Artillery in the USA: Massachusetts: Amesbury, Andover, Ayer, Belmont, Billerica, Boston, Boxford, Brimfield, Burlington, Cambridge, Camp Edwards, Charlestown, Chicopee, Concord, Danvers, Dedham, Duxbury, East Douglas, Easton, Fairhaven, Fall River

Artillery preserved in Massachusetts

One of the aims of this website is to locate, identify and document every historical piece of artillery preserved in New England.  Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these tangible pieces of our military history and the list you see here is constantly being revised as new finds are discovered and the data is updated.  The photos have come from various contributors, but the author likes to "ground truth" the reports, so a good number of the photos are by the author unless otherwise credited.  Any errors found here are by the author.   It often happens that military monuments that are relatively mobile, have been moved for restoration or scrapped, sometimes they are repainted with different markings and serial numbers, or they are replaced with a different piece of kit.  For those reasons, any additions, deletions, corrections or amendments that you may be able to add to this list of Artillery and AFVs in New England would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at [email protected].  The primary aim is preserve our military history and to keep the record accurate.

Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFV) preserved in Massachusetts are listed on a separate page on this web site.

Amesbury

(Brian Eaton Photo)

(Anne Blake Photo)

3.2-inch Rifled Gun (Serial No. 1), built and cast by the Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet, N.Y., in 1892, mounted on an iron carriage, on a concrete stand, Mount Prospect Cemetery, Elm Street, near Oak Street.  The city or the Mount Prospect Cemetery association has now mounted the 3.2-inch FLG on wheels.

(Allen Tanner Photos)

German First World War 10.5-cm leichte Feldhaubitze 16 (10.5-cm leFH 16) light field howitzer (Serial Nr. TBC), mounted on a wheeled gun carriage, standing on a plinth.  This gun was captured during the First World War, Route 110, Union cemetery.  The 7.7cm Feldkanone 16 (FK 16) and 10.5cm light field howitzer were mounted on the same field carriage.

Andover

(Town of Andover Photo)

German First World War 10.5-cm leichte Feldhaubitze 16 (10.5-cm leFH 16) light field howitzer (Serial Nr. TBC), mounted on a wheeled gun carriage, barrel in the recoil position, captured by American forces during the First World War.  Donated to the Town in 1932 by Andover Post No. 2128 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.  This field gun was restored in 2009.

Ayer

(king.hubi Photos)

105-mm M3 Howitzer, Serial No. 2080, dated 1943.  Town Hall, 1 Main Street.

The 105-mm M3 Howitzer was a U.S. light howitzer designed for use by airborne troops.  The gun utilized the barrel of the 105-mm Howitzer M2, shortened and fitted to a slightly modified split trail carriage of the 75-mm pack howitzer.  The howitzer was used by the U.S. Army during the Second World War.  It was issued to airborne units and to artillery companies of infantry regiments.

Ayer Town Hall with the 105-mm M3 Howitzer on the right, on 1 Main Street.  (John Phelan Photo)

American 105-mm M3 howitzers shelling German forces retreating near Carentan, France, summer 1944.  (NARA Photo 531199)

Belmont

(Pablo Photo)

German Great War  7.7-cm FK 16 Field Gun, Belmont Center First World War Memorial.

(Daderot Photo)

Cast Iron 24-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, mounted on a wood naval gun carriage, War Memorial standing across from the Belmont Lions Club.  This Gun was removed from the USS Constitution at Boston 1931.

(Pablo Photo)

Cast Iron 24-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, mounted on a wood naval gun carriage, No. 1 of 2, Belmont Lions Club.

Cast Iron 24-poundersmoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, mounted on a wood naval gun carriage, No. 1 of 2, Belmont Lions Club.

Billerica

(Daderot Photos)

4.2-inch (30-pounder) Parrott Rifle, mounted on a concrete stand, on the Town Common.

Boston

(Jonathan Skaarup Photos)

105-mm M2A1 howitzer (Serial No. 10622), US ARMY 14-84-125M, on the water front.

(City of Vancouver Archives Photo, AM54-S4-: Mil P141.6)

Gatling Gun being used by a National Guard Unit visiting Vancouver, British Columbia for an international competition in 1906.

(Daderot Photo)

Gatling Gun. (TBC).  Anthony’s Pier Four Restaurant.  Similar to this Gatling Gun, M1805, in the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta.

The Gatling gun is one of the best-known early rapid-fire spring loaded, hand cranked weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun.  Invented by Richard Gatling, it is known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War, which was the first time it was employed in combat.  Later, it was used again in numerous military conflicts, including the assault on San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War.  It was also used by militias and the National Guard.  The Gatling gun's operation centered on a cyclic multi-barrel design which facilitated cooling and synchronized the firing-reloading sequence. Each barrel fired a single shot when it reached a certain point in the cycle, after which it ejected the spent cartridge, loaded a new round, and, in the process, allowed the barrel to cool somewhat. This configuration allowed higher rates of fire to be achieved without the barrels overheating.

 (Daderot Photo)

Boston, Faneuil Hall.

Faneuil Hall is located near the waterfront and serves as the Government Center, in Boston.  It has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1743.  It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain.  Now it is part of Boston National Historic Park and is a well-known stop on the Freedom Trail.  It is sometimes referred to as "the Cradle of Liberty".

(Metro2 Photo)

Gatling Gun, mounted on an iron tripod stand without the magazine.  Faneuil Hall.  This gun is inside the Hall and a sign states it was "Gatlin's (sic) United States Navy Experimental of 1881.  Calibre .45, ten barrels.  The Gatling gun is one of the best-known early rapid-fire spring loaded, hand cranked weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine-gun.  Invented by Richard Gatling, it is known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat.  This gun has ten barrels on a common axis with a revolving breech.  The cartridges were fed into the breech on top by gravity and struck by hammers as they came into position.  The Gatling gun's operation centered on a cyclic multi-barrel design which facilitated cooling and synchronized the firing-reloading sequence.  Each barrel fired a single shot when it reached a certain point in the cycle, after which it ejected the spent cartridge, loaded a new round, and, in the process, allowed the barrel to cool somewhat.  This configuration allowed higher rates of fire to be achieved without the barrels overheating.

