TRAVERSE CITY -- Forged at the West Point Foundry during wartime, the Civil War naval cannon now rests on the peaceful lawn of the Grand Traverse County Courthouse.
Commissioned on Aug. 23, 1858, the cannon as well as the adjoining Civil War Old Soldier statue will be celebrated this Saturday. Members of the Robert Finch Camp No. 14, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War will present and dedicate plaques detailing the history of each item.
The ceremony begins at the courthouse at 10 a.m. and will include an adapted dedication from a 1917 ceremony used by the Grand Army of the Republic. VFW Post 2780 will provide a color guard.
The two plaques sit side-by-side on a 10,000-pound, four-by-six-foot slab of durable Chilton stone installed between the cannon and statue.
Projects such as creating and installing the plaques dovetail with the mission of the Sons of the Union Veterans organization: "Preserve the memory of the Grand Army of the Republic and our Ancestors who fought to Preserve the Union." Formed in 1881, the nationwide organization includes more than 200 camps. The Robert Finch Camp No. 14 is the oldest in the state, dating to 1914.
The plaques provide a finishing touch to the restoration of the Civil War statue, which was rededicated on Memorial Day 2005.
Initially dedicated on what was then Decoration Day in 1890, the Union soldier depicted represents the 171 volunteers from the Grand Traverse region who fought in the Civil War, 32 dying for the cause. The names of battlefields where these soldiers served are listed at the base. In 1893, the statue was moved to its current location at what was then the new courthouse.
The statue had deteriorated over the years and in late 2004 members of the Robert Finch Camp spearheaded a campaign to save it. After reinstallation, member Joe Conger sparked the idea of plaques explaining both the statue's and cannon's historical relevance.
"We didn't know the history of the cannon and the research turned up some really interesting information," said Neal Breaugh, the secretary/treasurer of Robert Finch Camp No. 14.
Camp member Bill Skillman delved into the cannon's past, learning that it was from the frigate U.S.S. Sabine. Sabine was one of the last two sailing vessels commissioned by the Navy; subsequent ships ran on steam power. The ship included 49 cannons and had a crew of 375 officers and sailors.
The Sabine saw duty throughout the Civil War until it was retired as a training ship in 1864. The Navy decommissioned and scrapped the ship in the 1880s. In 1910, Michigan Senator William Alden Smith donated the cannon to the county.
"Bill Skillman came across a picture where all the (Sabine) sailors posed around a cannon and Bill said, 'I can't prove it but I think that's our cannon,'" said Breaugh. "At one time we thought about putting a picture of the ship on (the plaque) but that was going to be too, too, too expensive."
Grants defraying the project's $10,000 cost came from the Oleson Foundation, the Wal-Mart Foundation and Camp No. 14. In addition, Grand Traverse County approved use of a portion of $10,000 donated to the county by Camp No. 14 for a statue maintenance fund.
The county supported the addition of the plaques to both tie together the historical items and make them relevant to future generations.
"For a long time, people have asked where that cannon came from," said Sonny Wheelock, chairman of the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners. "It kind of ties it together and the Civil War monument and the cannon are of the same vintage."
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