(Fort Wayne
2016 Indiana
War
of 1812 Cannon
The War of 1812 was touched off over two-hundred
years ago and raged on until it ended in 1814 when the American militia, “took
a little trip down the Mississip.” Students learn that although the Treaty of
Ghent was signed on December
24, 1814 , the news had not reached General Andrew Jackson nor had his
British adversary General Pakenham both of whom were still at it in New Orleans until January 8, 1815 . Much
happened in the war which finally forced England to recognize the United States
as a sovereign nation. Students also learn if they dig deeply they find the
garrison at Fort Wayne
was part of the great saga. William
Henry Harrison’s army put a halt to the siege of the fort during October 1812. When the war was over and a treaty agreement
signed, hope for peace reigned once again.
Among the fallout of the great events in
history come stories and myths. One of the spoils of that war was a cannon taken
by U. S. Commodore Perry’s men as a prize. It is presumed so from reading
through the stories related by twentieth-century history writers. According to the
Fort Wayne Daily News of February 22, 1913 , “The cannon is a relic of the war of
1812, and was captured by Commodore Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie. It was taken to Detroit with a great many other pieces of
stolen arms, and for years was stored away, untouched and forgotten. When the
late Hon. Franklin P. Randall was mayor of Fort Wayne , he heard of the cannon, and sent
for one of them.” It is important to
note that Randall was elected Mayor in 1859 then reelected in the elections
held in 1861, 1863, 1869 and 1871.
In their 1914 Guide to Fort Wayne, B.J.
Griswold and C.A. Phelps made the claim that the cannon was captured from the
British before taken to Detroit . Mayor Randall secured the artifact and had it
placed on the Court House lawn. Other claims say that for a time the old cannon
was used for firing salutes on July Fourth celebrations. It is alleged, that on
one such occasion, after firing the cannon a man was accidentally killed and
another injured. The gun was “spiked” and removed to the mayor’s house on Berry Street to be
used as an ornamental hitching post.
In 1916 the big gun was dedicated as “Commodore Perry Monument Hayden Park Swinney
Park West Jefferson Street ;
and later removed the old piece to the entrance of the Historic Fort Wayne’s
ticketing and gift shop. It is now on
display in the History
Center Museum
It 1960 it was described as the, “Six
pounder naval gun, relic of Battle of Lake Erie 1813, used in dedication of
Wabash and Eire Canal July 4, 1843. Gun carriage authentic replica made from
old canal timbers 1960.” A “Six pounder”
meant that the ball it fired weighed six pounds.
Cannon firings were reported to have been a
part of both July Fourth and canal opening celebration days. Typical stories passed along say a cannon was
on the first Wabash & Erie Canal boat that traveled from Fort Wayne to Huntington , on July 4th and 5th 1835. One traveler, Dr. George Fate, carried one with
him firing it from time to time. Such an incident in 1835 is too early for this
to be the 1812 Perry Cannon. That big
gun it did not make an appearance in Fort
Wayne until Mayor Randall is said to have acquired it
during the 1860s. For the same reason,
it is doubtful that the claim that “a cannon – a souvenir from one of the
British vessels captured in Perry’s victory in 1813 – boomed a noisy greeting”
when the Great Canal Celebration took place in Fort Wayne on July 4, 1843 . Nonetheless, the Commodore
Perry cannon remains in Fort Wayne
and can be seen resting peacefully on display in the atrium of the History Center
Allen County Historian Tom
Castaldi is author of the Wabash & Erie Canal Notebook series; hosts “On the Heritage
Trail,” which is broadcast. Mondays on WBOI, 89.1 FM; and “Historia Nostra”
heard on Redeemer Radio 106.3 FM. Enjoy his previously published columns on the
History Center
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