(Metro2 Photo)

Bronze 3-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading gun mounted on a wheeled gun carriage.  This gun has a 48" barrel and was manufactured by P. Seestra in 1778.

Cast Iron 24-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, mounted on a wood naval gun carriage.  This Gun was removed from the USS Constitution at Boston 1931.  It is located in the Gardens at Gethsemane in the West Roxbury section of Boston, between the fork in the road at the beginning of the Gardens, as a memorial to veterans.  The Gun has a plaque on the side with the following text:

"This gun was procured from the Charlestown Navy Yard March 8, 1932 by the Supt. of the Martin Luther Orphans' Home, Rev. C. T. Ohlinger, by order of Rear Admiral Larimer, Chief of Ordnance Department, Wash., D.C. The gun was formerly on the Frigate Constitution.  Placed here in memory of Camp Andrew, Second Mass. Infantry, 1861-1865".  

Camp Andrew was a temporary facility to train soldiers for the Civil War.  The Massachusetts Second took part in a number of battles in that war, including Gettysburg and Antietum.  Robert Gould Shaw was with this infantry for 18 months before leading the Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry.  The USS Constitution is currently the world's oldest active commissioned warship.  This ship is also one of the most celebrated U.S. warships, having taken engaged the British in many battles.   To get to the cemetery, from the VFW Parkway, take a left onto Baker Street and drive approximately a quarter mile to the access road on the left.  Take a left and follow the access road to the cannon, straight ahead.

Boston National Historic Park, Charleston Navy Yard

(Santee1821 Photos)

US Navy "Gradual Increase" 32-Pounder of 60 Hundredweight displayed at the Boston National Historic Park.  In the background the frigate USS Constitution and the Fletcher class destroyer Cassin Young can be seen. This cannon was manufactured at the West Point Foundry in 1820 for the United States Navy.  This particular cannon is a relic of the fleet built for the US Navy after the War of 1812, and saw service at sea with the US Navy in the decades before the American Civil War. “An Act for the Gradual Increase of the Navy of the United States” was passed by Congress April 29th, 1816.  The act authorized nine ships of the line and twelve frigates to be constructed for the navy.  It is marked as registry number 149 and as weighing 60-2-27 in hundredweight (6,803 pounds).  According to the research of Wayne E. Stark, the cannon was carried aboard the ship of the line USS Ohio in the 1840s (The Big Guns, pg. 210).

(Kevin Rutherford Photo)

USS Boston ship's bell and two 3-inch (76-mm)/50 calibre deck guns facing the harbour.

32-pounder M1864 (6.2-inch) Dahlgren Shell Gun, 4,500 lbs, near flag pole.

4.2-inch 30-pounder Parrott Rifle.

42-pounder M1845 smoothbore muzzleloading Seacoast Gun, Cyrus Alger & Co., Boston, weight 8,500-lbs, No. 1 of 2 being used as a bollard near Dry Dock No. 1.

42-pounder M1845 smoothbore muzzleloading Seacoast Gun, Cyrus Alger & Co., Boston, weight 8,500-lbs, No. 2 of 2 being used as a bollard near Dry Dock No. 1.

(USN Photo)

IX-inch Dahlgren Shell Gun on a slide-pivot mounting is seen in operation aboard a U.S. Navy warship during the Civil War.

IX-inch Dahlgren Shell Gun, No. 1 of 4.

IX-inch Dahlgren Shell Gun, No. 2 of 4.

IX-inch Dahlgren Shell Gun, No. 3 of 4.

IX-inch Dahlgren Shell Gun, No. 4 of 4.

Eleven IX-inch Dahlgren Shell Guns being used as bollards at Dry Docks No. 1 and No. 2.

1,185 IX-inch Dahlgren shell guns were cast at Alger, Bellona, Fort Pitt, Seyfert, McManus & Co., Tredegar, and West Point foundries between 1855 and 1864. Fort Pitt Foundry also made 16 for the army in 1861.  The IX-inch Dahlgren was the most popular and versatile of Dahlgren shell guns made. The IX- guns served as broadside armament on larger ships such as the USS Susquehanna, which carried 12 IX-inch Dahlgren guns in broadside mounts in addition to her two pivot guns and the USS Powhatan which carried 10 IX-inch guns in broadside mounts in addition to her two XI-inch Dahlgren pivot guns.  These broadside guns would normally be mounted on a Marsilly carriage.  Smaller coastal blockade ships such as the USS Fort Henry and USS Hunchback mounted IX-inch Dahlgrens on pivot mounts.  IX-inch Dahlgrens were used on several river gunboats such as USS Essex and the USS Benton.  If mounted as either a pivot gun or a broadside gun the IX-inch Dahlgren had a crew of 16 and a powderman.  (Wikipedia)

(Gutekunst Photo)

USS Susquehanna, sidewheel steam frigate, ca 1860s.

Boston Harbor, Little Brewster Island

(USCG Photo)

Boston Harbor Lighthouse Gun, ca 1914.

(Tom Richardson Photo)

Cast Iron 24-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, dated 1700.  Boston Harbor Lighthouse Gun, mounted on a wood naval gun carriage inside the Lighthouse Museum.  In 1719, America’s first fog signal, this gun, was installed beside the lighthouse on Little Brewster Island where it remained until the early 1960s, when it was moved to the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.  In 1993, it was brought back to the island, where it is currently on display.

Boston Harbor, Peddecks Island, Fort Andrews

(Coast Defense Study Group Photo)

Fort Andrews aerial view, ca 1932.  At right are the three concrete gun batteries: Battery Rice (never armed) at top, Battery McCook (two 6-inch guns M1900), and Battery Bumpus (two 3-inch guns) at the extreme right edge of the photo.

Fort Andrews was created in 1897 as part of the Coast Defenses of Boston, Massachusetts. Construction began in 1898 and the fort was substantially complete by 1904. The fort was named after Major General George Leonard Andrews, an engineer and Civil War commander, who assisted in the construction of nearby Fort Warren in Boston Harbor. It occupies the entire northeast end of Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor, and was originally called the Peddocks Island Military Reservation. Once an active Coast Artillery post, it was manned by hundreds of soldiers and bristled with mortars and guns that controlled the southern approaches to Boston and Quincy Bay. The fort also served as a prisoner-of-war camp for Italian prisoners during the Second World War, who were employed as labourers following the Italian surrender to the Allies in 1943. Today, the fort is abandoned, and is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, as part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.

