By Grant Hawkins, Texas A&M University College of Arts and Sciences
The Alamo, a symbol of Texas’ rich history, is home to many artifacts from its storied past. Among these is a unique battle cannon that recently became the focus of an intense preservation effort led by experts from the Department of Anthropology at Texas A&M University.
The initiative, recently highlighted in an episode of Stories Bigger Than Texas: The Alamo Podcast, hosted by Emily Baucum, came to life when Alamo Senior Researcher and Historian Kolby Lanham approached Dr. Christopher Dostal, an assistant professor of anthropology at Texas A&M, and Kimberly Breyfogle ’23, a Ph.D. student in the Nautical Archaeology Program, to collaborate on the project.
“Our lab primarily deals with material from underwater archaeological sites, and because so many things that are underwater happen to be ships, we deal with a lot of cannons,” said Dostal, a former submarine sailor in the U.S. Navy who also serves as director of the Conservation Research Laboratory at Texas A&M. “It was a natural fit for us to help out with the Alamo project.”
Alamo Museum staff adjust the cannon in the display area. (Courtesy of Alamo Trust Inc./Texas A&M)
Unique Challenge
The cannon in question, a bronze four-pounder cast in Mexico, was used in several key battles during its lifetime — including the Battle of Medina in 1813 and the Battle of Concepción in 1835 — and…
