Greensburg City Hall cannon was captured in 1813 during siege of Ft. Meigs

In 1990, a bronze 6-pounder cannon was wheeled down the halls of Greensburg City Hall, an unexpected piece of history that has remained there for more than 30 years.

The weapon, which was cast in 1793 in Seville, Spain, holds a trove of Greensburg history, largely stemming from the War of 1812.

According to a plaque at city hall, the cannon first was captured by the British either during the Peninsular Wars — fought during the early 1800s in the Iberian Peninsula where the French were opposed by British, Spanish and Portuguese forces — or during the siege of Havana, a 1762 battle that was part of the Seven Years War.

Several years after those events, activity related to the War of 1812 was building up in both the United States and Britain.

That war brought increased activity to the Greensburg area, where the Greensburg Rifles were among the first units to volunteer, Robert Van Atta wrote in his 1999 book, “A Bicentennial History of the City of Greensburg.”

“As early as a month before Congress declared war on England, June 18, the Greensburg Rifles had been sharpening military skills in anticipation,” the book reads. “Residents of the borough and environs were also caught up in the fervor. At a general meeting at the courthouse chaired by Michael Rugh, a resolution was adopted favoring war with Britain.”

The Greensburg Rifles received official notification later that year.

On Sept. 23, 1812, a group of three officers — including Captain John B. Alexander, uncle of Richard Coulter Sr. — four sergeants, two corporals, 45 privates and a drummer marched to Pittsburgh where they boarded a riverboat to Cincinnati, Ohio. From there, the group journeyed to Indiana where, they participated in a battle with the goal of destroying Native American towns on the Mississinewa River.

After winning that battle, the group then traveled back to Ohio, where they participated in the May 1813 battle at Fort Meigs against the British, who had the cannon.

“At the siege of Ft. Meigs in May of 1813, the Greensburg Rifles played a conspicuous part in a sortie which eventually resulted in the retirement of the British forces, and it was during this sortie that Greensburg Rifles captured the cannon,” the plaque reads.

Following the battle, Alexander brought the weapon back to Greensburg.

The last time it was believed to be fired was in 1825, when it was dragged to West Newton to salute General Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat who fought in the Continental Army with American colonists against the British during the American Revolution, according to Britannica.

The weapon remained in the possession of Alexander until his death in 1840, when it was turned over to the Coulter family.

It was not clear where the cannon was displayed before being handed over to the city several decades later.