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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;springfld.arsenal, post: 96373, member: 54&quot;]When we cleaned the thick old paint and rust from a pair of French cannons a few days ago, we noticed on top of both the unmistakeable British &quot;broad arrow&quot; military property mark.&nbsp; Looking further, we also found British-style weight markings, and sighting marks only known to have been engraved on 18th-19th C.&nbsp; British cannons.&nbsp; We had positively ID&#039;d the two 7-foot, 1700-lb. cannons as French Navy model 1786 &quot;short 6-pounders&quot; using the original French drawings copied at the US National Archives. Therefore these are actually captured and re-used weapons.</p><p><br /></p><p>Of hundreds of cannons we&#039;ve owned, these are only the 3rd and 4th pieces which have been marked to show capture or surrender.&nbsp; The only French markings remaining on the two pieces were sets of two initials on the ends of each trunnion, showing that one cannon was cast at Ruelle and the other at Nevers, two French foundries formerly engaged in production of iron cannons for the French Navy.</p><p><br /></p><p>We know the British under Admiral Nelson captured no fewer than 750 cannons from the French at the Battle of The Nile in 1798, and it is possible that these came into British possession at that time.&nbsp; It is a bit unusual that the British took the time to re-work these two cannons for their own use.&nbsp; Usually captured cannons would be scrapped, or if they happened to be extaordinary specimens, put in museums or on monuments.&nbsp; The cannons were among excess property recently sold by Fort Ticonderoga, NY, so future research will include answering the question of how these cannons got there.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://springfieldarsenal.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/img_1496.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://springfieldarsenal.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/img_1467.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://springfieldarsenal.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/archives-rg156-inventions-b-278a.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://springfieldarsenal.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/img_1484.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><img src="https://springfieldarsenal.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/img_1470.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><img src="https://springfieldarsenal.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/img_1472a.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://springfieldarsenal.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/img_1461-e1448507600474.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://springfieldarsenal.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/img_1461-e1448507600474.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://springfieldarsenal.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/img_1461-e1448507600474.jpg</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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