Civil War cannons

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   Posted: 3:14 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015

Civil War cannons ready to stand guard again

By Rick McCrabb

Staff Writer

BUTLER COUNTY — 

The
more than 400 veterans from the Civil War to World War I buried at Woodside Cemetery and the Soldiers & Sailors
Monument Memorial will be protected for at least 200 more years.

Back
in the late 1800s, Paul S. Sorg, a Middletown
industrialist, wanted three Civil War era cannons to be placed at the tips of
the triangular memorial to stand guard. The 10,000-pound cannons were supported
by concrete bases, but recently the supports started to “deteriorate
dramatically,” said Fred Wehr, manager of Woodside Cemetery
and Arboretum. He contacted the Butler County Commission to see if it could
fund the purchase of 12,000-pound polished granite supports for the cannons.

Maintaining
the veterans memorials throughout the county are the responsibility of the
commissioners, said Butler County Commissioner Cindy Carpenter. The commission
approved spending more than $46,000 to build the three supports, and the money
came from the general fund, Carpenter said. As part of the Veterans Day
ceremony Wednesday morning at Woodside, the cannons were re-dedicated, 113
years after they were dedicated.

Wehr
said he was concerned that if the supports weren’t replaced, there was a
possibility the cannons might sink in the ground because of the condition of
the concrete. He said when the cannons were removed, some of the supports just
crumbled.

In
1895, Sorg challenged the community to raise the funds and local farmers were
asked to haul their finest boulders to the site on wagons. Sorg promised that
if the citizens would do their part, he would donate a bronze figure to adorn
the top of the 100-foot monument. The Soldiers & Sailors Memorial was
commissioned by the noted architect, Frank Mills Andrews and completed in 1902
with the addition of a bronze statue that was donated by Sorg.

The
monument cost $7,358, and the bronze statue cost $3,000. Sorg died before the
monument was dedicated.

When
Wednesday’s ceremony was over, Wehr sat on one of the metal folding chairs and
was asked what goes through his mind when he looks at the cannons.

“It
gives me goosebumps that we have been able to improve the look and keep them
maintained for 200 years in the future,” he said. “It’s imperative that we
maintain what we have for the future. We are preserving memories here.”

Carpenter
said the three Civil War cannons are unique to the region, and serve as
reminders of the sacrifices made by the soldiers.

“We’re
happy to be part of the project,” she said. “We try to recognize the veterans. Butler County
has an incredible war history.”

And
what does Sorg think of the cannons?

“He
has to be proud of this one piece of his legacy,” she said.

Wehr
added: “He’s up there doing handstands that we are maintaining his section to
remember all these people who went before us that preserve our freedoms.”