(Library of Congress Photo)

At the height of its armament, the fort had sixteen M1896 mortars in four pits of four mortars each.

This photo most likely depicts Pit A of Battery Cushing at Fort Andrews.  Fort Andrews' gun and mortar batteries as built were as follows:

Battery Cushing with eight 12-inch M1890 coast defence mortars mounted on M1896 barbettes; Battery Whitman with eight 12-inch M1890 coast defence mortars mounted on M1896 barbettes; Battery McCook with two 6-inch M1900 guns mounted on M1900 pedestals; Battery Rice with two 5-inch M1900 guns mounted on M1903 pedestals; and Battery Bumpus with two 3-inch M1902 guns mounted on M1902 pedestals.

In its heyday, the fort's armament was impressive. Fort Andrews was the site of one of Boston Harbor's two 12-inch coast defense mortar complexes (the other was Fort Banks), meant to protect the southern approaches to Boston Harbor. The two pits of Battery Whitman at the northwest end of the fort were initially planned to be the first two pits of a four-pit (16-mortar) battery, in a so-called Abbott Quad design. With a range of 7 miles, these batteries could in fact have reached both the northern and southern channels into the harbor, interlocking with the fire of Fort Banks' mortars.

As it was, only two pits (in a north-south alignment) were built for Battery Whitman (Whitman Pit A is the southerly one, with Pit B behind it), and two more, of a slightly different design, became Battery Cushing (built just to the east and in an east-west alignment). When fully equipped, these pits contained 16 12-inch coast defense mortars, able to bombard the southern approaches to the harbor with projectiles weighing over 1,000 pounds (450 kg) each. Three of the mortar pits are still visible. The fourth (the most easterly of Cushing's two pits - Pit A) has been partially filled with debris from the recent demolition of other structures at the fort.

The Boston press reported that when the mortars were test-fired in the 1920, they literally blew doors off of nearby barracks buildings and broke windows at the fort. Island residents also told of the blast from the mortar barrels igniting brush fires on the grassy slopes of the mortar pits.

In addition, the fort had two 6-inch guns of Battery McCook (and until 1917 two 5-inch guns of Battery Rice) and two 3-inch guns of Battery Bumpus in concrete emplacements at the top of the bluff northeast of the fort, overlooking Nantasket Roads (the main channel to Quincy Bay), the shipyards beyond, and (formerly) the southern entrance to Boston Harbor itself. The gun emplacements can still be seen, but they are seriously deteriorated and somewhat dangerous to visit.

Fort Andrews was constructed in 1898-1904, one of many forts of the Endicott program, including an initial seven forts in the Boston area. Fort Andrews was one of two Endicott period forts of this size in Boston Harbor, the other being Fort Strong, on Long Island, and after the demolition of almost all of Fort Strong's wooden structures in about 2005 to make way for a children's camp, Fort Andrews is the sole survivor of its type in Massachusetts.

In 1910 the four M1890 mortars of Battery Whitman, Pit A, were removed to provide half the armament for Battery Geary at Fort Mills on Corregidor Island in the Philippines. In 1913 Pit A was rearmed with four M1908 mortars.

The First World War brought further changes to Fort Andrews' armament. In February 1917 Battery Rice's two 5-inch guns were transferred to Fort Story at Cape Henry, Virginia for an emergency battery. The 5-inch gun was withdrawn from Coast Artillery service shortly after the war, and these guns were never replaced. In August 1917, Battery McCook's two 6-inch guns were ordered dismounted for potential service on field carriages on the Western Front. It appears these guns never left the fort, and they were remounted in 1920. As part of a forcewide re-alignment, almost half of Fort Andrews' mortars were removed in early 1918. It was determined that attempting to simultaneously reload four mortars per pit was inefficient, and that a similar rate of fire could be obtained with only two mortars per pit. Also, many 12-inch mortars were needed as railway artillery for potential service on the Western Front. None of these mortars were shipped to France before the Armistice, but many were retained as railway mortars through the Second World War. The result at Fort Andrews was that Battery Cushing was reduced to four mortars and Battery Whitman was reduced to six mortars. For some reason, Pit A of Battery Whitman retained its four M1908 mortars. By the 1920s, Fort Andrews consisted of some 30 structures (see map at left), ranging from large brick barracks buildings that housed over 100 soldiers each to elegant officers' quarters and a 50-bed hospital. The fort had a radio transmitting station, one of the Army's earliest.

After the First World War, Fort Andrews was put on caretaker status ("mothballed"), and was brought back into action again during the Second World War. By the 1930s the fort's mortars were superseded by the long-range guns of Fort Ruckman and Fort Duvall. In 1942 the fort's massive coast defense mortars were scrapped, but its 6-inch and 3-inch guns served out the war guarding the southern approaches to Boston Harbor. In 1946, Ft. Andrews was decommissioned by the Army, and in the 1970s it was purchased, along with the rest of Peddocks Island, by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (Wikipedia)

(US Army Signal Corps Photo)

16-inch Gun M1919, Fort Duvall, Hog Island, Hull, Massachusetts, 11 July 1928.

Boston Harbor, Castle Island, Fort Independence

(US Navy Photo)

Aerial view of Fort Independence on Castle Island in Boston harbour, ca 1942.

(National Parks Service Photo)

Fort Independence.

(Victor Grigas Photo)

(Chris Wood Photo)

Fort Independence, view from the water.

Fort Independence is a granite star fort that provided harbor defenses for Boston.  Located on Castle Island, Fort Independence is one of the oldest continuously fortified sites of English origin in the United States.  The first primitive fortification was placed on the site in 1634 and replaced in 1701 with a more substantial structure known as Castle William.  Re-built after it was abandoned by the British during the American Revolution, Castle William was renamed Fort Adams and then Fort Independence.  The existing granite fort was constructed between 1833 and 1851.  Today it is preserved as a state park and fires occasional ceremonial salutes.  Fort Independence was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.  (Wikipedia)

(National Parks Service Photo)

Fort Independence Battery looking North East, four of five guns shown in 1941.

