Big Civil War Cannon Destroyed at Battle Creek Michigan 100 Years Ago-- Part 3

Continued from July 23 and 26.

The cannon was used as a war memorial at the Oak Hill Cemetery for years afterwards and was the focal point of Decoration (Memorial) Day observances for may years before World War I.

It featured a plaque that read:

"This gun was in service on the Cumberland (USS Cumberland which was sunk by the CSS Virginia the day before its fight against the USS Monitor) during the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack.  Mounted here by Farragut Post No. 32, Department of Michigan, G.A.R. in commemoration of  the heroic services of Union soldiers and sailors during the Civil War."

(Should have been listed as on the USS Minnesota.

Shortly after Frank Kellogg's death, the gun was donated  to a scrap metal drive.

The story goes that it was removed from the cemetery grounds and loaded into a railway  truck using a ten-ton crane.  But the crane and truck  both overturned.  All had to be donated to the scrap drive.

--Old B-Runner