Parrott rifle
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The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle loading rifled-bore artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War.
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. 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.
Parrotts were manufactured with a combination of cast iron 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. There were prior cannons designed this way, but the method of welding this band was the innovation that allowed the Parrott Rifle 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. 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. The 10- and 20-pounder versions were used by both armies in the field. The smaller size was much more prevalent; it came in two bore sizes: 2.9 inch and 3.0 inch. 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-inch. The M1863, with a 3-inch 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 1,900 yards with a trained crew.
Although accurate, the Parrott had a poor reputation for safety and they were shunned by many artillerists. (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-inch Ordnance Rifle.) The 20-pounder was the largest field gun used during the war, with the barrel alone weighing over 1,800 pounds.
Several hundred Parrott gun tubes remain today, many adorning battlefield parks, county courthouses, museums, etc. The ones 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. Parker. A list of many of the surviving tubes can be found at the National Register of Surviving Civil War Artillery.
