Civil War-era cannon unearthed at Fort Monroe

HAMPTON -- Officials at Fort Monroe say experts have unearthed an 11-foot-long cannon from the 1860s as part of a four-month munitions probe.

The probe by a team of environmental and unexploded ordnance experts is in preparation for Fort Monroe's closure in September 2011.

Officials say the Civil War-era cannon is believed to be a four-and-a-half-inch ordnance rifle. It was buried vertically, with the uppermost edge about two inches below ground level. If so, it would be one of only 57 known to exist.

Most of the cannon was found intact, but the back end was either blown off in an explosion or broken before it was buried.

A cannonball weighing about 100 pounds and measuring about 10 inches in diameter also was discovered in the same area.

-- The Associated Press