FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) The three cannons of the Confederate Cruiser CSS PeeDee are back in Florence County after four years of conservation at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston.
The guns are on display at the Florence County Veterans Center. Randy Godbold, Florence County Veterans Affairs Officer, said there will be plaques added to the displays.
“There will be a plaque out here for each cannon explaining the difference, and there will also be a plaque up in the front explaining the ship they came off of,” Godbold said.
Two of the guns are Rifle Brooke cannons and the other a Smoothbore Dahlgren. All three are between ten and twelve feet long and weigh between 9,000 to 15,000 pounds.
“These vessels were a part of a larger plan to establish a Confederate naval presence and reputation that would ultimately result in recognition of the Confederate government by governments of Great Britain, and France and other European nations,” said Ben Zigler, President of the Florence County Historical Society.
Godbold said he expects there to be a celebration for the cannons in August.
