LEWES, Del. - While the famous Lewes Cannonball from the Lewes Cannonball House, the history behind the ball of iron becomes broken. This cannonball is one of the few left from the British Bombardment in the War of 1812.
The battle began when the British demanded cows from the First Town, an act that would have been seen as treason according to long time volunteer with the Lewes Historical Society Bill Hicks, " 'But if you fail to comply with my wishes, I will be under the necessity of destroying your town. I remain your humble servant, J.P. Beresford.'
According to records from Daniel Rodney's diary, the militia collected over 300 cannonballs that were shot by British ships a mile and a half away offshore. However many of those cannonballs were reused against the fleet.
But by the end of the battle, there were no casualties, except for one...
" 'Commodore Beresford and all his men only wounded a pig and killed a hen.' So that's sort of our bombardment story!" said Hicks.
The Cannonball House and other Lewes Historical Society museums will be open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday come March.