FLORENCE, S.C. (WBTW) – Underwater archaeologists and researchers from the University of South Carolina pulled three cast iron Civil War cannons from the bottom of the Great Pee Dee river where they’ve been buried for more than 150 years on Tuesday morning.
For many historians, it was an experience they say they’d chase for a lifetime.
“These two have been lost for years, and we’ve been waiting a long time to see them come out of the water,” said Vietnam Veteran William Lockridge .
Lockridge and his friend Catesby Jones have traveled all around the United States to see all of the surviving Selma-made guns.
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world. I can’t wait to jump the rope and kiss the gun tubes because we’re both here for that,” said Lockridge.
“I’m really excited. You know, at ninety-years-old, you don’t get too excited about anything,” laughed Jones.
The World War II Veteran should be excited.
His grandfather was the maker of the Selma-made guns, and he’s traveled all over to touch every gun that’s been recovered.
The cannons recovered Tuesday once armed the 150-foot Confederate gunboat Pee Dee. They were shoved overboard and the ship set afire as Union forces began threatening the region in 1865.
“Nobody even has a picture of the Pee Dee, isn’t that funny? It was a famous South Carolina ship that was right here, and they burned the Pee Dee to keep the Yankees from getting it and they sunk those cannons down in the mud and they’ve been there one hundred and fifty years,” said Jones.
State underwater archaeologist James Spirek says the cannons appear in very good condition.
This was all part of the CSS Pee Dee Cannon Recovery project, and it’s been in the making for several years now.
In 2009, archaeologists identified where the naval shipyard was located in the river, but it wasn’t until 2012 that the final cannon was found by property owner Bob Butler who ventured into the river with his metal detector.
Butler says he joined in on the recovering and restoration process, and now, preserving the history is what the project is all about.
“Kids can go and ask questions and find out what’s going on, where these guns came from. Why these guns are here, and why the south had them, and that’s a story.”
The weapons will be restored at the same North Charleston facility where the Confederate submarine H.L Hunley is being restored.
Once that two-year process is complete, the cannons will be moved back to Florence and put on display at the new Florence Veteran’s Administration Building.
