Tucked among our trees and monuments stands a surprising piece of Civil War history: the only known surviving 3.67-inch Sawyer Rifle.
The Sawyer Rifle stands guard over our Grand Army of the Republic Memorial (GAR), which honors soldiers of the Civil War Union Army. In 1889, Lakewood donated the land for this community burial site. The Ladies’ Auxiliary of the GAR erected the towering monument featuring a Civil War soldier, that stands at the center of the area. Additionally, the Ladies’ Auxiliary collected old military munitions, including this now one-of-a kind Sawyer Rifle.
Though its sleek cast-steel barrel may not look especially unusual at first glance, this weapon represents a little-known chapter in American military innovation—and a remarkable inventor who never quite got his due.
Sylvanus Sawyer: The Inventor
The rifle’s designer, Sylvanus Sawyer, born in 1822 in Massachusetts, struggled with his health. Instead of playing with other children, he took an interest in carpentry and metalwork to keep busy. From a young age, he possessed mechanical genius and an affinity for invention. By the time he turned 21, he’d already designed a steam engine, a screw propeller and a foot-powered railroad car. But without investors, most of his early inventions were never patented—or profited from.
His first financial breakthrough came in furniture. In 1851, Sawyer patented a machine that revolutionized the production of cane chairs in America. Prior to that, most chairs were imported from Asia and Europe. Along with his brother, Sawyer helped found the American Rattan Company and soon oversaw a booming business.
A Military Innovation
But war redirected his talent. By the 1850s, Sawyer turned his inventive mind to artillery. His innovation was simple but game-changing: he added a soft metal band to the base of cannon shells, allowing them to grip the rifling grooves inside the barrel. This dramatically improved range and accuracy—essentially eliminated the problem of “windage,” or gas escaping around the projectile when fired. Although this design improved accuracy, unfortunately a buildup of gunpowder made these cannons susceptible to explosion.
During the early years of the Civil War, the U.S. government began experimenting with Sawyer’s new rifled cannon designs. The weapons were cast in steel (an uncommon material at the time), and Sawyer provided some of the earliest examples of cast-steel rifled artillery used by the Union Army and Navy. Among his designs, the 3.67-inch rifle became the most widely used—though “widely” is relative. Only a few dozen were ever made.
One of these guns was used by the 2nd Vermont Battery at the Siege of Port Hudson in Louisiana, where it launched 12- to 16-pound shells with remarkable precision. Others were mounted on U.S. Navy gunboats, contributing to riverine warfare operations in the South. Possibly because of the residual gunpowder issue, Sawyer’s weapons were never adopted on a large scale. Sawyer believed his designs were overlooked or copied without credit, and after the war, his hopes of compensation faded as government allies passed away or moved on.
In later years, Sawyer faded into relative obscurity, dabbling in watchmaking and city sewage filtration. But his contributions to wartime innovation endure in this rare artifact.
Join us for our Memorial Day Ceremony at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, May 26. After the ceremony, stroll over to the nearby GAR monument to see this rifle in person. This is also the starting spot for our digital tour of some veterans memorialized at Lakewood.
Learn more about Memorial Day 2025 at Lakewood.
