Alamo gets its “Maverick” 16-pounder returned
The Alamo’s early 19th Century Spanish 16-pounder was the largest artillery piece at the 1836 siege. After the iconic Texan last stand, it was spiked by the Mexican Army and buried rather than taken away as a trophy. Fast forward to 1852 and the Maverick family purchased land around the former mission and, in the process of clearing the grounds, unearthed the old iron cannon and returned to the Alamo during the early 1900s. There, it sat for another century, described incorrectly as an 18-pounder.
Recently restored, it was mounted on a new carriage and installed outside the Long Barrack last week.
Below is an interview with Dr. Bruce Winders and Texas A&M’s Dr. Jim Jobling about the conservation process on the gun, which involved lengthy soaking it in sodium hydroxide to remove decades worth of corrosion and protect the original iron. Then the whole cannon gets boiled in a rinse and coated in tannic acid– in effect rebluing the gun. Then comes industrial paint to protect it.