This brass cannon has a storied past. It was once part of Boston’s militia artillery in pre-Revolutionary days.

In September 177 4 with tensions rising between British military forces and the people of Boston, this cannon, along with three others, was smuggled out of Boston by patriots from under a British guard. The four cannons were taken to Concord and were part of the cache of weapons that the British infantry pursued in April 1775; the,Redcoats never found the cannons. The four cannons were used throughout the American Revolutionary War by the Continental Army. Two of these cannons were returned to Boston from a federal arsenal in 1788. They were named “The Adams” and “The Hancock” and were struck with the inscription seen along the barrel (see reverse of photo). A ceremonial exercise gone wrong in 1821 resulted in the burst barrel. Both cannons are on loan from the Bunker Hill Monument Association. “The Hancock” is on view at Minuteman NHP in Concord. The other two cannons from the original four were lost to the enemy.