Historical information combined from various sources about this cannon The cannon was captured by the British during the Crimean War in Russia (1853-56). Typically these Russian cannons came from the siege of Sebastopol (also spelled Sevastopol), confiscated by the British when they captured that city in 1856. The captured cannons were offered to towns throughout the British Empire for public display. The cannon is distinguished by various Russian markings as well as the Imperial Coat of Arms of Russia (two-headed eagle).

Old Town Council minutes have been reviewed. This entry was in the Accounts section of the minutes for the November 26, 1860: “Wm. Perry, Drawing a Cannon from the Depot $1..50” This was likely for transporting the cannon from the train station to Victoria Park. There is a similar gun in Cambridge Ontario. Its arrival in 1864 is documented. See Appendix C. In 1861, the Committee on Buildings and Squares was undertaking much work in the public square (Victoria Park) including landscaping and fencing. In particular this is mentioned: May 20, 1861, page 86: “The Committee on Buildings & Squares reported recommending: 2nd – That the Russian gun be suitably mounted on the public square at a cost not exceeding $40.

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The print of Victoria Park (published in the Canadian Illustrated News, April 29, 1871) shows a cannon in front of the central flagpole. Victoria Park and the cannon are mentioned in Warner Beers & Co.’s History of Brant County published in 1883: “The Victoria Park was graded on plans furnished by John Turner, architect, and planted with trees and shrubbery during the summer of 1861, at the same time receiving the name it is known now by. A flagstaff was erected in the center, and the City Council voted an appropriation of $40. for the purpose of suitably mounting the Russian gun, captured at the most extraordinary of all sieges, the siege of Sebastopol. This however, has never been accomplished, as the gun lies (i.e. in 1883) just as it was received.” A November 17, 1895 Expositor article on the history of Brantford’s parks, indicated that the Russian gun at the time of writing the article was lying half buried in the sand in Alexandra Park. Thus it is speculated that the cannon was moved to Alexandra Park sometime between 1883 and November 17,1895. It was probably moved before the erection of the Brant Monument in 1886.

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An Expositor photo (estimated date 1890’s) shows the cannon in Alexandra Park sitting on some timbers by a large flagpole (St. Jude’s Church at Peel and Dalhousie is in the background). It appears than this Russian cannon was without a suitable base from when it arrived in Brantford between in 1860 until a stone or concrete base was constructed for it in Alexandra Park in 1901: “On May 9, 1901, The Expositor reported “the cannon which has been lying embedded in the mud at Alexandra Park for some years is just now receiving attention. A squad of corporation employees are engaged in constructing a granolithic platform on the spot where the gun lay.””i The article suggests the cannon was on a vertical stone base in Alexandra Park prior to 1901, but the base did not have a foundation and sunk into the ground, so the gun ended up in the mud. The cannons without their carriages, were taken from Sebastopol by the British. They were then shipped out to towns that way. Brantford was not the only place where it took some time to come up with a suitable base for the gun.

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Crimean War Cannon bases Cannons are located in many Canadian towns and cities, as well as in other British Commonwealth countries and in Europe. In Canada there are iron cannons from the 1812 War era, later British cannons, and Russian cannons from the Crimean War. Parks and Forts sometimes have some of each. The cannons have dates of manufacture and weight stamped on them (usually on the trunnions). There are many different bases under these cannons. Many are sitting on simple blocks of concrete. Other cannons are sitting on wheeled carriages of heavy timbers, or on wheeled carriages of cast steel/iron. Others sit on concrete bases resembling more or less the shape of wheeled carriages. Sometimes Information about the gun is cast into the concrete base, or on a metal plaque attached to the base. See Appendix A.

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Appendix A

Cannons in other Cites and Towns Examples of simple concrete or stone bases Victoria Park, London, Ontario

Figure 1: London , ON - Victoria Park Figure 2: London, ON - Victoria Park

Queen’s Square, Cambridge, Ontario Note bronze plaque in base

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Queen’s Park Toronto Inscription: Taken at the capture of Sebastopol by the allied armies of Great Britain & France and presented by Queen Victoria to the citizens of Toronto 1859.