15-inch Rodman Gun, (Columbiad, 15-inch, smoothbore, seacoast, M1861), fibreglass replica, mounted.

10-inch Rodman, fibreglass replica, mounted.

(US Navy Photo)

8-inch Siege Mortar M1861, Fort Warren.

(Hal Jespersen Photo)

3.67-inch (20-pounder) Parrott Rifle, No. 1 of 2.  

3.67-inch (20-pounder) Parrott Rifle, No. 2 of 2.  These guns were used in the American Civil War by the Navy and were converted to breechloaders in the 1880’s.

Spanish bronze smoothbore muzzle-loading gun.

Cast Iron 24-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, mounted on a wood naval gun carriage.  This Gun was removed from the USS Constitution at Boston 1931.

(Author Photo)

Cast Iron smoothbore muzzle-loading 24-pounder replica guns mounted on wood naval carriages, USS Constitution.

(USS Constitution Facebook Photo)

USS Constitution underway off Castle Island for the 200th anniversary of her victory over HMS Guerriere, 19 August 2012.  

Boston Harbor, Lovell's Island, Fort Standish

(Fish Cop Photo)

3-inch gun emplacement of Battery Williams at Fort Standish.

Fort Standish was a coastal fort completed in 1907 and located on Lovell's Island in Massachusetts. Named after Myles Standish, the fort would serve to host up to 7 batteries until it was disarmed and deactivated in 1947. It was also named Lovell's Island Military Reservation during the early part of its existence. It was part of the Coast (later Harbor) Defenses of Boston.  Along with Fort Warren, Fort Andrews, Fort Banks, Fort Strong, and others, it was among the first modern defenses of Boston Harbor. The fort was de-activated in 1947 and in 1962 became part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.

Fort Standish was built 1899-1907. The gun batteries over its history through 1947 included:

Battery Burbeck, with two 10-inch M1900 guns mounted on disappearing M1901 carriages; Battery Morris with two 10-inch M1900 guns mounted on disappearing M1901 carriages; Battery Terrill with three 6-inch M1897 guns mounted on disappearing M1898 carriages; Battery Whipple with two 6-inch M1900 guns mounted on M1900 pedestal mounts; Battery Vincent with four 3-inch M1898 guns mounted on M1898 masking parapets; Battery Weir with two 3-inch M1902/M1903 guns mounted on pedestals; Battery Williams with three 3-inch M1898 guns mounted on M1898 masking parapets. Two or three Anti-aircraft Batteries mounted 3-inch M1917 guns on AA pedestals; and Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat Battery (AMTB) 943 was equipped with four 90-mm M1A2 anti-aircraft guns, two fixed M3 and two towed.

(Library of Congress Photo)

10-inch Gun at Fort Standish, Boston Harbor, Circa 1918.

Batteries Burbeck and Morris were originally combined as Battery Burbeck, but were administratively separated in 1909. The 10-inch guns were the fort's main armament against enemy battleships; the 6-inch guns could fire more rapidly against cruisers. The 3-inch rapid fire guns were intended to defend an underwater mine field against minesweepers. One source states the fort was first garrisoned in 1909, and at that time the 10-inch guns had not yet been mounted and Battery Williams' guns were not on site.

After the American entry into the First World War in early 1917, the fort was expanded to include temporary structures such as quarters and additional storehouses.  The 10-inch guns of Batteries Burbeck and Morris were earmarked for potential use as railway artillery but never left the fort. Battery Whipple's two 6-inch guns were removed from the fort in September 1917 for potential use on field carriages, but apparently were not sent overseas and were returned to the fort in April 1919.  An anti-aircraft battery of two guns was on the island 1917-1923. After the war the fort's support buildings were reduced to three "permanent" buildings.

In 1920 Battery Vincent was disarmed as part of a general removal from service of its 3-inch M1898 Driggs-Seabury guns.  Official plans of the fort indicate that Battery Williams was also armed with this type of gun, but the battery was not removed from service until 1946.  Both batteries are listed with "BP" (balanced pillar) carriages; this was a retractable carriage used for 5-inch guns that was functionally identical to the "masking parapet" carriages that were Driggs-Seabury's patent. In 1926 Battery Weir was disarmed and abandoned due to beach erosion; it is possible that Battery Williams was disarmed in 1920 and rearmed with Battery Weir's guns, or rearmed from some other source.  In 1925 two of Battery Vincent's vacant positions were converted for an antiaircraft battery of two 3-inch M1917 AA guns; a third gun was added in 1938.

Prior to the American entry into the Second World War in December 1941, the fort also included many new temporary structures as it had previously in the First World War.  In addition, the fort's complement increased to around 800 men, including 14 officers and 4 NCOs.  In 1942 the fort's 10-inch guns were scrapped; they were superseded by the long-range guns of Fort Duvall and Fort Ruckman, soon to be augmented by Battery Murphy at the East Point Military Reservation.  Battery Terrill's 6-inch disappearing guns followed in 1943, leaving only Batteries Whipple and Williams active.  That year Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat Battery (AMTB) 943 was built, with two fixed and two towed 90-mm M1A2 anti-aircraft guns.  Fort Standish's guns were scrapped and the fort abandoned in 1946-1947.  The island was transferred to the state in 1958 and became part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area in 1962.

Boston Harbor, George’s Island, Fort Warren

(Doc Searls Photo)

Aerial view of Fort Warren on Georges Island in Boston Harbor.

(Zandcee Photo)

(AlexiusHoratius Photo)

Views of the sallyport or entrance to Fort Warren, pictures taken from the guardhouse.

