LANSING, MI (WTVB) – An event with a special link to Coldwater is set for tomorrow at the State Capital and might get overlooked on a weekend when the Branch County Fair Parade and Michigan’s Longest Garage Sale along U.S. 12 are happening. Two Civil War cannons which belonged to the renowned Loomis Battery, led by General Cyrus O. Loomis of Coldwater, will be fired as part of a number of activities that commemorates the 150th anniversary of the conclusion of the Battle Between the States.
The twin 10-pound Parrott guns are similar to those that had flanked the walkway to the state Capitol building for around 80 years. The originals were dismantled for scrap metal during World War Two, and State Senators Mike Kowall and Steve Bieda led a two-year effort to privately raise the funds to put these replica guns back in place.
Kowall, the Majority Floor Leader from White Lake, believes the significance of the Civil War must never be forgotten. He said we’re one nation united, not a series of states operating independently of one another and it’s important that we teach that to our children because we don’t want the mistakes of the past to happen in the future.
The Loomis Battery was made up of local volunteer soldiers of the Coldwater Light Artillery. The festivities begin at 12 noon Saturday in Lansing and it’s free to the public.