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Examples of cannons on “naval carriages” made of heavy timber with wheels

Figure 3: Cannon at Old Fort Erie/Historic Fort Erie operated by the Niagara parks Commission

Figure 4: Derby Arboretum, UK (1939 photo) Figure 5: Derby Arboretum, UK (1939 photo) ii

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Figure 6: British Canon in Odessa, Ukraineiii

Figure 7: historic photo of cannon in Odessa, Ukraine – this is actually a British cannon

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Upper Canada Village, Morrisburg, Ontario

Charlottetown, PEI Charlottetown's Victoria Park PARO Acc. 3218/214

Military parade at Fort Edward. Late 1890s

Land for the Prince Edward Battery, now known as Fort Edward, was appropriated in 1805, for the use of the Battery which was relocated from its Great George Street location. Victoria Park has long been used for military parades, school processions, and other official functions. The brick magazine was built by 1868. Visible in the distance are West Kent School and Beaconsfield.

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PARO Acc. 2602/21

Fort Edward, circa 1900

The most photographed feature of Victoria Park, the cannons at Fort Edward continue to attract young and old alike. The wooden planks under the cannons were replaced by cement in the 1930s. In 1915, the City of Charlottetown purchased a "one horse

grass cutter" for keeping the grass in Victoria Park and the Squares and streets in Charlottetown neatly trimmed.iv

The wooden carriages in the old pictures were replaced by concrete versions in 1960-61. Cannons in Charlottetown overlooking the harbour, 2004 Here are pictures of the concrete bases in October 2004.

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Other examples of concrete bases resembling the shape of naval carriages

Figure 8: Windsor, ON, Assumption & Centennial Parks

Figure 9: outside Officers' Club, Hamilton, ON

Figure 10: outside Officers' Club, Hamilton, ON

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Appendix B

Cannon terminology

The term CANNON describes the large, smooth-bored, muzzle-loading guns used before the advent of breech-loading, rifled guns firing shells.

…By the 18th century cannons were classified by the weight of the round shot that they fired. Thus the demi cannon was described as a 32-pounder. Smaller guns were 18-pounders (culverin), 12-pounders, 9 pounders and 6-pounders. The gun barrel is mounted on a wheeled carriage, as shown in the drawing, balanced on two trunnions, the short metal projections on either side of the barrel, the invention of some unknown Dutchman. The angle of elevation could be altered by moving a wooden wedge under the rear end of the gun. v There is a specialized vocabulary for the different parts of a cannon. These are a few basic terms:

• the end from which the projectile emerges is the muzzle • the end with the round knob is the breech • the round knob attached to the breech is the cascabel, which means bell in

Spanish • the short arms projecting from the sides of the barrel about half way down its

length are the trunnions. They allow the cannon to be mounted on a carriage.

It is by no means certain when wheeled carriages were introduced. They must have gradually appeared as a means of surmounting the difficulties engendered by the recoil of the piece and of transport of the early guns and their cradles.

Cast iron standing carriages were also, about 1825, used on land for hot climates and situations not much exposed.vi

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Appendix C

About the cannon in Queen’s Square, Cambridge, Ontario

From: http://cambridgeweb.net/historical/cannon.html When the Crimean War started in 1853 it was just another of the countless wars of empire waged by European nations in their constant maneuvering for power, influence and glory. It was a war in which "the angel of the lamp" Florence Nightingale became famous. It was a war that produced the "balaklava" hat which helped British soldiers endure the harsh Russian winter of 1854-55. It was a war of military ineptitude and senseless slaughter immortalized by Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Charge of the Light Brigade". It was also a war with significant local economic impact. Unlike the Imperial wars, there were no local men among the British forces fighting in Russia but the war raised the prices of produce in Canada to an unusually high level. An observer of the local scene reported that in the Galt area "farmers became wealthy; property went up in value; building lots, on back streets, sold at fabulous prices; new enterprises, both public and private, were freely entered into, and the people generally were seized with a spirit of enterprise, progress and it must be added, of extravagance, which subsequent events did not justify". The war ended in 1856 a few months after the Russians were forced to evacuate the city of Sevastopol which had been under siege by the forces of Britain, France and Ottoman Turkey for a year. The Russians destroyed the fort at Sevastopol before they evacuated but apparently not all of the city's cannons were destroyed and a number fell into British hands. These were shipped to England where they remained for a number of years until it was decided to distribute them to municipalities throughout the Canadian colonies. Galt, as a strong supporter of the Empire and as the largest municipality in Waterloo County, was chosen to receive one of the "Russian guns". In November 1864 Galt Council received a letter from the Governor-General Viscount Monck "ordering that one of the Crimean Guns be presented to the Town of Galt". Such a gift, of course, could not be refused and Council was grateful when the manager of the Great Western Railway offered to transport the 24 pound cannon with a six inch bore from Hamilton wharf to Galt free of charge. The cannon was not long arriving and the local press announced on December 2, 1864 that the "Russian gun has been removed from the railway station and now stands awaiting its carriage in the centre of Queen's Square. It attracts considerable attention". It is not clear what part, if any, the "Russian gun" played in the Victoria Day celebrations of 1865 but plans for the 1866 celebrations to mark Queen Victoria's 47th birthday called for quoits, boat races, horse races, an Art Exhibition sponsored by the Mechanics Institute and, at 12 o'clock "a Royal Salute of 21 guns will be fire from the Russian gun".

