STEUBENVILLE - A Civil War-era cannon used by Union troops has found a home at the Historic Fort Steuben Visitors Center.
James Ludewig of Steubenville donated the mountain howitzer to the fort last year, and after months of restoration work the cannon now is on display in the Exhibition Hall.
"James contacted us last year and said he wanted to donate the cannon to us after he closed his antique store. Terry Zavackey dismantled the cannon and sent it to a restoration business in Pennsylvania where the metal parts were powder coated," said Jerry Barilla, president of the Historic Fort Steuben.
"At the same time Terry Papola spent his spare time in the Visitors Center basement sanding the two wooden wheels and the wooden carriage. After he finished the sanding he painted the wooden parts and then Terry Zavackey put the cannon back together and we brought it up to the Exhibition Hall," continued Barilla.
"We originally planned on putting the cannon in the area near the Land Office but it is so clean and beautiful, I didn't want to put it outside," added Barilla.
According to Ludewig, the cannon is a Union Army mountain howitzer.
"It was built a little smaller so mules could pull it up onto mountains where the soldiers could fire it at Confederate troops below them," explained Ludewig.
"I originally bought it from the Union Drummer Boy dealer in Gettysburg and it may have been used at the battle of Gettysburg," noted Ludewig.
"The cannon barrel was lined with titanium to make it stronger. And I used to shoot it off on New Year's Eve and the Fourth of July when I lived on my farm in Carroll County," said Ludewig.
Barilla said pointing the cannon at West Virginia had no significance.
"I just thought it looked better pointing toward the river and not at the doorway," said Barilla.
Ludewig said he also plans to donate a mannequin wearing a Union soldier's uniform to the cannon display.
