05/08/2026
Revolutionary War Relics
In front of the Society is an English cannon that may have been seized at Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolutionary War.
On May 10, 1775, a small force of colonial militia led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold surprised the British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga and captured the fort with little fighting. The fort was strategically important because it controlled a key route between Canada and the Hudson River Valley, but its greatest value was its large supply of artillery. The Americans seized as many as 200 heavy cannons, mortars, and other weapons. Later that winter, Henry Knox organized the famous “Noble Train of Artillery,” hauling many of those cannons nearly 300 miles through snow and rough terrain to Boston. In March 1776, the cannons were placed on Dorchester Heights overlooking the city and harbor, forcing the British army to evacuate Boston.
Although the exact history of this cannon is uncertain, we do know how it came to the Hopkinton Historical Society. During renovations to the New Hampshire State House in the 1880s, workers cleared out the basement, which contained several old cannons. These cannons were distributed to towns and historical organizations throughout New Hampshire, including Hopkinton.
From the N.H. Executive Council Records, 1881–1889, Volume 15
December 3, 1883, p. 172
On motion of Councilor [Grovenor A.] Curtice [of Hopkinton], the following resolution passed:
“Resolved that the iron cannon and appurtenances thereto now in the basement of the State House be and the same hereby are donated to the New Hampshire Antiquarian Society [as Hopkinton Historical Society was known at the time] to be preserved with the antique historical collection of that institution: and that the keeper of the State House is hereby instructed to deliver the same to the officers of said society.”
The cannon bears King George’s royal cipher, “GR” (“Georgius Rex”). Its weight is marked with three incised figures: the first indicates whole hundredweight (cwt), the second quarter-hundredweights, and the third remaining pounds. Using the British hundredweight of 112 pounds, the cannon’s marked weight is approximately 1,379 pounds.