Fort Warren is a historic fort on Georges Island at the entrance to Boston Harbor.   The fort is a pentagonal star fort, made with stone and granite, and was constructed from 1833–1861, completed shortly after the beginning of the American Civil War.  Fort Warren defended the harbor in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1861 through the end of the Second World War, and during the Civil War served as a prison for Confederate officers and government officials.  The fort remained active through the Spanish-American War and the First World War, and was re-activated during the Second World War.  It was permanently decommissioned in 1947, and is now a tourist site.  It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 as a masterpiece of coastal engineering of the pre-Civil War period, and for its role in the Civil War.  It was named for Revolutionary war hero Dr. Joseph Warren, who sent Paul Revere on his famous ride, and was later killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill.  The name was transferred from the first Fort Warren in 1833, which was renamed Fort Winthrop.

(Zandcee Photo)

(Alexius Horatiius Photo)

10-inch Rodman Gun, (Columbiad, 10-inch, smoothbore, seacoast, M1861), Fort Warren. The Rodman gun is any of a series of American Civil War–era columbiads designed by Union artilleryman Thomas Jackson Rodman[1] (1815–1871). The guns were designed to fire both shot and shell. These heavy guns were intended to be mounted in seacoast fortifications. They were built in 8-inch, 10-inch, 13-inch, 15-inch, and 20-inch bore. Other than size, the guns were all nearly identical in design, with a curving bottle shape, large flat cascabels with ratchets or sockets for the elevating mechanism. Rodman guns were true guns that did not have a howitzer-like powder chamber, as did many earlier columbiads. Rodman guns differed from all previous artillery because they were hollow cast, a new technology that Rodman developed that resulted in cast-iron guns that were much stronger than their predecessors. (Wikipedia)

The fort was originally designed for over 200 guns, including some mortars and flank howitzers.  During the Civil War it was armed with 10-inch Rodman Guns, (Columbiad, 10-inch, smoothbore, seacoast, M1861), and 15-inch Rodman Guns, (Columbiad, 15-inch, smoothbore, seacoast, M1861).  In the 1870s Fort Warren was upgraded with new barbette batteries on the parapets, and a six-gun external battery was added; these were armed with Rodman guns.  From 1892 to 1903 Fort Warren was rebuilt to accommodate modern breech-loading rifled guns under the Endicott program.

Five batteries were added to the fort, replacing some of the older gun positions, as follows:

Battery Adams, one 10-inch M1888 gun mounted on an M1894 disappearing carriage; Battery Bartlett, four 10-inch M1888 guns with mounted on M1894 disappearing carriages and two mounted on M1896 disappearing carriages; Battery Lowell with three 3-inch M1898 guns mounted on M1898 masking parapets, Battery Plunkett with two 4-inch M1896 guns mounted on M1896 pedestal mounts and Battery Stevenson with two 12-inch M1895 guns mounted on M1897 disappearing carriages.

(Coast Defense Study Group Photo)

12-inch gun M1895 on a disappearing carriage, M1896.

The gun shown in this photo is in the "from battery" position, with its breech lowered (for loading) to a level just above the gun platform.  After loading, the tripping lever (seen here slanting back and down from the front of the carriage) was released, letting a 9 foot tall, 82-ton pile of lead weights (the counterweight) descend into a pit beneath the carriage, and rotating the gun, suspending from the two massive gun levers, up and forward so that its muzzle rose above the parapet for firing. After firing, the gun's recoil was damped primarily by the two large recoil cylinders, one on each side of the top carriage, and also by the work of lifting the counterweight back into position, where it was held until the tripping lever was released again. The two long bars running back to the carriage from near the breech of the gun are the gun arms, which guided the breech during recoil and were used to elevate the gun. The bright white object at top center-left is the telescopic sight for the gun, covered by a protective tarp. The soldier sighting the gun did so from the catwalk on the top left side of the piece. From here he could control the motors that traversed the gun carriage and changed the elevation of the gun. He could also fire the gun electrically.  (Wikipedia)

The two 12-inch (305-mm) and five 10-inch (254-mm) guns were Fort Warren's main armament against enemy battleships. For defense against smaller vessels, particularly to defend nearby mine fields against minesweepers, two 4-inch (102-mm) and three 3-inch (76-mm) guns were included.  The 4-inch guns were a Navy design by Driggs-Schroeder, and in the whole US Army coast defense system only Fort Warren and Fort Washington in Maryland had this type of gun.  Battery Adams was built of low-quality concrete and was disarmed and abandoned due to deterioration in 1914.

Fort Warren was the headquarters of the Coast Defences of Boston in the First World War.  In 1917-1918 the four 10-inch guns of Battery Bartlett were removed for potential service as railway artillery on the Western Front.  Contrary to some references, no 10-inch railway guns were mounted in time to be shipped to France for the First World War.    Different 10-inch M1888 guns, including two from Battery Reilly at Fort Adams in Rhode Island and two from storage, replaced these weapons in 1919.  In 1920, with the First World War over, several weapon types were withdrawn from Coast Artillery service.  These included the 4-inch Driggs-Schrode guns of Battery Plunkett and the 3-inch Driggs-Seabury guns of Battery Lowell.  The 4-inch guns at Fort Warren remained as display pieces at least through 1941.  None of these were replaced.

During the Second World War, the fort served as a control center for Boston Harbor's south mine field, a precaution taken in anticipation of potential attacks by Kriegsmarine U-boats.  At that time, Fort Warren was garrisoned by the 241st Coast Artillery Regiment (Harbor Defense), a Massachusetts National Guard unit that was federalized in September 1940.  As new 16-inch batteries were built, particularly Battery Murphy at the East Point Military Reservation, Fort Warren's remaining guns were scrapped in 1942-1944.  Fort Warren was permanently decommissioned after 1950.  (Wikipedia)

 (Hal Jespersen Photo)

3-inch Ordnance Rifle M1861 smoothbore muzzle loader, on a wheeled mount, likely a saluting gun at the fort, No. 1 of 2.

3-inch Ordnance Rifle M1861 smoothbore muzzle loader, on a wheeled mount, No. 2 of 2.

Boxford

(Allen Tanner Photos)

XI-inch Navy Dahlgren Gun, Civil War Memorial, Washington Street and Main Street.  No. 1 of 2.

(Allen Tanner Photo)

XI-inch Navy Dahlgren Gun, Civil War Memorial, Washington Street and Main Street.  No. 1 of 2.

