Civil War cannon sale flap

Driving down to the village on a weekend errand, Colin Zimmerman did a double-take as he drove past tiny Greenwood Cemetery: The 816-pound cannon that had adorned the graves of Civil War veterans for more than a century was gone.

"I just couldn't believe it," said Zimmerman, 45, a utility foreman. "I'm saying to myself, where the heck is it?"

The Union muzzleloader, forged in Pennsylvania in 1862, was quietly sold in December to the Civil War Artillery Museum near Pittsburgh and hauled away a few weeks ago. The five-member town board accepted a sweetened offer of $15,000, plus a replica cannon worth $5,000.

Selling off this bit of the town's heritage without a broader referendum really wasn't the way to go. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time the privately-owned Civil War Artillery Museum has found itself in such a situation (some previous controversies notedhere and here), but it does appear to be a legit operation. Unfortunately, some less-than-scrupulous militaria dealers have persuaded wavering owners to sell by falsely representing themselves as museums, or museum representatives.

Posted by David on March 20, 2005 8:00 PM