hampshire. It runs from Mason on the Massachusetts border to Goshen....
. On May 20, 1861, he enlisted in the 2nd New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment
2nd New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment
2nd New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment was the longest-serving volunteer regiment of the State of New Hampshire in the American Civil War. The 2nd New Hampshire was organized in early 1861 and mustered in June 4, 1861. The 2nd NH fought from First Bull Run until the occupation of Richmond...
, infantry division, and served as part of the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. On May 5, 1862, Hartshorn was killed during the Battle of Williamsburg
Battle of Williamsburg
The Battle of Williamsburg, also known as the Battle of Fort Magruder, took place on May 5, 1862, in York County, James City County, and Williamsburg, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War...
in Virginia, becoming the second Lyndeborough resident to die in the Civil War. Harvey Holt, the namesake for the GAR post, was the town's—and according to Lyndeborough's official town history, state's—first Civil War fatality, having perished during the First Battle of Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas , was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the City of Manassas...
.
The cannon and the South Lyndeborough Common
By 1934, all of Lyndeborough's Civil War veterans had died, and the Harvey Holt Post had ceased to exist. Meanwhile, changes were coming to South Lyndeborough. In 1914, the local improvement society redeveloped a central plot of land near the depot into a village common. By 1933, the state had taken over control of Forest Road and turned it into State Route 31, a move which promised to significantly increase automobile traffic in the small town of 399 people. Yet the paving of Route 31 in 1933 also disrupted the common, tearing up shrubs and grass and bringing about a greater awareness of the common's prominent location among local voters. Therefore, as part of an effort to improve the village green, in 1934 the town voted to move the Hartshorn Memorial Cannon to the common—coincidentally, to a location viewable from both Alonzo Hartshorn's childhood home and his church. In carrying out the voters' wishes, however, the town accidentally placed the cannon within the state's Route 31 right-of-way.In the early 1980s, Route 31 was widened, as a result of which the Hartshorn Cannon saw increased damage from winter plowing and salt use on the roadways. Therefore, in 2009, amidst some controversy, an unknown person or people moved the cannon to what the Board of Selectmen
Board of selectmen
The board of selectmen is commonly the executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms.-History:...
eventually termed a "temporary location" in the Lyndeborough Center Historic District
Lyndeborough Center Historic District
The Lyndeborough Center Historic District, located in the town of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, consists of three structures: the Town Pound, Town Hall, and Congregational Church. The district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984...
, some three miles away. With the endorsement of the local newspaper, the Milford Cabinet
Milford Cabinet
The Milford Cabinet is the commonly used name for the weekly newspaper The Cabinet, published in Milford, New Hampshire since 1802.- External links :*...
, the Selectmen appointed a committee of seven local experts to find a permanent location for the cannon, two additional war monuments, and a new Vietnam Memorial. This committee consisted of seven people who together included the Town Moderator, two Lafayette Artillery members, three Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
-era veterans (including one combat veteran), two former selectmen, two college professors, and three lifelong residents of the town. In April 2010, citing the desire to maintain the historic integrity of the Lyndeborough Center Historic District as well as South Lyndeborough, the group decided to place the memorials on the South Lyndeborough Village Common. The Hartshorn Cannon was moved back to the common (to a new location away from the road) in May 2010, and the cannon was a center of focus in the town's 2010 Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
ceremonies.
On August 21, 2010, the Monuments Committee unveiled a $30,000 plan for the South Lyndeborough common, which includes a redevelopment of the spot with fencing, trees, granite benches, walkways, and a Vietnam monument, as well as a new base for the Hartshorn Cannon. Sale of personalized bricks for the walkway and other fundraising ventures will finance the redevelopment.
Sources
- D. Donovan and J.A. Woodward, The History of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, 1735-1905 (Boston: Tufts, 1906).
- N. Martin, "Who Moved Lyndeborough Monuments?" Ledger-Transcript (Peterborough NH) November 2009
- "Local Issue, But..." The Cabinet (Milford NH) January 21, 2010,
- Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, town web site
- S.A. Roper and S.C. Roper, Citizen Soldiers: New Hampshire's Lafayette Artillery Company, 1804-2004 (Portsmouth NH: Peter E. Randall, 2004).
- J. Salisbury, "Veterans' Memorials Moved to Temporary Home," The Cabinet (Milford NH) November 4, 2009
- J. Salisbury, "War Memorials Committee Formed," The Cabinet, January 14, 2010
- J. Salisbury, "2 Memorials, Cannon back in Lyndeborough," Nashua Telegraph (Nashua NH) May 4, 2010
- J. Salisbury, "Lyndeborough Common plans being Finalized," The Cabinet, August 19, 2010
- D. Shalhoup, "Memorial Day Around the Souhegan Valley," The Cabinet, June 3, 2010
- "West Point Foundry"