[5] The Cranston Historical Society and Rhode Island National Guard underwent a years-long dispute about ownership of two cannons used by Governor William Sprague IV's regiment during the Civil War.

[3] The national guard claimed that ownership of artillery pieces returned to the federal government after the war; the historical society maintained that Sprague had purchased them outright, and were his personal property.

[3] They were displayed at Cranston's Rolfe Square from 1924 to 1991, and removed because the wooden carriages were beginning to rot from exposure to the weather.

[6][3] In 2017, the sides agreed to return the cannons to the Sprague Mansion carriage house, while still leaving the question of ownership unsettled.

[3] Cranston mayor Allan Fung attended the ceremony to unveil the restored cannons on October 31, 2017.