Brimfield

(Ten Twenty One Brewing Photo)

4.2-inch (30-pounder) Parrott Rifle, mounted on a concrete stand, No. 1 of 2 in front of the Civil War Memorial.

(neoc1 Photos)

4.2-inch (30-pounder) Parrott Rifle, mounted on a concrete stand, No. 2 of 2 in front of the Civil War Memorial.

Burlington

(Expedia Photo)

Cast Iron 6-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, Cyrus Alger & Company.  1838 S B I Co on the left trunnion, possibly S B F Co, referring to the South Boston Foundry, and CA PATENT on the right trunnion.  The upper breach markings read "1 568 GT".  This gun is mounted on a concrete stand and is located near the memorials at the northwest corner of Burlington Common in Burlington.  According to the plaque affixed to the base, it was a gift from Samuel E. Walker, presented by Col. Wilford A. Walker, to Milligan-McKenzie Post 273 American Legion, 29 May 1957.

Cambridge

(Norstar Photo)

(Daderot Photos)

Cast Iron 32-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading British Naval Gun, (A) on the right trunnion, mounted on a naval gun carriage.  No. 1 of 3. Town Common, Harvard Square.

This 32 pounder was cast in the reign of George II. The A indicates Ashburnham on the Kent-Sussex border. In this period Ashburnham was owned by the Crowley family, by two brothers Ambrose and John and their mother Theodosia who ran it while the two boys were underage and again, on behalf of her daughters, after their deaths. Ashburnham was the last of the Wealden furnaces to close, surviving into the 1820s, although its gunfounding days were long past. Again this would have been cast for the Georgian navy, as the main armament for the larger ships. (Ruth Rhynas Brown)

(Daderot Photos)

(Norstar Photo)

Cast Iron 32-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading British Naval Gun, mounted on a naval gun carriage.  No. 2 of 3. Town Common.

This was listed as spare at Woolwich in 1699 by Colonel Browne in his Survey. This is what the number 1293 engraved on the piece means. It is a cast-iron demi-cannon of 9 and ½ feet, weighing 50 cwt 1 quarter and 9 pounds. When new it would have been intended for the Stuart Navy. It dates from the third quarter of the 17th century. If there is no trunnion mark, it might be worth looking either side of the touch-hole where the initials of founders are often engraved. The rose and crown and the broad arrow indicates casting for British service

(Cambridge School Photo)

(Wally Goebetz Photo)

(Daderot Photo)

Cast Iron 12-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, mounted on a naval gun carriage.  No. 3 of 3.

This gun has a trunnion mark but no Browne number. This indicates a casting date between c1700-1712. The weight (28-2-00) indicates a whole number of possible guns: it can be a 9 or 8 ½ ft 12 pounder; 9 ½ foot 9 pounder or even a 9 ½ foot 6 pounder! The R indicates it was cast at Robertsbridge in the Sussex Weald; probably by either Westerne family or the Peter Gott-William Benge partnership. Robertsbridge was an ironworks which was leased out regularly by gunfounders on short leases to complement their other ironworks. The 22 engraved on the barrel shows it was gun 22 on either a ship’s gun deck or a fort battery. (Ruth Rhynas Brown)

The three guns on display in the Cambridge Common near the intersection of Garden Street and Appian Way, were recovered from Castle William when the British Army evacuated Boston and abandoned the fort in today's South Boston.  A stone marker by these guns has the following text: "THESE CANNON were abandoned at Ft Independence (Castle William) by the British Forces when they evacuated the City of Boston March 17, 1776".  Castle William was an early fortification on an island off what is now South Boston and provided protection - and control - of Boston's inner harbor. Today, Castle Island as its now known as, is joined to the mainland by a causeway and is a park run by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Ft. Independence, a pentagon shaped fort, stands over the spot Castle William occupied.  

(CaribDigita Photo)

(Sswonk Photo)

Marker concerning General Henry Knox turning over these guns to General George Washington in a park along Garden Street away from Harvard University.  These guns were brought to a hill at Dorchester Heights - now South Boston - and led to the British evacuation.

Cambridge, Fort Washington

Fort Washington, also known as Fort Washington Park, is an historic site at 95 Waverly Street in Cambridge.  It was built by soldiers of the Continental Army under the orders of George Washington in November 1775.  It is the oldest surviving fortification from the American Revolutionary War and the only surviving fortification from the Siege of Boston.  Fort Washington was placed on the List of Registered Historic Places in Massachusetts on 3 April 1973.

(Friends of Fort Washington Photos)

Cast Iron 18-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, weight 30-0-17 (3,377 lbs), Serial No. 36, mounted on an iron seacoast top carriage, No. 1 of 3.

Cast Iron 18-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, weight 30-0-16 (3,376 lbs), Serial No. 40, mounted on an iron seacoast top carriage, No. 2 of 3.

(Daderot Photo)

Cast Iron 18-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, weight 30-0-13 (3,373 lbs), Serial No. 45, mounted on an iron seacoast top carriage, No. 3 of 3.  These three guns on display in Cambridge Common near the intersection of Garden Street and Appian Way, were recovered from Castle William when the British Army evacuated Boston and abandoned the fort in today's South Boston.  The three 18-pounders were among those over-age cannon that were removed from the original Fort Warren on Governor's Island, when a new Fort Warren was built on George's Island. Mr. Marcus Morton, of Cambridge, learned by correspondence with the Historical Section of the Chief of Ordnance in Washington, in 1942, that the gun carriages were cast by the West Point Foundry on the Hudson River, and he discovered in the city records that it cost the city $13.50 to bring these guns from Governor's Island to Cambridge.

Cambridge

(Rob Radrez Photos)

(Eric Nygren Photos)

Model 1890 5-inch siege gun of the Spanish-American War era, mounted on a wheeled carriage (it did not see action).  This gun stood on the grounds of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), located between McDermott Court and the Green Building.  It was previously on display at Caltech in Pasadena, California, and has now been returned.

Camp Edwards

(Sf46 Photo)

3-inch M1905 Field Gun.

