Anthropologists saved an 18th century bronze cannon that was used in the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 from “a mysterious substance growing” on the artifact, Texas A&M Today reported.
The bronze four-pounder cannon had “a white, chalky substance growing on its surface,” previously not observed in other bronze cannons, that left researchers stumped at first, the outlet reported.
“This is a rare occurrence, and we spent a large amount of time figuring out the exact cause,” Kimberly Breyfogle, a member of the anthropological team working on the cannon and a Ph.D. student in the Nautical Archaeology Program at Texas A&M University, said, the outlet noted.
Dr. Christopher Dostal, an assistant professor of anthropology at Texas A&M, told the outlet that the team “spent the better part of a year and a half trying to work out why this substance is growing” and eventually settled around the theory that the substance was an unexpected “byproduct of the chemicals used in the cannon’s conservation process back in 2008 and again in 2019.”
The team developed a diluted solution of formic acid to apply to the cannon’s surface that removed the unwanted substance without tarnishing the cannon itself, the outlet reported. “It was pretty cool watching their work, because almost the moment they put that formic acid onto the cannon, you could see that white substance practically disappear,” Emily Baucum, the host of the Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast series, told Texas A&M Today.
Dostal reportedly observed that if the substance was not dealt with, it could have raised serious questions about future preservation attempts on the cannon. The professor told the outlet that the team did not know what those long-term effects could be but that “we did not want to find out through inaction.” (RELATED: Archaeologists Discover Musket Balls From Historic American Battle)
The cannon was apparently cast by the Spanish around the year 1750, according to a plaque that can be seen in a video from The Alamo, the site’s official YouTube channel. In addition to the Battle of the Alamo, it also participated in 1813’s Battle of Medina and 1835’s Battle of Concepción, Texas A&M Today reported. Medina was a contest between Mexican republican and Spanish royalist forces that culminated in the “bloodiest battle ever fought on Texas soil” and a royalist victory, though the republicans would later secure Mexican independence, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
Concepción was a major armed clash between Mexican forces and forces fighting for a free Texas that ended in a Texan victory, according to The Alamo. The Battle of the Alamo was another armed contest between these same forces, the Encyclopedia Britannica noted. The battle, although it ended in a Mexican victory, came to symbolize the fierce spirit of resistance by the people of Texas and was “a rallying cry” for American forces in the Mexican-American War, the website added.
