Archaeologists from the University of South Carolina retrieved Civil War cannons, which were thrown off ship by a Confederate crew from 1865, at the Pee Dee River Tuesday in South Carolina, The New York Times reported.
The archaeological team used heavy machinery to pull the cannons from the bottom of the river. Divers attached lines to the cannons, which weighed a thousand pounds or more.
The researchers revealed that the cannons were still in great condition even after they spent 150 years below the river.
The story behind these cannons date all the way back in March 1865, when the CSS Pee Dee crew threw the cannons overboard and set the vessel on fire because they did not want them to fall into their enemies' hands, CNN reported.
These cannons will then be brought to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs building in Florence for long-term display after these are preserved at Clemson University's Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, according to USA Today.
The three cannons consist of one encapsulated Union Dahlgren cannon and two Confederate Brooke Rifle cannons.
Steve Smith, the director of the university's Institute of Archeology and Anthropology, hopes that the cannons will spark curiosity from people about the Civil War. "And then they will start to ask questions. It's an important day," he said, according to The State.
