REVOLUTIONARY MOVE
Warwick Furnace: Revolutionary War-era cannon has a new home
One of four Revolutionary War-era cannons unearthed on the grounds of the former Warwick Furnace has a new home to help display and protect its historic legacy.
From 1742 to 1765, the Warwick Furnace was busy making flat iron plates for Franklin stoves.
Production had begun after ironmaster John Potts — the founder of Pottstown — took over the running of the furnace, which had been established five years earlier by his mother-in-law, Ann Rutter Savage Nutt. Pig iron and plate iron manufacture continued through 1765 and then his as-yet unborn country came calling.
As war with Britain crept toward inevitability, the few cannons the colonial forces had in their possession were either taken from the British or from merchant ships that used them for defense against pirates. So with supply low, local production at Warwick Furnace switched to a new, dangerous and illegal product — cannon.
“Britain had banned manufacture of artillery in America, declaring it both illegal and disloyal to cast guns,” according to an article on history.net, so few Americans had much experience with their manufacture, as evidenced by the fact that many failed their initial tests — some exploded. In May of 1776, none of the 200 cannon cast at two Pennsylvania foundries proved usable.
But soon enough, they got better and four months later, nearby Hopewell Furnace had 28 cannons of 41 cast proven usable.
One year later, the British captured Philadelphia and after failing at Germantown to counter-attack and re-take it, Gen. George Washington marched his troops to Valley Forge for his famous encampment there. On Sept. 17 of that same year, he and Alexander Hamilton marched 8,000 of his troops to the Warwick Furnace area to repair rifles, and obtain ammunition and cannons from the many furnaces and forges in the area.
Just as the Americans took cannon from the British, so too did the British capture American cannons. It was to avoid this possibil