ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA—A five-foot-long cannon that was recovered from an eighteenth-century shipwreck near the St. Augustine Inlet will be removed from its electrolysis bath today. “Based on the artifacts we’ve recovered so far, we know this ship was part of a huge fleet that evacuated British Loyalists from the colonies near the end of the American Revolution. Our ship sailed from Charleston and was probably carrying both civilians and soldiers who were seeking refuge in St. Augustine. At that time in history, Florida was the closest British-held colony where evacuees could take shelter and try to start their lives again,” Chuck Meide, director of the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program, explained to Historic City News. Meide and his team hope that the cannon will carry some information that will help them identify the ship and lead them to records of its passengers and cargo.
