17 Revolutionary War cannons discovered in Savannah River arrive at museum

A museum in Georgia’s oldest city welcomed a truckload of Revolutionary War artifacts on Wednesday: 17 cannons that experts believe sank to the bottom of the Savannah River during the American Revolution and lay undiscovered for nearly 240 years.

Workers hoisted the big guns one by one from a truck and wheeled them into the Savannah History Museum, which plans to put them on display just in time for the Fourth of July celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday.

“They look brand new,” said Andrea Farmer, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers archaeologist who worked on the research and preservation team. “They could pretty much be fired if someone wanted to.”

The cannons were discovered in 2021 when a dredge scooping sediment from the riverbed as part of an Army Corps project to deepen Savannah’s shipping channel pulled up a cannon in its metal jaws, the Associated Press reported. The crew soon found two more, and subsequent excavation recovered 17 cannons total.

Experts believe the cannons were lost during the Revolutionary War, likely from a British ship that sank or was scuttled in the river. British forces occupied Savannah from December 1778 until July 1782, using the port as a key strategic hub in the southern campaign. The cast-iron guns remained in remarkable condition, preserved by the sediment that entombed them for 239 years, Farmer said.

The Army Corps of Engineers led the recovery and preservation effort alongside historians and archaeologists. The Savannah History Museum, located in the historic Central of Georgia Railway’s passenger station — a National Historic Landmark — will feature the cannons in a new exhibition opening ahead of the holiday.

The discovery adds a tangible chapter to Savannah’s Revolutionary War history. The city was the seat of British authority in the South during the occupation, and the harbor saw repeated naval actions by American and French forces attempting to retake the port. The museum exhibition coincides with the nationwide celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.