Historic cannons moved from First Army headquarters
December 21, 2010
Story Highlights
- The cannons were originally seized in the Battle of Atlanta.
- The cannons were transferred to Fort Gillem in the early 1950s.
FORT GILLEM, GA. - In an act representative of the move of First Army from Fort Gillem, Ga. to its future home at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill., two historic cannons were removed from their pedestals in front of the headquarters building last week.
The bronze, 12-pound Napoleon cannons were originally seized in the Battle of Atlanta on what is now the Georgia Tech campus. The cannons were placed at Fort McPherson, Ga. when that post opened in the 1870s, then transferred to Fort Gillem in the early 1950s.
The cannons are being moved to Fort Benning, Ga., where (according to Mr. Michael Criscillis, director of the National Infantry Museum) they will be part of a Civil War sesquicentennial anniversary display,
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