A routine harbor-deepening project in 2021 turned into a major historic find when a dredge scooping the Savannah River bed pulled up a rusted cannon in its jaws. Crews widening the channel quickly raised two more guns in the next scoop, eventually recovering 19 heavy iron weapons by March 2022. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers later brought up two more from the riverbed, bringing the final tally to 21 Revolutionary War cannons.
Archaeologists initially thought the guns belonged to the CSS Georgia, a Civil War ironclad raised nearby. Physical measurements quickly ruled that out, dating the artillery a full century earlier than the ironclad. Radiocarbon testing on wooden stoppers plugging the barrels confirmed the weapons dated to the late 1700s. Conservation work later revealed that 14 of the restored cannons were still loaded, with their original gunpowder cartridges preserved inside the barrels.
The Blockade at Five Fathom Hole…