Charlestown, Bunker Hill

(Jacob Rottman Photo)

The Bunker Hill Monument stands 221 feet tall at Breed's Hill, the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution fought on 17 June 1775. Control of this high ground near the harbor was important to the British occupation of Boston.  When colonial forces chose to fortify Charlestown, they bypassed the more dominant "Bunker Hill" and dug in on Breed's Hill which was lower and closer to the water.

(Author Photo)

Bronze 3-pounder Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, mounted inside the observatory at the top of the Bunker Hill Memorial obelisk.  Nick-named the "Adams Cannon", this bronze gun is heavily engraved.  It was one of four bronze guns stolen from the British  in 1774.  For a time, they were the only guns in the Colonial arsenal at the start of the Revolutionary War.  Apparently these guns disappeared from an armoury in Boston under redcoat guard in September 1774, and were then smuggled out of town by Boston patriots to Dorchester by early 1775.  From there they were moved to James Barret's farm in Concord, where General Thomas Gage got word of them again.  Two of the guns were recaptured by the British, but the Colonials hid the Adams Gun and a companion gun named the "Hancock Cannon" in a swamp near Dedham, Massachusetts to conceal them.  After the war, the barrel of the Adams gun burst while it was being fired in a ceremonial salute.  The "Adams Cannon" has been part of the Bunker Hill Monument for more than 160 years, and is currently undergoing preservation.

The matching Bronze 3-pounder gun called the “Hancock Cannon” also hung in the same location until the 1970s, when it was taken to Metropolitan District Commission police station.  The "Hancock Cannon" was turned over to the National Park Service, which had become the custodian of the monument.  The cannon then went into preservation storage at the Charlestown Navy Yard.  The "Hancock” cannon is currently on display in the Minute Man National Historical Park Visitor Center in Concord.  (J.L. Bell). (Author Photo)

(Author Photo)

View of Boston Harbor from the top of the Bunker Hill Monument.

Chicopee

(Edward Bellamy Memorial Association Photo)

Bronze 6-pounder M1841 smoothbore muzzle-loading Field Gun, Chicopee, N.P. Ames, mounted on a wheeled carriage.  This gun was given to Chicopee by the Lavallee family, currently shown here sitting in a storage shed.  In the 1970s, John Lavallee purchased this N.P. Ames 6-pounder from a New Jersey Arms dealer.  The mustard-colored cannon was one of the few in the country that was in its original form, complete with buckets and plungers.  The purchase included a carriage, limber and accessories.  The storage carriage was made in 1864 by the Wason Car Manufacturing Co. of Springfield.  According to the appraiser, it was one of only 15 privately owned cannons in the country.  The weapon was manufactured in 1847 by the Ames Foundry in the Cabotville section of what was still Springfield. The cannon was brought home as a trophy of the Civil War by the founder of the Peekskill Military Academy.  It remained in the school's possession until it was purchased in 1959 by Val J. Forgett Jr. of Ridgefield, New Jersey.

M5 Stuart Light Tank (Serial No. 3487), Szot Park, off Front St 656.

M60A3 Main Battle Tank (Serial No. 3782), RN 09B04168, Szot Park, off Front St 656.

Concord, Minute Man National Historical Park Visitor Center

 (Minute Man National Historical Park Photos)

(Dave Pape Photo)

Bronze 3-pounder Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, known as the "Hancock Cannon" mounted on a wheeled gun carriage, on display in the Minute Man National Historical Park Visitor Center in Concord.

This Gun, nick-named the "Hancock Cannon", is heavily engraved.  It was previously on display mounted on the wall inside the observatory at the top of the Bunker Hill Memorial obelisk, along with another one nick-named the "Adams Cannon", which remains in place.  It was one of four bronze guns stolen from the British  in 1774.  For a time, they were the only guns in the Colonial arsenal at the start of the Revolutionary War.  Apparently these guns disappeared from an armory in Boston under redcoat guard in September 1774, and were then smuggled out of town by Boston patriots to Dorchester by early 1775.  From there they were moved to James Barret's farm in Concord, where General Thomas Gage got word of them again.  Two of the guns were recaptured by the British in Canada, but the Colonials hid the "Hancock Cannon" and a companion gun named the "Adams Cannon" in a swamp near Dedham, Massachusetts to conceal them.   The "Hancock Cannon" had been part of the Bunker Hill Monument until the 1970s, when it was taken to the Metropolitan District Commission police station.  It was later turned over to the National Park Service.  The bronze gun then went into preservation storage at the Charlestown Navy Yard.  The "Hancock Cannon” is currently on display in the Minute Man National Historical Park Visitor Center in Concord.  

Danvers

(Fletcher6 Photo)

3-inch M1905 Field Gun, High Street Cemetery.

(Bill Ricker Photos)

4.7-inch M1906 M1 Field Gun, Northwestern Ordnance Co., No. 5?6? (number obscured by paint), mounted on an M1906 carriage, No. 603, Studebaker Corp, 1918.  The gun is located with "Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion 101st Field Artillery", "Mountain", at the Massachusetts National Guard Armory, 2 Armory Rd.

Dedham

M5A1 Stuart Tank, "Delores", American Legion Post 18, 155 Eastern Ave.

Duxbury

(New York Pulbic Library Photo)

Cast Iron 32-pounder gun, 57 cwt, smoothbore muzzle-loading Naval Gun, weight 57-2-22 (6,462 lbs), Serial No. 343, No. 1 of 4. Miles Standish Gravesite, Depot Road.

Cast Iron 32-pounder gun, 57 cwt, smoothbore muzzle-loading Naval Gun, Serial No. 344, No. 2 of 4. Miles Standish Gravesite, Depot Road.

Cast Iron 32-pounder gun, 57 cwt, smoothbore muzzle-loading Naval Gun, Serial No, 573, No. 3 of 4. Miles Standish Gravesite, Depot Road.

Cast Iron 32-pounder gun, 57 cwt, smoothbore muzzle-loading Naval Gun, Serial No. 575, No. 4 of 4. Miles Standish Gravesite, Depot Road.

The Myles Standish Burial Ground (also known as Old Burying Ground or Standish Cemetery) in Duxbury, Massachusetts is, according to the American Cemetery Association, the oldest maintained cemetery in the United States.

