USC archaeologists to raise confederate cannons from Pee Dee River

A team of underwater archaeologists from the University of South Carolina will begin work to locate and raise three Confederate cannons – each weighing upwards of 5 tons – from the silty sediment at the bottom of Mars Bluff on the Pee Dee River.

Led by state underwater archaeologist Dr. Christopher Amer, researchers from the university’s S.C. Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology will use remote sensing technology, including a magnetometer that identifies the presence of iron, to survey the Confederate Mars Bluff Navy Yard on the Pee Dee River and locate the the four and one half, five and seven and one-half -ton cannons. The Navy Yard is on the east side of the river in Marion County.

The survey is set to begin April 30, with location of the cannons and excavation of the Naval Yard taking place in late May to mid-June. Once located and verified, the cannons, also called gun tubes, will be raised as early as this fall. The project is funded in part by a $200,000 grant from the Drs. Bruce and Lee Foundation in Florence.

The Mars Bluff Naval Yard was one of seven Confederate naval yards that were located inland so gunboats and support vessels for the war could be built and protected from Union forces. Mars Bluff was chosen for its inland location, proximity to the railroad, water communication with Charleston via Georgetown and the abundance of ash, oak and pine lumber.

The cannons to be located and recovered are from the 170-foot gunboat C.S.S. Pee Dee, which was constructed at Mars Bluff and launched in January 1865. The Pee Dee’s career was cut short when Gen. William T. Sherman’s Union troops advanced northward, leading to the destruction of the naval yard and the scuttling of the Pee Dee on March 15, 1865.

Historic records indicate the C.S.S. Pee Dee had two Confederate brooks rifled cannons and one captured Union Dahlgren, smooth-bore, nine-inch shell cannon on board at the time of the ship’s sinking.

The University of South Carolina archaeology project includes collaboration with East Carolina University and Francis Marion University. ECU’s Maritime Studies Program will conduct a field school at Mars Bluff in May and June to support Amer and his team’s research and excavation work. Once the guns are recovered, they will be conserved at FMU. Plans call for the cannons and artifacts associated with the Naval Yard and wreck ultimately to be exhibited at the Florence County Museum.

SCIAA, part of the College of Arts and Sciences, was established in 1963 as a University of South Carolina research institute and a cultural resource management agency for the state of South Carolina. To learn more about SCIAA, its research projects and outreach programs, visit the Web site—http://www.cas.sc.edu/sciaa/—or call 803-777-8170.