Parrott rifle

The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War.

Parrott Rifle

The gun was invented by Robert Parker Parrott, a West Point graduate. He resigned from the service in 1836 and became the superintendent of the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, New York. He created the first Parrott Rifle (and corresponding projectile) in 1860 and patented it in 1861.Pritchard Jr, Russ A. [http://books.google.com/books?id=YOmZolJJktAC&pg=PA82&dq=%22parrott+rifle%22+%22robert+parker+parrott%22&lr=&sig=3W9wyByS8IFq95FEMRm87LoKapc Civil War Weapons and Equipment] , p.82. Globe Pequit Press, 2003. ISBN 158574493X.]

Parrotts were manufactured with a combination of cast and wrought iron. The cast iron made for an accurate gun, but was brittle enough to suffer fractures. Hence, a large wrought iron reinforcing band was overlaid on the breech to give it additional strength.Gusley, Henry O. and Edward T. Cotham. [http://books.google.com/books?id=JqBHWZXuOsQC&pg=PA195&dq=%22parrott+rifle%22+%22robert+parker+parrott%22&lr=&sig=ZFAnLUGTAEO6Gwv2j8JL1cSO-To#PPA195,M1 The Southern Journey of a Civil War Marine] , p.195. University of Texas Press, 2006. ISBN 0292712839] There were prior cannons designed this way, but the method of welding this band was the innovation that allowed the Parrott to overcome the deficiencies of these earlier models. It was applied to the gun red-hot and then the gun was turned while pouring water down the muzzle, allowing the band to attach uniformly.Gusley, Henry O. and Edward T. Cotham. [http://books.google.com/books?id=JqBHWZXuOsQC&pg=PA195&dq=%22parrott+rifle%22+%22robert+parker+parrott%22&lr=&sig=ZFAnLUGTAEO6Gwv2j8JL1cSO-To#PPA195,M1 The Southern Journey of a Civil War Marine] , p.195. University of Texas Press, 2006. ISBN 0292712839] By the end of the Civil War, both sides were using this type of gun extensively.

Parrott Rifles were manufactured in different sizes, from 10-pounders up to the rare 300-pounder.Jones, Terry L. Historical Dictionary of the Civil War, p.1047. Scarecrow Press, 2002. ISBN 0810841126] In the field, the 10- and 20-pounders were used by both armies. The 20-pounder was the largest field gun used during the war, with the barrel alone weighing over 1,800 pounds. The smaller size was much more prevalent; it came in two bore sizes: 2.9 inch (74 mm) and 3.0-in (76 mm). Confederate forces used both bore sizes during the war, which added to the complication of supplying the appropriate ammunition to its batteries. Until 1864, Union batteries used only the 2.9-in. The M1863, with a 3-in bore, had firing characteristics similar to the earlier model; it can be recognized by its straight barrel, without muzzle-swell. Its range was up to convert|2000|yd with a trained crew.National Park Service: Gettysburg National Military Park. [http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/soldierlife/artillery.htm "Big Guns at Gettysburg"] . Retrieved January 18, 2008]

Naval versions of the 20-, 30-, 60-, and 100-pound Parrotts were also used by the Union navy. [http://www.nnsy1.navy.mil/History/CWG.HTM Norfolk Naval Ship Yard: Civil War Guns in Trophy Park] ] The 100-pound naval Parrott could achieve a range of 6900 yards (6300 meters) at an elevation of 25 degrees, or fire an 80-pound shell 7810 yards (7140 m) at 30 degrees elevation. [http://www.nnsy1.navy.mil/History/CWG.HTM Norfolk Naval Ship Yard: Civil War Guns in Trophy Park] ]

