Oakland cannons return to MTMC service - Civil War era - Brief Article
Two Civil War cannons that once guarded MTMC’s Western Area Headquarters in Oakland, Calif., are serving again at Fort Eustis.
The cannons flank the entrance of the Military Traffic Management Command at Fort Eustis now. Training and Support Center workers from Fort Eustis installed the cannons May 24.
“It was very thoughtful to bring them here” said Jimmie Fultz, a former Oakland employee who transferred to Fort Eustis.
“It helps keep the Western Area morale high.”
Fultz, a team leader in the Command Operations Center, is among 50 former Oakland employees working for the Military Traffic Management Command at Fort Eustis.
The cannon installation was the final step in a long process that began shortly after Oakland was selected for closing by the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
Restoration of the cannons was spear headed by Barbara Bower, Director of the Army Transportation Museum.
“We’ve very proud to see these cannons back in a public area,” said Bower.
When the cannons arrived at Fort Eustis in 1997, they were in need of restoration.
“At the Oakland base the cannons were mounted in concrete bases and suffered a lot of wear and deterioration from constant polishing and resting on the concrete” said Bower.
In an effort to restore the Civil War artifacts, the tarnished and corroded cannons were cleaned with a pressure washing of baking soda, and polished with a mild abrasive.
Three coats of micro-crystalline wax were then applied to the cannons to prevent future discoloration.
The revitalizing process took nearly one year. This gave a center worker, Danny Winstead, a specialist in metals, design, milling and commercial exhibits, time to design the brass mounts and granite bases.
“These cannons show the shape and mode of history as a media form of their own” said Mike Bellafaire, Command Historian.
“As the Military Traffic Management Command continues to change, they represent our continuity and history.”
MTMC’s cannons were manufactured in 1857 and 1862 by the Revere Copper Co., according to markings on their muzzles.
The cannons are identified as bronze, Model 1857, 12-pound Napoleons, by the Center of Military History. They were used extensively by the Union Army. By 1863, Napoleons comprised 39 percent of the artillery in the Army of the Potomac.
In all, more than 1,000 of these cannons were manufactured for the Federal Government. Many are displayed today on Civil War battlefields.