Douglas Cannon - Nineteenth Century

Nineteenth Century

During the middle of the nineteenth century at Wesleyan, cannons were fired to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday. In 1859, the school calendar was changed such that school was not in session during the Fourth of July holiday.

Prior to its acquisition by the college, the campus was occupied by Captain Partridge's American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy. As a result, several old cannon were partly buried in the ground as posts. In order to celebrate George Washington's birthday, one of these was dug up, cleaned, and fired in the early morning hours by some freshman students.

The early morning cannon fire was repeated in 1860, much to college president Cumming's annoyance. By 1867, though, an annual tradition was established in which members of the freshman class (first year students) would attempt to fire a cannon on the morning of February 22, while members of the sophomore class tried to prevent this from happening. These contests were known as "cannon scraps".

1867 was also the first year that the Douglas cannon was used in the scrap. The Douglas battery was an artillery regiment named for Middletown mayor Benjamin Douglas. A new cannon was borrowed, presumably by the freshman, for the scrap. In 1869, a cannon fired with too much powder destroyed the library windows, and from them until 1893, cannon scraps were held off-campus.

Some insight into the scraps of this era is given by an article in an 1877 edition of the school newspaper, The College Argus . Apparently, members of the freshman class would attempt to locate one or more cannon and acquire some powder and ammunition. Sophomores would attempt to prevent this by means ranging from renting the cannon before the freshman could, to stealing the cannon or powder or ammunition, sometimes via straightforward physical violence. Freshmen were often followed by sophomores if it seemed that they might be going in search of a cannon.

In the 1877 scrap, once acquired, one cannon was guarded by five freshmen armed with shotguns and axes. At 10pm on the 21st of February, a group of sophomores approached, and claiming to be freshmen, joined the group and managed to take possession of the ammunition. They were trying to persuade the actual freshmen to leave the cannon when new arrivals recognized them as sophomores and they were chased off. Meanwhile, another crew was transporting a second cannon into position, and eventually both were fired.

In 1880, the Douglas cannon was stolen by the sophomores and sunken in the Connecticut River. Under threat of lawsuit by the cannon's owners, the sophomores later hired a diver to retrieve the cannon. Around 1900, the Douglas Pump Works donated the cannon to the university.