Although accurate, as well as being cheaper and easier to make than most rifled artillery guns, the Parrott had a poor reputation for safety and they were shunned by many artillerists.New York Times, April 20, 1889. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9505E5D7163BE033A25753C2A9629C94689FD7CF "Perils of Gunnery.; The Frequent Bursting of the Parrott Guns During Practice"] Retrieved January 18, 2008.] At the end of 1862, Henry J. Hunt attempted to get the Parrott eliminated from the Army of the Potomac's inventory, preferring the 3-in Ordnance Rifle. During battles when the Parrott gun would burst, artillerists would chip out the jagged parts and continue firing.Earl J Hess. [http://books.google.com/books?id=k96hzmOJX6sC&pg=PA272&lpg=PA272&dq=parrott+rifle&source=web&ots=MKEBoCDxvJ&sig=qo72vVa8nPPEtaOZSCiBPYicWUg#PPA271,M1 Field Armies and Fortifications in the Civil War: The Eastern Campaigns, 1861-1864] , p.271. University of North Carolina Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0807829318] In 1889, "The New York Times" called on the Ordinance Bureau of the War Department to discontinue use of the Parrott Gun altogether, following a series of mishaps at the West Point training grounds.

Several hundred Parrott gun tubes remain today, many adorning battlefield parks, county courthouses, museums, etc. The gun tubes made by Parrott's foundry are identifiable by the letters WPF (West Point Foundry) found on the gun tube, along with the initials RPP for Robert P. Parrott. The first production Parrott gun tube (Serial Number 1) still exists, and is preserved on a reproduction gun carriage in the center square of Hanover, Pennsylvania, as part of a display commemorating the Battle of Hanover. A list of many of the surviving tubes can be found at the National Register of Surviving Civil War Artillery. [ [http://www.cwartillery.org/ws-reg.html National Register of Surviving Civil War Artillery] , a listing maintained by Civil War artillery historian Wayne Stark]

The 300-pound solution

By summer 1863, Major General William Sherman became frustrated by the heavily-fortified Confederate position at Fort Sumter, and brought to bear the convert|10|in|mm|sing=on Parrott, along with several smaller cannons. In all, two 80-pdr Whitworths, nine 100-pdr Parrotts, six 200-pdr Parrotts, and a 300-pdr ParrottJohnson, John. [http://books.google.com/books?id=Nu9lQ3uVC2YC&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&dq=%2210+inch%22+parrott&source=web&ots=KVyOrpcuLN&sig=6UAZ-X7WBirysB1sp8uZzI97qWQ#PPA119,M1 The Defense of Charleston Harbor: Including Fort Sumpter and the Adjacent Islands, 1863-1865] . Walker, Evans, and Cogswell Co, 1890. [http://books.google.com/books?id=Nu9lQ3uVC2YC&dq=%2210+inch%22+parrott Digitized by Harvard University] , August 9, 2006.] were deployed. It was widely believed in the north that massive 10-in Parrott would finally break the previously impenetrable walls of the fort, which had become the symbol of stawart steadfastness for the Confederacy. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9902E0D71E3BE63BBC4C52DFBE668388679FDE "The Big Gun: What the Three Hundred Pound Parrott is Expected to Do"] . New York Times, August 14, 1863.]

The "Washington Republican" described the technical accomplishments of the 10-in Parrott: [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9902E0D71E3BE63BBC4C52DFBE668388679FDE "The Big Gun"] . Washington Republican, August 14, 1863.] Quotation|The breaching power of the 10-inch 300-pounder Parrott rifled gun, now about to be used against the brick walls of Fort Sumter, will best be understood by comparing it with the ordinary 24-pounder siege gun, which was the largest gun used for breaching during the Italian War.

The 24-pounder round shot, which starts with a velocity of convert|1625|ft/s|m/s, strikes an object at the distance of convert|3500|yd, with a velocity of about convert|300|ft/s|m/s. The 10-in rifle 300-pound shot has an initial velocity of convert|1111|ft|m, and afterward has a remaining velocity of convert|700|ft/s|m/s, at a distance of convert|3500|yd.

From well-known mechanical laws, the resistance which these projectiles are capable of overcoming is equal to 33,750 pounds and 1,914,150 pounds, raised one foot in a second respectively. Making allowances for the differences of the diameters of these projectiles, it will be found that their penetrating power will be 1 to 19.6. The penetration of the 24-pounder shot at convert|3500|yd, in brick work, is convert|6|in|mm. The penetration of the convert|10|in|mm|sing=on projectile will therefore be between six and seven feet into the same material.

