Photograph by the Author
Taken at Gettysburg Nat'l. Military Park |
The most common of the Parrott rifles, and one of the most utilized rifled cannon of the war, the 10 Pdr Parrott was originally manufactured with a 2.9 inch bore. In 1863, the bore was enlarged to 3.0 inches.
The 10 Pdr Parrott is easily identified by the think metal band around the weapon's breech. This cannon was the army's first truly successful rifled field artillery piece. Unlike earlier rifled cannon (such as the James Rifle) which were made of bronze, Parrott rifles were cast in iron. Normally cast iron would be too brittle for such a use, so a wrought iron band was heat shrunk around the breech, adding considerable strength to the design. Nonetheless, Parrott rifles were soon superceded technologically as it became possible to produce entire barrels from wrought iron, such as the 3 in. Ordnance Rifle
The 10 Pdr Parrott was manufactured by the West Point Foundry in the North, and by the Noble Brothers Foundry and Macon Arsenal in the South.
Sources:
Hazlett, James, Edwin Olmstead, & M. Hume Parks. Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War.
(Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1983).
Thomas, Dean. Cannons: An Introduction to Civil War Artillery.
(Gettysburg: Thomas Publications, 1985). |
