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Chattanooga: Cannon featured in upcoming 'Roadshow' episode

By: Lauren Gregory
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Rafael Eledge

About 500 antique cannons are circulating among private citizens in America these days, their owners ranging from relatively anonymous, small-town Civil War fanatics to well-known celebrities such as Kid Rock.

Thomas J. Bailey, owner of Historical Ordnance Works in Woodstock, Ga., is one of the lucky few to own eight such relics. He brought one of them to Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park on Friday to film what “Antiques Roadshow” appraiser Rafael Eledge calls the most exciting episode of the popular PBS series yet.

“I don’t care who you are. This is cool,” Mr. Eledge said after watching the weapon — a Civil War-era Union cannon built in 1841 — fire a 12-pound shot about 1,200 yards out into the battlefield.

Host Mark L. Walberg agreed, explaining that the experience rivaled the excitement he felt riding a bobsled for an episode in Salt Lake City.

“We have been to a battlefield before to film an episode on belt buckles, but it was not this extensive,” Mr. Walberg said. “We’ve never fired a cannon before, so this is exciting.”

Mr. Walberg, Mr. Eledge, Mr. Bailey and a team of re-enactors spent several hours in the hot morning sunshine in traditional Civil War-era garb, perfecting their portrayal of a historically accurate cannon firing. Park rangers stood by, supervising closely.

Though Mr. Bailey has owned the cannon for a decade, it was the first time he actually fired it. He has been preserving it, he explained, because the black powder used in the explosion is corrosive.

“This is an original,” said Mr. Bailey, who obtained the cannon from another restoration specialist, who had gotten it from the National Park Service in the 1970s.

“During World War II, this was one of about six that were stored in Ford’s Theater in Washington, (D.C.), so they were safe from the scrap drive,” he said.

The artifact’s appearance in one of three “Antiques Roadshow” segments filmed in Chattanooga this week will showcase one of the more rare types of antique collection, according to Mr. Walberg.

“These cannons are collectible,” he said. “They’re bulky, and they’re certainly not cheap, but there is a market for these relics.”

Mr. Eledge, a Savannah, Tenn.-based antiques dealer, explained that serious Civil War enthusiasts save for years and trade up to get the biggest and best models they can afford.

“It’s the ultimate in Civil War collectibles,” he said. “A lot of people can say they have a pistol or a musket. Not everybody can say they have a cannon.”

Such items only are increasing in value over time, Mr. Eledge said. Mr. Bailey’s cannon may have been worth $35,000 to $40,000 a few years ago, he said, but now it could fetch at least $80,000.

“That’s just a conservative estimate. In the right arena, it would go for even more than that,” he said.

Confederate-made cannons are more valuable still because they are much rarer, Mr. Eledge added.

“I’ve seen a man turn down half a million dollars for one before,” he said.

That’s probably because a love for Civil War artifacts seems to trump all monetary value for some, according to Robbie Hawthorne, of Waleska, Ga., who helped fire Mr. Bailey’s cannon Friday and owns two of his own at home.

“I think it’s born in you,” he said.

But a few other spectators were more interested in the show’s host than its subject.

Nancy Haynes, of Lawrenceburg, Ind., happened to stop by the park Friday while in town for a family reunion. She was a bit starstruck by Mr. Walberg and stood by snapping pictures as he filmed.

“I’m not really into Civil War re-enactment stuff,” she said, straining to get a good look from several yards away, “but this is really neat.”

The cannon episode will air during the upcoming season of “Antiques Roadshow,” which runs January through May. A specific air date will be published on the show’s Web site this fall, according to Mr. Walberg.

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