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According to a contemporary account of Victoria Day, May 24, 1866 "dawned must auspiciously. The weather was delightful and everything betokened a day of amusement such as Galt never before witnessed". The Town bells began pealing at 6:00 a.m. and soon people were gathering for the day's activities. Quoits began at 9:00 a.m. and the boat and horse races went off well. As noon approached final preparations were made for the firing of the cannon which had been moved from Queen's Square to the Cricket Ground "near the face of the hill overlooking the dam". The firing of the cannon had been delegated by the Gun Committee to Mr. William Boge who had served for several years as an infantry soldier in the British Army. He lacked direct experience in the use of field artillery but felt himself to be fully acquainted with artillery practice and had convinced the authorities that he had sufficient knowledge to manage to the cannon properly. Mr. Boge was assisted by Mr. James Armstrong, who attended to the ramming of the muzzle loading the gun, and by Mr. David Galletly who was working the vent of the gun. Three rounds had been safely fired when the powder for the fourth round was placed in the muzzle. Next came the wadding, which consisted of sod, with Mr. Boge and Mr. Armstrong ramming it home. Suddenly and unexpectedly a fearful roar rent the holiday air as the powder exploded prematurely. Perhaps the report of the contemporary press best expresses the shock and horror which descended upon the spectators as the smoke cleared. "The body of Boge had been driven about seven yards to the front and a little to the right. Armstrong's body was blown about the same distance to the left side close up to the fence. Both were rightfully disfigured, The upper portions of the bodies were entirely denuded of clothing and blackened an charred almost out of human resemblance. From Mr. Boge's body one arm had been blown off at the elbow and the other hand was missing. Armstrong's right arm was torn out at the shoulder blade and the left hand was also gone". Mr. Galletly who had been attending to his duties at the vent when the accident occurred had his thumb badly lacerated and his hand burned. The only other injuries were to two boys who had been watching the firing of the gun. One unnamed boy suffered a slightly scratched cheek from the flying splinter. Another boy, John Lapraik, 7 years of age, received an ugly cut on the cheek when he was struck by a small piece of ramrod. His wound was speedily treated and soon healed. Immediately following the accident the bodies of Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Boge were taken to the old school house on Dickson Street where an inquest was held at the direction of coroner, Dr. Phillips. Several witnesses were called, including David Galletly but none were able to give a satisfactory explanation of the direct cause of the premature firing of the gun. It was speculated however, that the firing was too rapid and that the cannon muzzle had not been adequately sponged after the third round was fired. It was though that burning embers remained in the cannon and had ignited the powder charge too soon. The jury ruled "that said William Boge and James Armstrong came to their deaths through accident caused by inexperience of the parties to whom the firing of the 24 pound gun was entrusted."

