Civil War Cannon

From "Lexington" by Mary Wilson and Sharon Y. Asher, published sometime after 1975.

THE CIVIL WAR CANNON

The Civil War cannon was taken to the Lexington Cemetery when Morgan's raiders came through Lexington, although it was not used as Morgan and his men entered and left the community peacefully.

Years later a group of youth was playing with the gun, shooting off powder. One boy, Ben Newsom, was holding his hand over the end of the gun and, when he felt the powder getting hot on his hand, he told the other boys that he couldn't hold out much longer. They kept putting in more powder and the gun went off taking Ben’s arm with it.

The cannon was eventually stolen and sold for the brass that was in it. Two men were eventually caught and went to jail for the crime; however, only one served the full jail sentence.

The cannon was a gift to Lexington by General Charles Scott.

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