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THE CANNON FOUNDERS OF SALISBURY, CONNECTICUT B. W. Powell ©
This view, based on scholarly research, emphasizes a 200-year span over which the Connecticut furnaces were active, by contrast to earlier but shorter-lived works at Saugus in the Massachusetts Colony (1628) and Jamestown in Virginia (1607). Names, places and events connected with the Salisbury Furnace and its long-dead ironmasters are the very stuff of our history: Ethan Allen, George Washington, Gouvernor Morris, and Eli Whitney, for instance, not to mention USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides"), The Springfield Armory, and Harper's Ferry Arsenal all of which depended on its output. The last regional furnace was "blown" in 1923. (Salisbury Works itself was replaced by a cutlery factory following the Civil War). At its demise, iron from northwest Connecticut dominated a thriving market in cast railroad wheels. Today, the hollows of northern Litchfield County lie largely reclaimed by second-growth woodlands. The broken stone stacks, dislodged by frost and ravaged by time, stand askew in the soil from which they sprang. The most famous of these furnaces - the Salisbury Works at Lakeville (Map) - ranks with the great cannon armories of the world whose products have altered the course of history... At Saugus, the English Pilgrims erected a furnace with finery, chafery, and bloomery operations to help wrest iron from "bog ore" - a curious limonitic or hydrated source of iron found in the mud of bogs. Bog ore is thought to be partly the result of bacterial action. When heated in a good draft, bog ore yields lumps of metallic iron, and these were later worked by smiths into useful articles. Limited and uncertain supplies of bog ore soon proved a constraint upon these early endeavors. The Colonists, pushing ever further west into the forests, kept an eye out not only for Indians and catamounts, but for workable deposits of iron ore, as well. By the early decades of the 18th Century these settlers discovered the limonitic ore beds of Litchfield County. Geologists know these ore bodies today as alteration products of the mineral siderite, scattered through the rock series of the Stockbridge Formation. A beneficent Nature included contiguous deposits of limestone, ideal for fluxing, and a boundless hardwood forest for conversion to charcoal. In short, everything necessary for sustained output of iron. One of their number, a Daniel Bissell of Windsor, obtained a grant, the first of record, to a major ore bed - Salisbury's famed "Ore Hill" - from the Colonial Assembly in 1731 (Howell, et al, 1980). By the following decade, his fellow New Englanders had largely displaced a few Dutch settlers who had earlier penetrated this far via the Hudson River Valley. Smiths and other artisans, their names lost to history, likely began to work these deposits piecemeal. They left little to document their activities, for at the time it was neither legal nor loyal to work any iron save that imported from England. In 1734, the first permanent forge and furnace was erected at Lime Rock (better known today for its international car-rally set). Soon other furnaces rose at Salisbury, Canaan, Cornwall, Kent, Norfolk, and Colebrook.
Here a prewar Colonial Governor reported to his London contacts that the enterprising backwoods citizens had actually created a refinery capable of producing steel! (It was steel from this Colebrook Works that was later forged into the cutters for the cannon-boring mill at Salisbury...). The Colebrookers apparently worked in splendid isolation, importuning the General Assembly endlessly (and fruitlessly) for a road into their mountain fastness. A Time of Crisis Apparently cannon lay uppermost always on Allen's mind... Not widely known is the fact that just nine days after the Battle at Lexington April, 1775, he and a group of "co-conspirators" withdrew three hundred pounds from the treasury of the Connecticut Assembly - without bothering to notify that august body! This, to finance a secret expedition by Allen to seize the British post at Ticonderoga. The object was to secure, among other supplies, the numerous cannon known to be at that fort. Acting in secrecy, and striking with lightning speed, Allen and his forces gained surrender of the fortress on May 10, 1775, just twenty days after Lexington... Included in the inventory of captured goods sorely needed by the Colonial forces, were 120 pieces of cannon, 2 large mortars and 1 cohorn, 1 howitzer, 50 swivels, 2 brass cannon and 10 casks of powder. In November following, Gen. Henry Knox in an epic venture, "brought down" from Ticonderoga another 55 cannon and 2500 pounds of lead by ox sled through the frozen, trackless forest to Cambridge. Here the cannon were emplaced on Dorchester Heights, and used to bombard the British, causing their eventual evacuation of Boston in March, 1776. Additional cannon "brought down" by a Col. Finney's Regiment, found their way to the crucial defense of the Harbor at New London... At
the outbreak of hostilities, Salisbury Furnace was owned and operated by
