Guttenberg, Iowa is a scenic small town located in northeast Iowa along the Mississippi River. Among the many sites of the historic town is the relatively new veteran's memorial and cannon display. Yesterday as the 42N team took some of the scenic highways to and from Iowa's driftless area, a stop at Lock & Dam No. 10 produced an opportunity to perform a quick photo study of a Civil War era cannon. From the markings on the cannon I discovered this is a 24-pounder flank howitzer. The foundry that made this cannon in South Boston, Mass. produced 577 of these heavy fellows, of which some 269 survive. This particular cannon was produced in 1863.
Guttenberg's old time cannon is situated perpendicular to the river and is aimed at Wisconsin. But don't worry Badger fans. Given the altitude of the barrel there is no chance that even a fully charged cannon ball would fly past the state line located at mid-river. Since this is an inactive cannon (for display only as part of the veteran's memorial) the purpose of the hardware is to remind people of the epic struggle fought by area soldiers and sailors a hundred and fifty years ago.
I had no idea the dividing "line" was in the river; interesting.
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