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Missing Civil War Cannon Returned to Illinois National Guard After 30 Years

A long-lost Civil War cannon has found its way back to the Illinois State Military Museum in Springfield after more than 30 years.

"I feel a sense of victory," said Lt. Col. Mark Whitlock, Director of the Illinois State Military Museum. "I feel that the cannon is an important piece of Illinois military history and it makes me feel good that we got it back."

The cannon was originally donated to the museum in 1865 by Lt. Col. Edward Kitchell, Regiment Commander of the 98th Illinois Mounted Infantry. Kitchell and his Soldiers discovered the cannon buried near a small pox hospital in Georgia. Then in the late 1970s the cannon was borrowed for a Civil War reenactment and was never returned to the Illinois State Military Museum....
Read entire article at Illinois National Guard