Edenton Bell Battery C.S.A., Edenton
On display are two preserved bronze cannon from the original four-gun Edenton Bell Battery (Company B, 3rd Battalion, NC Light Artillery). The cannon were poured at Richmond's Tredegar Foundry in April of 1862, using bells donated by the institutions and citizens of Edenton. The six-pounder “Edenton” came from the 1767 Chowan County Courthouse bell. The “St. Paul” twelve-pounder was named after St. Paul’s Episcopal Church that donated their large bell to make this cannon tube. The two artillery pieces set on reproduction carriages facing the waterfront in Edenton. A bronze plaque adorned at the top with a cannon in relief and the inscription, attached to a pole, stands between the two cannons.
Images:
Bronze plaque
EDENTON BELL BATTERY / C.S.A. / ORGANIZED IN MARCH 1862 UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF CAPT. WILLIAM BADHAM JR., LT. / JOHN M. JONES, AND LT. NELSON MCCLEES, THE EDENTON BELL BATTERY WAS COMPOSED OF / MEN PRIMARILY FROM CHOWAN, TYRRELL, AND
WASHINGTON COUNTIES. LACKING ADEQUATE / ARTILLERY, VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS OF EDENTON DONATED THEIR BELLS TO BE MELTED AND CAST / INTO FOUR BRONZE CANNON AT TREDEGAR FOUNDRY IN RICHMOND, VA., ON APRIL 28, 1862. / THE CANNON WERE NAMED THE EDENTON, THE COLUMBIA, THE FANNIE ROULHAC, AND THE / SAINT PAUL BY THE MEN OF THE BATTERY. DESIGNATED AS COMPANY B, THIRD BATTALION, / NC LIGHT ARTILLERY, THE UNIT SERVED WITH THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA AT / WINCHESTER, CULPEPER COURTHOUSE, SEVEN DAYS BATTLE, AND PROTECTED A CRITICAL / BRIDGE SOUTH OF THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. THE BATTERY WAS THEN TRANSFERRED TO NORTH CAROLINA / WHERE IT OPPOSED UNION ADVANCES TOWARDS THE WILMINGTON AND / WELDON RAILROAD AND FOUGHT AT WHITEHALL BRIDGE, GOLDSBORO, AND KINSTON. THE UNIT / WAS LATER GARRISONED AT FORT HOLMES ON SMITH ISLAND TO PROTECT SOUTHERN BLOCKADE / RUNNERS ENTERING THE CAPE FEAR RIVER. BY JANUARY 1865, THE BATTERY WAS EVACUATED / TO FORT ANDERSON AFTER THE FALL OF NEARBY FORT FISHER TO THE ADVANCING UNION ARMY. IT / THEN SAW ACTION AROUND WILMINGTON AND WITH THE ARMY OF TENNESSEE AT BENTONVILLE / AND COX'S BRIDGE.
THE 12-POUNDER HOWITZER SAINT PAUL, FOUNDRY #1533, WAS CAPTURED AT THE BATTLE OF / TOWN CREEK IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C., ON FEBRUARY 20, 1865 AND IS ON LOAN FROM / THE OLD FORT NIAGARA ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK. THE SAINT PAUL WAS POURED PRIMARILY / FROM THE BELL OF ST. PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. THE 6-POUNDER GUN EDENTON, FOUNDRY / #1531, WAS SURRENDERED AT GREENSBORO, N.C. ON MAY 26, 1865 AND IS ON LOAN FROM THE / SHILOH NATIONAL MILITARY PARK OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE. THE EDENTON WAS POURED PRIMARILY FROM THE BELL OF THE 1767 CHOWAN COUNTY COURTHOUSE. THE MUZZLES / OF EACH OF THE CANNON INDICATE THE FOUNDRY NUMBER AND THE DISTINCTIVE "EB" FOR / "EDENTON BATTERY". THE LOCATION OF THE TWO REMAINING CANNON OF THE EDENTON BELL / BATTERY IS UNKNOWN.
EDENTON HISTORICAL COMMISSION / 2001 AND 2006
Edenton Historical Commission
“Edenton”- June 13, 2001. “St. Paul” – October 11, 2006
36.055780 , -76.609600
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“Ancestors in A Little Blue and A Lot of Gray,” Blueandgrayancestors.blogspot.com, (accessed July 4, 2017) Link
“Edenton Bell Battery C.S.A.,” The Historical Marker Database,” HMdb.org, (accessed July 4, 2017) Link
“Edenton Bell Battery Cannon,” Civil War Trust, www.civilwar.org, (accessed July 4, 2017) Link
“Edenton Bell Battery, C.S.A. --- Edenton NC, Waymarking.com, (accessed July 20, 2017) Link
“Edenton Bell Battery,” Edenton Historical Commission, ehcnc.org, (accessed July 4, 2017) Link
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Bronze
Edenton Historical Commission
The two missing cannons, “Fannie Roulac” and the “Columbia,” may have been dumped into the Eno River during the Confederate retreat after the Battle of Bentonville. The remaining cannons were surrendered with General Joseph Johnston and the Army of Tennessee to Union General William T. Sherman on April 26, 1865. The whereabouts of any of the cannon remained a mystery until 1990 when a Civil War re-enactor from Edenton discovered the six-pounder “Edenton” at Shiloh National Military Park in Shiloh, Tennessee where it had been on display since the Park’s creation in 1901. In 1999, the twelve-pounder “St. Paul” was discovered at Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown, New York where it had been since 1930. In 1997 efforts began to return the cannon to Edenton. In a ceremony on June 13, 2001 the Old Fort Niagara Association transferred the “St. Paul” by loan to the Edenton Historical Commission. On October 11, 2006, at Shiloh National Military Park, the “Edenton” was turned over to the Edenton Historical Commission.
The cannons are facing the waterfront at 505 South Broad Street on the side lawn of the Penelope Baker House Welcome Center, Edenton, NC. The Baker House is also home to the Edenton Historical Commission. Chowan County Confederate Dead monument stands about 300 feet north. The Edenton Tea Pot and the Joseph Hewes Memorial are close by.
Cannons stand on the side lawn facing the waterfront.
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