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The games that had been scheduled for the afternoon were canceled as the Town's joy turned to sorrow and Galt prepared to bury its two sons. The coroner ordered that the bodies by buried without undue delay so the funeral was held at 8:00 p.m. that same evening at the old School House. Both deceased men had been members of the Galt Fire Brigade which turned out in force to honour their fallen comrades. The bodies were placed on Fire Engine No. 1 and, after a short service conducted by the Rev. Mr. Campbell, were taken for burial to St. Andrew's Cemetery. William Boge was 27 years old when he was killed, a native of Roxboroughshire, Scotland. He and his wife had immigrated to Canada two years previously and for some time he had worked for Turnbull and Deans, the predecessor of Charles Turnbull Co. Ltd. Mrs. Boge was a well known local vocalist and a women of frail health. She was in the crowd watching the cannon and witnessed the accident. The shock was such that she fainted "and it was only by the most unremitting attention that she was brought out of the heavy swoons that rapidly succeeded one another". She was taken home and remained in serious condition. For some time it was feared that she might not survive but eventually she came around and "strong hopes" were held for her full recovery. James Armstrong had been born in Havick in Scotland and was about 32 years of age. He was not married, had lived in Canada for about nine years and was employed as a wool sorter in the Robinson and Howell Woollen Mill. Both men were described as "steady and industrious and much respected by their acquaintances." For some time the accident scene was avoided by the Town's people and a full week after the accident "the old cannon still stood on the brow of the hill as no one made any effort to move it to its old resting place in Queen's Square. It was almost as it the horror of the accident continued to hang over the cannon and few seemed willing to approach it. The gun was eventually returned to its resting place in Queen's Square but thereafter suffered a certain amount of neglect. In 1885 it was reported that the old cannon was "resting close to the sod" as the carriage upon which it rested was rotting away. It is thought that the gun rested on another wooden frame until May 1910 when the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire had the cannon remounted on a cement base. In the base was embedded the plaque: "Taken by the British at Sevastopal September 10, 1855. Given by Great Britain to Canada and brought to Galt." At about the same time the Defense Department is reported to have given the various municipalities which possessed cannons some 60 cannon balls. These were stacked in six pyramids of 10 cannon balls each which flanked the cannon. The cannon balls were removed in the years following World War II because it was feared that the local children who insisted on playing with them might be hurt.

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The cannon itself was not threatened with removal along with the cannon balls but this had not been the case a few years earlier when in 1942 the Galt City Council received a letter from the Department of Munitions and Supply requesting that "every available piece of scrap metal" to be salvaged and made available to the Department in an effort to keep war industries operating at peak production. The letter specifically requested the donation of the 105mm. gun, a relic of World War I, which had been positioned on the front lawn of the Galt Soldiers Memorial Home since the end of the war. Also requested were any war "trophies you may have stationed in your parks, square or public places". In an editorial reporting the request, the local newspaper concluded that "the bronze veteran of Crimean days -- is now to go into the fray for the Russians once more, but this time also for the British. Apparently Galt's Council did not believe that the federal government's request included the "Queen's Square relic" for they agreed to make available only "the guns at the Memorial Home and in Soper Park" as well as the City's old Sawyer-Massey road roller. Although another order of the City Council required that "all war relics owned by the City of Galt, be turned over to the Department of Munitions and Supply", the Crimean cannon was not included in the shipment. It has been suggested that the "Russian gun" was not sent because of strong local sentiment attached to the gun. It seems unlikely, however, that mere "local sentiment" could win out over the call for an "All Out" war effort that had resulted in the rationing of gasoline and sugar and in the regular salvage collections which were gathering copper wire, piping and tubing, roofing, boiler bottoms, brass valves, aluminum wire and cables and even type writer ribbon spools and the metal ends on light bulbs for the war effort. At a time when housewives who hoarded sugar were thought unpatriotic, it can not be doubted that similar condemnation would fall upon a Council that refused to transfer an old cannon merely for sentimental reasons. It can be concluded that Council assumed that since the letter from the Department of Munitions and Supply mentioned war trophies of World War I vintage, only those trophies, and not the older ones like the Crimean War cannon were needed. Whatever the reason, the "Russian gun" escaped the scrap pile and remains in Queen's Square, a witness of Cambridge's history and a gun with something of a history of its own.

i From an article in the Expositor, August 24, 2002 ii The cannons in the Derby Arboretum were taken away during the Second World War, allegedly to be melted down as part of the war effort. iii from www.theodessaguide.com/P9C_Crimean_war_cannon.htm - a British cannon Crimean War trophy, taken from a sunken British ship iv From: http://www.edu.pe.ca/paro/exhibits/display.asp?vicpark.1.1 v From: http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/gen1.htm vi FroM: http://32.1911encyclopedia.org/O/OR/ORDNANCE.htm