Revolutionary War cannons debut at Savannah History Museum for America 250

A piece of Revolutionary War history that spent more than two centuries hidden underwater is now on display in Georgia's oldest city, just in time for America's 250th anniversary.

Nineteen cannons discovered at the bottom of the Savannah River were unveiled Thursday as a part of a new exhibit at the Savannah History Museum. The cannons spent nearly 240 years underwater.

"This is the largest discovery of 18th century artillery from a single Revolutionary War naval event," said Nora Fleming Lee, CEO of Coastal Heritage Society. "So the discovery is really significant nationwide, not just for Savannah."

A crew with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stumbled upon the cannons in 2021 while dredging the river to accommodate larger cargo ships.

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"In total, they brought up 19 cannon and a dozen or so are small artifacts.… They had quite a bit of concretion on them, oyster shells, all kinds of marine life that had attached itself to the cannon," explained Fleming Lee.

Some of the cannons were found still packed with cannonballs and gunpowder charges, along with other small artifacts.

After being pulled from the river, most of the cannons left Georgia for several years for cleaning and preservation work at a Texas A&M University lab. 

"Running electrical currents essentially through a water bath that they were in, and it desalinates the iron works, so it stabilizes iron to be on land," said Fleming Lee. "And then in the final treatments, they're painted with acid and given a spa treatment and waxed and that they can have a very long life here on land."

Seventeen cannons were restored. The other two were left unrestored to allow visitors a side-by-side comparison.

All 19 are permanently on display as a part of the new "Loyalists & Liberty: Savannah in the American Revolution" exhibit.

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Historians believe the cannons sank shortly before the siege of Savannah in 1779. At the time, Savannah was under British occupation.

"We believe these cannons are the last of several ships that were scuttled, at the narrowest part of the Savannah River to act as a blockade for the French fleet to prevent them from sailing up river and reclaiming Savannah for the American side," said Fleming Lee.

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The cannons would've sunk just weeks before the Battle of Savannah, known as one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War, with over 800 casualties in under an hour. It was fought on the very ground where the Savannah History Museum now stands.

"The cannons are really the tangible artifacts that are telling the story of revolution," said Fleming Lee. "And through that lens, we're expanding Georgia's revolutionary story. More about the naval events, but more importantly, we're telling the story through the lens of those who aren't often focused on."

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The new exhibit tells the story of Savannah's role in the birth of America from the lens of five unique historical figures, including indigenous, free and enslaved people, women and children.