Richard Smith, With the help of others, and the tireless efforts of Trumbull, the Works - reputed to be "in good repair and capable of being improved to the great advantage of the public by manufacturing iron, casting cannon, &" were readied. (Smith, more clairvoyant than some, did not sabatoge the works on his departure. He returned after the War with a story of being "detained" for the duration in England. His story was accepted and his properties eventually returned to him). On February 16, 1776, Lemeul Bryant of Middleborough, Massachusetts Bay, was retained as cannon founder, and David Carver, Zebulon White, and David Oldman were engaged as cannon molders. Initially, the largest cannon cast here were 18-pounders, with barrel weights of about 1 ton. A constraint on the size of cannon a foundry can produce is the amount of molten iron it can make ready for any given pour. In 1762, the daily output at Salisbury was about two and one-half tons. In 1778 modifications to the facilities were made so that 32-pounders could be cast for the Navy. (The cannon for "Old Ironsides" were cast at Salisbury...). The cannon were cast solid and bored vertically, as was become widespread by this date. (Even "founded" or cored barrels still cast in some foundries, were later bored for final calibering). These cannon were produced in what was then a very unsettled region, with few serviceable roads. Transport of the >heavy barrels down to Hartford and the river towns, and ultimately on down to the harbor towns on Long Island Sound, was a major problem. Heavy teaming for such deadweight was mandatory and mud, ice, and cold hampered efforts. Often the cannon were moved at night for security reasons, adding to difficulties. In winter, ox sleds were necessary. Another logistic challenge was obtaining sufficient charcoal. The early furnaces ate up charcoal at the rate of 250 bushels per ton of iron produced. Numerous contracts were let to secure this vital ingredient. Often during winter months, with roads blocked by snow, the furnaces were "stopped" and the founders and their associates went into virtual hibernation till more charcoal could be brought up. A vexation that continued throughout the war years was sufficient labor. Despite the fact that employees of the foundry were exempt from armed service or from call-up or muster by the militia, knowledgeable craftsmen were continually sought. Pre-war records of various works sometimes refer to employment of "foreigners"; in one case this included an Indian from New York (who presumeably qualified as "foreign"). Master colliers during wartime operations at Salisbury included Capt. John Welsh and Simeon Strong. Teamsters included Benajah Williams, Amos Hanchet, and one Nathaniel Gilbert of Sadisfield, Massachusetts Bay - among many others. The old biblical first names and Anglo-Saxon surnames provide a stirring roster of our forefathers. Ore-diggers were numerous; one was John Pudney. We learn that Medad Parker was retained as patternmaker for swivel guns, and Joel Camp was hired as a cannon-barrel patternmaker. The chief banksman in the foundry was Daniel Forbes. Edward Whitcomb performed a critical function, for he alone knew how to properly "charge" the stack for the "blast", using alternate barrow loads of ore, coke, and limestone. John Owen kept a boarding house for all hands. Ebenezer Fitch, Benjamin Eggleston, and others cut and carted wood. These iron workers and smiths to the number of about 60, turned out the first crude but serviceable barrels. Later, more skilled artisans arrived to assist. On July 2, 1776, Col. Porter received 514 pounds of black lead specially sent up from New Haven. When this was smeared on the barrel patterns, it prevented them sticking fast to their molds, which had been a vexing problem. Before reviewing the actual and inferred casting procedures at Salisbury Furnace, it is interesting to consider some of the day-to-day hustle and bustle recorded in the old documents: · "Dec. 2nd, 1776 - Geo. Marsh given credit on account for use of tools, including 8 files, a chaplet, band for the boring mill shaft, 96 pounds of best London steel, and for boring "some 4-pounder and 6-pounder guns and 3 swivels · Feb. 7, 1777 - settlement to Joel Camp for sundries, including making of gun patterns" · "Apr. 12, 1777 - Timothy Bliss rec'd 12 shillings for use of his tools last winter for boring guns" · "June 2nd, 1777 - Benajah Wms. paid for carting one gun pattern from Joel Camp's and on June 19th for carting others to furnace" · "June 2nd, 1777 -Aaron Swetland engaged by overseers to cut off sprues of cannon cast at the furnace during present blast: for 12-, 9-, and 6-pounders taken together 7 shillings each; 4- and 3-pounders at 4 shillings, and find his board (the managers to supply tools to cut the sprues)" · "June 12, 1777 - Thomas Ficks of Colebrook paid for work about the Molding house" · "June 17, 1777 - Medad Parker given allowance for making a swivel pattern and rollers for the Boring Mill" · "June 26, 1777 - Council of Safety at Lebanon voting that overseers of furnace at Salisbury remove the mill erected for boring of cannon to some more convenient place" · Sept. 27, 1777 - Ezra Sheldon allowed 9 shillings for carting 6 cannon to the new boring mill and to place of proving" A Col. Jedediah Elderkin was an important participant in these activities, too. One of his assignments was to "make due inquiry" at Boston and elsewhere as to the newest and best model of cannon, 18-pounders and under, and any other dimensions, and the newest and best methods of boring them, and in general, everything related thereto which might be useful to be known and for the best interest of the American cause. In addition to the blast furnace there was also a molding house, a boring mill, and (later) a new boring mill, a furnace barn, a bridge house, and the "upper dam". There was also a guard house and guards to maintain order and decorum. (In their wilderness industrial site, the "hands" presumeably resorted to strong spirit - one of few pastimes). A
"Government Guard" was assigned to the furnace for protection and to
maintain order. Patrols were detailed each night. It seems unlikely that
British soldiers posed immediate threat in so remote an area, but local
Tory depredations were always a possibility. The most likely threat was
fire rekindling itself from poorly banked forge fires or stray coals.