To use a more familiar illustration, the power of the 10-in rifle shot at the distance of convert|3500|yd, may be said to be equal to the united blows of 200 sledge hammers weighing 100 pounds each, falling from a height of ten feet and acting upon a drill ten inches (254 mm) in diameter.|The Washington Republican|August 12, 1863

wamp Angel

One of the most famous Parrott rifles is the Swamp Angel, an convert|8|in|mm|sing=on gun used by federal Brigadier General Quincy Adams Gillmore to bombard Charleston, South Carolina. It was manned by the 11th Maine Volunteer Infantry RegimentWise, Stephen R. [http://www.awod.com/cwchas/swamp.html "Gate of Hell: Campaign for Charleston Harbour, 1863"] . University of South Carolina Press, 1994. ISBN 978-0872499850.] .

On August 21, 1863, Gillmore sent Confederate general P. G. T. Beauregard an ultimatum to abandon heavily-fortified positions at Morris Island and Fort Sumter or the city of Charleston would be shelled. When the positions had not been evacuated by the following day, Gillmore ordered a volley on the city. Between August 22 and August 23, the Swamp Angel fired on the city 32 times, many using incendiary shells which caused massive fires. The battle was made more famous by Herman Melville's poem [http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/2855.html "The Swamp Angel"] .Vincent, Howard P. "Collected Poems of Herman Melville". Packard and Company, 1947.]

After the war, the Swamp Angel was moved to Trenton, New Jersey, where it rests as a memorial today at Cadwallader Park. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9404E2D9153FE63BBC4953DFB467838D669FDE "The Swamp Angel"] . "The New York Times", December 1, 1876.] [ [http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc4/swamp-angel1.htm Pictures of the Swamp Angel at Cadwallader] ]

Brooke Rifle

A Confederate version of the Parrot, called the Brooke rifle, was designed by John Mercer Brooke. These were manufactured primarily at the Tredegar Iron Works (sometimes referred to as J.R. Anderson & Co, after owner Joseph Reid Anderson) in Richmond, Virginia [http://www.civilwarartillery.com/manufacturers.htm civilwarartillery.com] . Retrieved January 21, 2008.] and at Noble Brothers Foundry in Rome, Georgia.National Park Service: Gettysburg National Military Park. [http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/soldierlife/artillery.htm "Big Guns at Gettysburg"] . Retrieved January 18, 2008] Because no southern foundries had the capacity to single-band wrap the rifles like the Parrott design, a series of smaller bands was used, usually convert|2|in|mm thick and convert|6|in|mm wide. [http://www.cwartillery.org/ve/brooke.html The Encyclopedia of Civil War Artillery: Brooke Rifles"] . Accessed January 21, 2008.] Brookes manufactered at Noble bear the foundry imprint "NBF", those from Tredegar "TF" or, less commonly, "JRA&Co". [http://www.civilwarartillery.com/manufacturers.htm civilwarartillery.com] . Accessed January 21, 2008.]

Parrott rifles by size

ee also

* Field artillery in the American Civil War
* Siege artillery in the American Civil War

References

Further reading

* United States War Department. "Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies". Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.
* Thomas, Dean, "Cannons: An Introduction to Civil War Artillery", Thomas Publications, Gettysburg, 1985
* James Hazlett, Edwin Olmstead, & M. Hume Parks, "Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War", University of Delaware Press, Newark, 1983
* Johnson, Curt, and Richard C. Anderson, "Artillery Hell: Employment of Artillery at Antietam", College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1995
* Coggins, Jack, "Arms and Equipment of the Civil War". Wilmington N.C.: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1989. (Originally published 1962).

External links

* [http://civilwartalk.com/Resource_Center/Arms_and_Ordnance/Field_Artillery/artillery-profile-10-pdr-parrott-rifle-a11.html Full Profile of the 10 pdr. Parrott Rifle]
* [http://civilwartalk.com/Resource_Center/Arms_and_Ordnance/Field_Artillery/artillery-profile-20-pdr-parrott-rifle-a80.html Full Profile of the 20 pdr. Parrott Rifle]
* [http://civilwartalk.com/Resource_Center/Arms_and_Ordnance/Famous_Weapons/famous-weapons-the-swamp-angel-a13.html Profile and Photos of The Swamp Angel]
* [http://www.cwartillery.org/artillery.html The Civil War Artillery Page]
* [http://www.civilwarartillery.com Civil War Artillery Projectiles]