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MONTPELIER, Vt. — Everyone agrees that the bronze cannon, cast in 1863 and used by a Vermont artillery unit in the Civil War, is a valuable piece of the state’s military history. But the accord stops there.
A group of Civil War re-enactors that has used the cannon for 30 years is fighting to keep the state, which owns the cannon, from taking it back.
The re-enactors say they have been good stewards of the cannon, repairing it and firing it around the state and country, and should be able to keep it. The state says the cannon is most likely unsafe for firing and wants to put it on display in the Vermont Veterans Militia Museum and Library.
“It’s enormously painful,” said James Dassatti, whose Second Battery Vermont Light Artillery re-enactment unit has used the cannon since the late 1970s. “Not only is it painful that we could potentially lose it, but it’s painful the way it’s been put upon us. For many of us the last 30 years of our lives have been intertwined with the cannon.”
The two sides have been at odds since January, when the state notified Mr. Dassatti that it wanted the cannon back. The cannon spent the winter at the Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet, N.Y., and will remain there until the dispute is resolved.
Richard Fifield, the former head of the Second Battery, said he lent the cannon to Mr. Dassatti, who graduated from Norwich University, where he had been a cadet and lost his hand in a cannon firing accident. Mr. Fifield said former Gov. Mortimer Proctor, whose family commissioned the cannon a century earlier, lent him the cannon in the 1960s but made it clear the state owned it.
“I loaned it to Dassatti because he was a Norwich cadet and he wanted to keep the Second Battery going,” Mr. Fifield, 86, said. “Now he doesn’t want to give it back. I don’t think the state owes him anything.”
The Legislature held hearings on the dispute in April. Mr. Dassatti and Ron Crisman, who runs the museum, both appeared before a legislative panel in Civil War uniforms.
Legislators tucked a provision into the state budget that calls for an independent expert to assess the safety of the cannon. If the cannon is found to be safe the state will lease it to Mr. Dassatti; if not it will be housed at the museum.
A conclusion, however, is not imminent, and both sides are confident of victory.
“I sat in a room and listened to both sides, and both sides are on a mission,” said State Senator Susan Bartlett, who filed the legislation on behalf of Mr. Dassatti. “I think maybe we should make them square off and do an Alexander Hamilton.”
That would be historic but unsafe, which is exactly what some see as the problem with the cannon.
“It shouldn’t be fired any more for safety and liability issues,” said Mr. Crisman, who has been working with the state to get the cannon back. “We’ve got a great history with this cannon, and we really think it’s time this thing is returned and given a decent home.”
Mr. Dassatti said he thought it had a decent home, and is trying to find another expert to test the cannon, which he said was “as sound as the day it was made.”
Mr. Dassatti said his group had made numerous repairs to the cannon and felt as if no one recognized them.
“We travel with it and go out of state as ambassadors of Vermont,” Mr. Dassatti said. “We want to show that war is not glorious, that it’s a great sacrifice for people to participate. That has always been our recreational mission.”
Mr. Crisman, however, said he thought it was time to retire the weapon, because the state bore liability should something go wrong.
“If we own the cannon, we, the people of the state, are ultimately responsible,” Mr. Crisman said. “Cannons are dangerous.”
A group of Civil War re-enactors that has used the cannon for 30 years is fighting to keep the state, which owns the cannon, from taking it back.
The re-enactors say they have been good stewards of the cannon, repairing it and firing it around the state and country, and should be able to keep it. The state says the cannon is most likely unsafe for firing and wants to put it on display in the Vermont Veterans Militia Museum and Library.
“It’s enormously painful,” said James Dassatti, whose Second Battery Vermont Light Artillery re-enactment unit has used the cannon since the late 1970s. “Not only is it painful that we could potentially lose it, but it’s painful the way it’s been put upon us. For many of us the last 30 years of our lives have been intertwined with the cannon.”
The two sides have been at odds since January, when the state notified Mr. Dassatti that it wanted the cannon back. The cannon spent the winter at the Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet, N.Y., and will remain there until the dispute is resolved.
Richard Fifield, the former head of the Second Battery, said he lent the cannon to Mr. Dassatti, who graduated from Norwich University, where he had been a cadet and lost his hand in a cannon firing accident. Mr. Fifield said former Gov. Mortimer Proctor, whose family commissioned the cannon a century earlier, lent him the cannon in the 1960s but made it clear the state owned it.
“I loaned it to Dassatti because he was a Norwich cadet and he wanted to keep the Second Battery going,” Mr. Fifield, 86, said. “Now he doesn’t want to give it back. I don’t think the state owes him anything.”
The Legislature held hearings on the dispute in April. Mr. Dassatti and Ron Crisman, who runs the museum, both appeared before a legislative panel in Civil War uniforms.
Legislators tucked a provision into the state budget that calls for an independent expert to assess the safety of the cannon. If the cannon is found to be safe the state will lease it to Mr. Dassatti; if not it will be housed at the museum.
A conclusion, however, is not imminent, and both sides are confident of victory.
“I sat in a room and listened to both sides, and both sides are on a mission,” said State Senator Susan Bartlett, who filed the legislation on behalf of Mr. Dassatti. “I think maybe we should make them square off and do an Alexander Hamilton.”
That would be historic but unsafe, which is exactly what some see as the problem with the cannon.
“It shouldn’t be fired any more for safety and liability issues,” said Mr. Crisman, who has been working with the state to get the cannon back. “We’ve got a great history with this cannon, and we really think it’s time this thing is returned and given a decent home.”
Mr. Dassatti said he thought it had a decent home, and is trying to find another expert to test the cannon, which he said was “as sound as the day it was made.”
Mr. Dassatti said his group had made numerous repairs to the cannon and felt as if no one recognized them.
“We travel with it and go out of state as ambassadors of Vermont,” Mr. Dassatti said. “We want to show that war is not glorious, that it’s a great sacrifice for people to participate. That has always been our recreational mission.”
Mr. Crisman, however, said he thought it was time to retire the weapon, because the state bore liability should something go wrong.
“If we own the cannon, we, the people of the state, are ultimately responsible,” Mr. Crisman said. “Cannons are dangerous.”
Attached Files
This kind of stuff drives me crazy.
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