09/04/2025
The Walnut Grove Cannon:
In 1870, eight captured Confederate Napoleon 12-pounder cannons were acquired for Greene County by Colonel Sempronius Hamilton "Pony" Boyd.
He studied law in Greene County and became a practicing attorney in Springfield. From there he went on to serve twice as Springfield’s Mayor. Col. Boyd enlisted in the Union during the Civil War. Col. Boyd organized the 24th Missouri Volunteers.
This unit became known as “Lyon’s Legion”. In honor of Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon who lost his life during the battle of Wilsons Creek. In 1863 he was recalled from his military duty and sent to Congress.
During his time in Congress, Col. Boyd served in capacities as a chairman house revisal and unfinished business committee, member of house Indian Affairs Committee, Member of Republican Party National Committee, Missouri Delegate to Republican Party National Convention. Col. Boyd voted in support of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The reason those 8 Cannons were acquired was for a memorial. Intended to be part of a monument to General Nathaniel Lyon and the fallen Union soldiers at the battle of Wilson’s Creek. This monument and the Cannons were intended to be placed at the proposed Franklin Park Square in Springfield. However, it was never constructed.
Instead, the Cannons were sent to towns around the Ozarks. One of those Town’s being Walnut Grove. Three of the eight Cannons exploded when they were fired. One is 1887 at Drury University in Springfield, causing a bystander to lose an arm. The second at Bois D’Arc and the third in Cabool in 1902.
In 1912, the Walnut Grove Cannon was taken back to Springfield against the wishes of the citizens of Walnut Grove. It did not go over well.
Springfield Leader & Press, March 13, 1926, page 10 covers the story of how Walnut Grove got its cannon back.
Walnut Grove will be given cannon
"The old brass cannon which has been neglected on the county court house lawn since July 1912 belongs to Walnut Grove and is to be restored to that town, members of the county court announced today.
"J.C. Swink of that city, member of the Walnut Grove Community Club and chairman of a committee appointed by the club to lay the claim of the town to the gun before the court appeared at the court house late yesterday and explained the claim of his town to the old gun, which is a relic of Civil War times.
"Swink brought with him a letter written by J.N. Smith who stated the gun was on Smith's property in Walnut Grove for several years and that it was taken to Springfield by order of the county court in 1912 without the permission of the citizens of the town. Smith stated that the gun was removed on instructions by County Judges W.R. Gorsuch and William McQuire. Judge Gorsuch stated yesterday he has no recollection of the matter.
"The statement of Smith was concurred by G. F. Hamstead, E. W. Osborne, John O. McLemore, L. E. McClure, W. H. Jones, J. A. Brim, V. L. Looney, D. O. Bloomer and I. J. Kelly, all prominent men of Walnut Grove.
"Swink yesterday gave a bit of history in connection with the old gun while it was in his town. He said that several years ago a little child strayed away from home and was lost for several hours. The entire neighborhood turned out to search for the child and there was much excitement, some fearing the youngster had been stolen and other fearing it had met its death in some way.
"The search spread out over some miles of territory and the old cannon was loaded with the understanding that if the child was found it was to be fired as notification to the searching parties. A heavy charge was put into the gun and the breech firmly anchored and the muzzle elevated and turned in a direction where there were no houses near.
"After several hours the child was found and I.J. Kelley fired the cannon. 'And it sure was heard by everybody in that part of the world,' Swink says.
"The community club plans to mount the old gun and to take care of it in the future.
"'We saw in the papers that the county court was intending to mount the gun on the court house lawn and as none of the three judges now in the court knew of Walnut Grove's claim we thought it best to get busy and ask for our property before it was too late,' Swink said.
"A truck will remove the cannon to Walnut Grove in a few days."
Through the year’s the cannon was occasionally fired for celebrations, pranks, and mischief. Fortunately, without the cannon exploding. All kinds of items were fired out of the cannon.
The author was told an oral story that some mischief seeking adolescents had fired an oil filter from the cannon and struck a house. Whether or not this occurred is speculation, however the cannon was rendered inert to avoid any more potential unwanted firings.
But the story of the Walnut Grove cannon doesn’t end. In 2012 the cannon became a part of the National War Memorial Registry. On October 28th, 2012, at 2pm.
The cannon was re-dedicated to Walnut Grove. This was made possible from the Son’s of Union Veterans, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, and many others.
The cannon was cleaned and restored to original condition (minus firing ability). Wilsons Creek Foundation donated an original carriage for the project. The cannon now sits on a reinforced concrete pad with brick and a metal fence around it. The cannon is circled by plagues that tell its story.
The remaining cannons (that didn't explode) may have been melted down during WW1 for the war effort. The three that remain at Walnut Grove and Drury are "sister" cannon. They were all manufactured at the August Arsenal in Georgia in 1863. They were sent to Confederate forces in the summer of 1863.
They were likely used against Union forces in the battles of Chattanooga, Chickamauga, and Lookout Mountain before their capture.