Wilderness Independence For September 1, 1777, Guard Orders bore the following endorsement (of two guards posted that night, one was Aaron Swetland - the sprue-cutter we have met previously): "Thursday night, Asahel Bissell, Noah Grinnell and Asa Landon were relieved about nine o'clock. Abraham Bethrong was hailed by the centinel (sic) but passed him and came up toward the Guard House, the centinel calling to the guard. They turned out, and one of them laid hold of Bethrong, who struck Bissell, the man who endeavored to secure him. Bethrong having a horse with him to return, which he had borrowed, and being known, was dismissed to be enquired of concerning his affray tomorrow morning." Hundreds of cannon and tons of shot were cast at Salisbury. They found their way aboard the many naval ships and privateers which put in along the Connecticut shore. Many of these guns were mounted as field pieces in forts and batteries. Prominent carriage makers for both field and ship mounts were William Lax of Norwich and Stephen Ranney of Middletown. The importance of Salisbury to the general defense and conduct of the War may be inferred from the following extract from a Resolution of the Assembly, dated Dec. 18, 1776: "Whereas, the article of cannon is of great importance ... and much of ours has ... fallen into the hands of our enemies ... and the ...Continental Congress (has requested) for a large number to be sent to the northern fronts and for the ships... and there appears no way to obtain them but by our foundry at Salisbury, and there is danger that the furnace will soon be blown out and stopped unless effectual measures are immediately taken to continue the blast ... and casting of cannon... therefore Resolved: ... that Benj. Henshaw ... repair forthwith to Salisbury ... and afford... all ... assistance ... to see what is necessary to be done..." Gunfounding Technique The gun casting at Salisbury was earlier described by Middlebrook (1935) and Harte (1942). Both men were civil engineers with apparently only generalized knowledge of foundry operations. They had recourse to a variety of records, personal correspondence, diaries, plant ledgers and journals, anecdotal material, and public and private sources. While providing much interesting information on the general routine at Salisbury, and on orders received, and cannons shipped, their sources were apparently silent on the step-by-step production of the cannon, which is much to be regretted. Middlebrook apparently tried to fill this void by speculation based on engravings from the famous 18th Century Encyclopedia of technology, compiled by the Frenchman, Diderot. In this I believe he went seriously astray, and was in turn echoed by Harte and other writers on - and illustrators of - Salisbury. In what follows, I offer a revised interpretation. In this I have benefit of data, and of relevant studies that did not exist at the time of these earlier authors. If I seem critical of them, it is only in the spirit of seeking the truth. In criticizing my predecessors and betters, I remain aware that I likely add new faux pas to the record - to the delight, perhaps, of researchers yet unborn. In such painful ways does understanding move forward.
Regrettable also, is the fact no formal archeological excavation has ever
been undertaken for so important a site. Such excavation could provide
physical documentation (for or against) much of what I offer, even in
light of the obvious intense soil disturbances on the site in
post-Revolution times. Interestingly, we do now have archeological studies
of early English cannon foundries. And we now have quite detailed
asessment of Eighteenth Century gun-casting procedures in the Royal
Arsenal at Woolwich, England. While this was a brass foundry, with
allowance for the difference in metals, many of these operations
generalize to iron founding. The British were the first modern nation to
cast iron guns (Guilmartin, 1983). Their technology is obviously ancestral
to that of the English settlers who came to our shores. Coeval American
operations may be assumed to mirror practices of their "English cousins".
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The Salisbury Works (Fig. 1-A) - the first furnace for sustained
production of cast iron, converted thereafter for wartime use as a cannon
foundry - rose in 1762 at Lakeville (Salisbury), about six miles from Lime
Rock. One partner in this venture was no other than legendary Ethan Allen
- bad-tempered, hard-drinking, muscular frontiersman of later Fort
Ticonderoga fame, and self-styled "Colonel" of his famed "Green Mountain
Boys". (Of them, it has been said elsewhere they were "a collection of the
most abandoned wretches that ever lived"). 
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second partner was "Squire" Samuel Forbes, whose severe visage
(Fig.2-A) stares across the centuries at us, his
problematical descendants. And of him, it was recorded "... he was so
tough he washed his hands in the molten iron". He was to become one of the
best known of the early Connecticut ironmasters. Central to our
story, too, is the (then) very isolated works at Colebrook, in the
wilderness 15 miles east of Salisbury. 
v:shapes="_x0000_s1028">a
Royalist who fled to Boston and later to England. Jonathan Trumbull,
Connecticut's wartime governor, oversaw at once confiscation of the Works
by the new State. Included were ore beds, limestone, woodlands for the
charcoal, and the blast furnace itself. Placed in charge in March, 1776,
was Col. Joshua Porter (Fig. 2-B) of Lakeville, with legislative authority
to engage all the personnel needed to operate a cannon foundry - vital to
the interests of the new nation.