Story of the "Gettysburg Gun"

Pvt. William Jones

During the Battle of Gettysburg, Battery "B" saw hot action on July 2, in Codori's Field. Four of their men were killed; seventeen were wounded, as well as the loss of horses that day. It is on the climactic third day, July 3, 1863, that the story of the Gettysburg Gun begins. 

  Battery "B" could man only four guns that day because of the heavy loss of men and horses the day before. After fighting all morning, a long calm occurred. At 1:00 p.m. the men were ready for their mid-day meal when Confederate Artillery opened fire. When Union guns replied, the fighting was described as the "most terrible ever witnessed on this continent. This was the start of the two hour artillery barrage that would precede "Pickett's Charge"" the high water mark of the Confederacy. The Gettysburg Gun had been struck twice receiving minor damage. Private William Jones had now stepped to his place at the right wheel of the gun and having swabbed the gun, stood waiting for Private Alfred Gardner to finish inserting the black powder charge. At that instant a Rebel shell struck the gun and exploded causing a large dent in the face of the guns muzzle. Tearing the head from Private William Jones killing him instantly. Private Gardner was mortally wounded, struck in the left arm and shoulder.

Pvt. Alfred Gardner

  Sergeant Albert Straight, Gardner's gun commander, tent mate, and friend in a letter, gave the following account to his wife. "He died at his post as only the true soldier would. He lived a few minutes after receiving his wound. 

He requested me to send you this Bible, which he had in his pocket at the time, and tell you he died happy. He shouted, Glory to God! Halleluiah! Amen! Amen!' We shook hands I bade a good bye . . . He faithfully performed his duties and flinched not when the missiles of death flew thick about us.  

Sgt. Albert Straight

 At the gun, Sergeant Straight tried to reload.  Because of great dent made in the muzzle, a shot being loaded became lodged. As the artillery bombardment continued about them, the guns crew endeavored to ram in the shot. Failing to force the round home, Sgt. Straight called for a hammer than an axe in the attempted to drive the ball past the dent, but their efforts were futile. 

The damage to the muzzle was far too great. The gun had already been struck twice, when another Rebel shell burst near the trail of the gun mortally wounding Private John Breen.  The Battery was running low on 

Pvt. John Breen

ammunition, and the gun was now deemed unserviceable. The Battery was relieved (by Cowan's Battery) and the disabled gun withdrawn and ordered taken to the rear. As the gray lines of Pickett's Brigades appeared from the tree line, Battery B, and the gun, with its cannonball still jammed in the muzzle, made its way to the rear. During the battle the gun had been struck three times by solid or shell and 39 musket balls. Later the bronze cooled and the iron ball could not be dislodged. The Army then condemned the piece, and had made plans to scrap the gun.

Upon arriving in Washington the gun was put on display, instead of being destroyed as a “Curiosity of War” until 1874. It was then the State of Rhode Island, asked for its return. The gun was brought back to Providence, Rhode Island  where it was placed outside the old State House on Benefit Street. The Battery's veterans returned their gun with a parade and a grand military reception. From 1904 to 1962 the gun guarded the north portico of the new State House on Smith Street where 99 years, 1 month, and 21 days after it had been struck the gun was in the center of the news once again.

Battery "B" Veterans with the Gettysburg Gun in Front of the Benefit Street Armory 1874.

 Dr. Wilfred E. Warren of Newport brought forth his theory that the gun was still loaded with its original black powder charge. Since black powder, becomes more unstable with age, it was imperative that it be removed. Robert Dunn, of Coventry, presented a 1908 affidavit sworn to by her great uncle, Private George Matteson, which proved Mr. Warren's theory. On August 27, 1962 Naval Ordnance personnel and the Rhode Island Army National Guard removed more than two pounds of black powder from the gun's barrel. Upon examination, they discovered the powder had retained its explosive capacity.  The original Battery "B" continued to serve faithfully until it was mustered out of service on June 13, 1865. On May 21, 1874, the day the Gettysburg Gun came home to Rhode Island, the Reverend Carlton A. Staples delivered the following prophetic remarks in his address:  

. . ."Take this gun, then and place it among the proudest archives of the State. Cherish it as a precious legacy from the men who bore it into the forefront of the battle, and laid down their lives in serving it there. Tell your children and your children's children the story of its triumph: a triumph not of men over men, but of truth over error; right over wrong; freedom over slavery ... Though this gun be forever silenced, though its voice will never again be heard in thunders of war, yet it speaks to us and those who are to come after us in tones that cannot be misunderstood . . ."