The 1.5-acre (0.61 ha) burying ground is the final resting place of several well-known Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620, including Captain Myles Standish. The site was the location of Duxbury's first meeting house. It was in use from approximately 1638 until 1789 at which point the cemetery was abandoned. It was reclaimed in 1887 by the Duxbury Rural Society, generating a widespread interest in locating the resting place of Duxbury's most famous colonist, Myles Standish. After two exhumations in 1889 and 1891, it was generally agreed that Standish's remains had been located and a memorial was built over his gravesite. The Standish gravesite memorial is today the most prominent feature in the burying ground.

The burying ground is now owned and maintained by the Town of Duxbury. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. (Wikipedia)

East Douglas

(Wikiwand Photo)

3-inch Ordnance Rifle. Serial No. 317 (TBC).  Photo is of a similar gun.

Easton

M3A1 Stuart Light Tank, American Legion Post 7.

M60A3 Tank (Serial No. 3800A), RN 09B07468, VFW Post 2547, 170 Allen Rd., North Easton.

Fairhaven

(Author Photo)

57-mm Anti-tank Gun M1, No. 1 of 2. Armed Forces Memorial Park, Huttleston Avenue, similar to this one at the 1st Cavalry Division Museum, Fort Hood, Texas.

57-mm Anti-tank Gun M1, No. 2 of 2. Armed Forces Memorial Park, Huttleston Avenue.

Fairhaven, Fort Phoenix

Fort Phoenix is an American Revolutionary War-era fortification located at the entrance to the Fairhaven-New Bedford harbor, south of US Highway 6 in Fort Phoenix Park.  The fort was originally built in 1775 but was not initially given a name.   The first naval engagement of the American Revolution took place not far from the fort in Buzzards Bay, the Battle of Fairhaven on 14 May 1775.  On 5-6 September 1778, the fort was destroyed by the British during a raid on the harbour.   A force led by Major Israel Fearing drove off the British, both during the attack on the fort and when they attempted an attack on the town the next day. The fort was then renamed Fort Fearing.   In 1784 it was given the name "Fort Phoenix" after the mythical bird that rose from its own ashes.  The fort was rebuilt in 1798, and rebuilt again in 1808 with 12 guns with Commonwealth resources, contemporary with but not part of the second system of US fortifications.  During the War of 1812, HMS Nimrod bombarded the fort on 13 June 1814 when the local militia refused to surrender some guns.  After an exchange of fire Nimrod sailed away.

(Schlitzer90 Photo)

The fort is currently armed with five 24-pounder M1819 smoothbore muzzleloading guns mounted on reproduction wooden carriages.  The guns were all made in the 1820s.

There is also a smaller cannon at the fort which was captured by the Continental Marines during a  raide on Nassau in the Bahamas in 1776. This raid was the first amphibious landing on foreign soil by United States Marines.  The fort was rebuilt with a new powder magazine and regarrisoned with eight guns during the Civil War.  During the Second World War, an Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat (AMTB) battery of four towed 37-mm guns defended the fort.  (Wikipedia)

(Schlitzer90 Photo)

24-pounder M1819 muzzleloading rifle, No. 1 of 5, mounted on a reproduction carriage, dated 1828.

24-pounder M1819 muzzleloading rifle, No. 2 of 5, mounted on a reproduction carriage, dated 1828.

24-pounder M1819 muzzleloading rifle, No. 3 of 5, mounted on a reproduction carriage, dated 1828.

(Schlitzer90 Photo)

24-pounder M1819 muzzleloading rifle, No. 4 of 5, mounted on a reproduction carriage, dated 1828.

(Schlitzer90 Photo)

24-pounder M1819 muzzleloading rifle, No. 5 of 5, mounted on a reproduction carriage, dated 1828.

(Schlitzer90 Photo)

Cast Iron 24-pounder M1819 smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, No. 1 of 2. Mounted on a reproduction carriage, dated 1828.

(Schlitzer90 Photo)

Cast Iron 24-pounder M1819 smoothbore muzzle-loading Gun, No. 2 of 2. Mounted on a reproduction carriage, dated 1828.

(Fairhaven, MA office of Tourism Photo)

(Millicent Library Photo)

Cast Iron 6-pounder Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, nick-named the "John Paul Jones".  This is a British gun mounted on a wood naval gun carriage.

This gun was captured at Nassau in 1777 by the U.S.S. Alfred in the first combat action of the U.S. Marine Corps.  There is an inscription on a brass plate on the breech stating the gun was taken from the British at Nassau in 1777 by the Colonial Ship of War Alfred.  (Young John Paul Jones was an officer on the ship at the time). The gun was placed in Fort Phoenix in 1778.  It was re-captured by the British and left in the Fort spiked and with its trunnions knocked off.  The gun was afterwards mounted in Union Street for Village defence, placed there in 1883.  In 1832 the cannon was placed muzzle down at the Four Corners.  Around 1847 it was place back in its original upright position at union Street where it remained upon a pair of skids.  On 15 July 1885, the Fairhaven Improvement Association placed the inscription on a plate attached to the cannon’s breech.  In 1950 the cannon was removed to the Southwest corner of the town hall lawn, then later moved to Fort Phoenix.

Fall River

(Allen Tanner Photos)

German 21-cm Mörser 10 (21-cm Mrs 10), captured during the First World War, located in a memorial park.

German First World War 21-cm Mörser 10 (21-cm Mrs 10) , built by Krupp and dated 1917.  City Park, Opposite Saint Anne’s Shrine.  (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3397899)

The 21-cm Mörser 10 (21-cm Mrs 10) was a heavy Mortar/Howitzer used by Germany in the Great War. It replaced the obsolete 21-cm Mörser 99 that lacked a recoil system. For transport it broke down into two loads. Some Howitzers were fitted with a gun shield during the war. As it was also intended for siege use a concrete-penetrating shell was also used. Unusually it had two spades, one fixed at the end of the trail and another folding one about half-way down the trail. 216 were in service at the beginning of the war. It was replaced by the 21-cm Mörser 16 also known as the langer 21-cm Mörser since it was merely a lighter 21-cm Mrs 10 with a longer barrel for extra range and other refinements.

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