Alamo Cannon Comes Home to Alamo - January 24, 2015

Huge crowd for the January 24, 2015 dedication of the McRae/Alamo cannon

A significant Spanish cannon has been returned to The Alamo. The barrel bears the Spanish royal crest and has the exact damage as other Alamo cannons that have been previously discovered to have been at the battle. Both of the cannon's trunnions have been broken off and the fire hole is not spiked. Researchers believe that this cannon was used by the Alamo defenders in February-March 1836. 

According to the cannon's provenance, it was sent from San Antonio to the French family in Philadelphia sometime in the 1880s as a payment for a debt. Howard B. French displayed the cannon on the lawn of his country estate called Aulderbrook.

Jan DeVault, President of the San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy welcomes guests and donors to Alamo for dedication

In 1986, J.P. Bryan heard of the cannon's existence and went to Philadelphia to investigate. Although the cannon had been sold, Bryan was able to locate and buy it from the collector who had purchased it. He then shipped the cannon back to Texas and auctioned it to raise money for the Texas State Historical Association.

Mr. John McRae purchased the cannon and had a carriage constructed for the artillery piece.

McRae Cannon inside the Alamo

The cannon was donated to San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy. Under the direction of Mr. Jim Jobling, the Conservancy had the cannon conserved at the Texas A&M Conservation Research Lab. The cannon is on loan to the Alamo from the Conservancy.

An official dedication and "thank you" to donors will be held on Saturday, January 24, 2015 at 2:30 p.m. at The Alamo. San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy's Dr. Gregg Dimmick will discuss the history of the cannon. All are welcomed.

Contributors to the preservation of the McRae/Alamo Cannon

The San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy is a Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve, reclaim, and restore the San Jacinto Battleground and build greater public awareness of the battle of San Jacinto, the culminating military event of the Texas Revolution. No other nonprofit organization is devoted entirely to these goals. In 2010, the San Jacinto Battleground was included on Preservation Texas' Most Endangered Places list. Preservation Texas is the statewide partner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. To find out what you can do to help, visit www.sanjacintoconservancy.org 

San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy | sjbc-texas@usa.net | 808 Travis, Suite 1429P. O. Box 940536Houston, TX 77094-7536

Article about the dedication of the McRae/Alamo cannon in Rivard Report by Carol Baass Sowa originally published in Today's Catholic.