Captain Robert Parker Parrott
Robert Parker Parrott was born October 5, 1804, at Lee, New Hampshire
Parrott died December 24, 1877, at Cold Spring on the Hudson River in New
York, at age 73
Robert P. Parrott is known to many Civil War artillery researchers and
collectors for his inventions of the projectile and cannon which bear his
name. Born in Lee, New Hampshire, October 5, 1804, Parrott graduated 3rd in
his class at West Point Military Academy in 1824. He was commissioned a 2nd
Lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Artillery and was assigned to the southeastern
states where he participated in the Creek Indian War. He was later assigned
as assistant to the Chief of the Ordnance Bureau and, later, as an inspector
of ordnance at the West Point Foundry at Cold Spring, New York. The foundry
was a private firm and administered by civilians. Parrott, by this time a
captain, resigned his rank and accepted the civilian position of
superintendent of the foundry, October 31, 1836.
Parrott served the foundry well during the next 41 years. He became the
lessee and operator of the foundry and experimented with the manufacturing
of artillery. As a private citizen Parrott was able to experiment with
cannons and projectiles without the usual red tape involved in government
foundries. His accomplishments during his tenure included the perfection of
a rifled cannon and its corresponding projectile (both named after him)
patented in 1861, and the Parrott sight and fuse which were developed during
the Civil War years. The fact that his foundry was used to manufacture his
weapons is proved by the letters WPF (West Point Foundry) found on the
Parrott gun tube, along with his initials RPP. Parrott's cannons were
distinguished by a single reinforcing band around the breech of the iron
tube. His first rifled cannon design, a 10-pounder (2.9-inch calibre), was
turned out in 1860. By the next year he had developed the 20-pounder
(3.67-inch calibre) and 30-pounder (4.2-inch calibre) versions, among other
models. In 1864 the 3-inch Parrott rifle replaced the 10-pounder (2.9-inch
calibre) rifle.
In 1867, Parrott turned the operation of the foundry over to other parties,
but he continued to experiment with projectiles and fuses until his death on
December 24, 1877.
SOURCE:
http://www.cwartillery.org/parrott.html
The family of Parrott rifles is easily recognizable by the reinforcing band
of wrought iron, in the case of the 10-pounder about 13 inches wide,
covering the breech and reinforce. The method of construction is described
in more detail in the "Evolution of Ordnance" section, below, and in the
biographical materials on its inventor, Captain Robert Parker Parrott.
Although there were several other types of cannon with similar reinforces (Wiards,
Brookes, and British imports like the various models of Blakelys) the
Parrott was by far the most common. The M1863 10-pounder Parrott was
slightly modified; the bore was increased to 3.0 inches, to make its
ammunition consistent with that of the new 3-inch ordnance rifle, and the
muzzle swell was eliminated.
Parrott Rifles
Parrotts, invented by Robert Parker Parrott, 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 of 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
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. On the Parrott, a large wrought iron reinforcing band was
overlaid on the breach. 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.) The 20-pounder was the largest field gun used during
the war, with the barrel alone weighing over 1,800 pounds.
Shot (or Bolt)
Shot was a solid projectile that included no explosive charge. For a
smoothbore, the projectile was a round "cannonball". For a rifled gun, the
projectile was referred to as a bolt and had a cylindrical or spherical
shape. In both cases, the projectile was used to impart kinetic energy for a
battering effect, particularly effective for the destruction of enemy guns,
limbers, caissons, and wagons. It was also effective for mowing down columns
of infantry and cavalry and had enormous psychological effects against its
targets. Despite its effectiveness, many artillerymen were reluctant to use
solid shot, preferring the explosive types of ordnance. With solid
projectiles, accuracy was the paramount consideration and they also caused
more tube wear than their explosive counterparts.
Horse
Horses were required to pull the enormous weight of the cannons and
ammunition; on average, each horse pulled about 700 pounds. Each gun in a
battery used two six-horse teams: one team pulled a limber that towed the
gun, the other pulled a limber that towed a caisson. The large number of
horses posed a logistical challenge for the artillery, because they had to
be fed, maintained, and replaced when worn out or injured. Artillery horses
were generally selected second from the pool of high quality animals;
cavalry mounts were the best horses. The life expectancy of an artillery
horse was under eight months. They suffered from disease, exhaustion from
long marches (typically 16 miles in 10 hours), and battle injuries.
Horses were obviously larger targets than artillerymen when subjected to
counter-battery fire and their movements were made difficult because they
were harnessed together into teams. Robert Stiles wrote about Union fire
striking a Confederate battery on Benner's Hill at the Battle of Gettysburg:
Such a scene as it presented—guns dismounted and disabled, carriages
splintered and crushed, ammunition chests exploded, limbers upset, wounded
horses plunging and kicking, dashing out the brains of men tangled in the
harness; while cannoneers with pistols were crawling around through the
wreck shooting the struggling horses to save the lives of wounded men.
The term "horse artillery" refers to the faster moving artillery batteries
that typically supported cavalry regiments. The term "flying artillery" is
sometimes used as well. In such batteries, the artillerymen were all
mounted, in contrast to batteries in which the artillerymen walked alongside
their guns.
Limber
The limber was a two-wheeled carriage that carried an ammunition chest. It
was connected directly behind the team of six horses and it towed either a
gun or a caisson. In either case, the combination provided the equivalent of
a four-wheeled vehicle, which distributed the load over two axles, but was
easier to maneuver on rough terrain than a four-wheeled wagon. The
combination of a Napoleon gun and a packed limber weighed 3,865 pounds.
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_Artillery_in_the_American_Civil_War
Rifles vs. Smoothbores
The principles of rifling had long been understood; the spin imparted to the
projectile by forcing it into spiral grooves in the bore of the gun made it
fly straighter, farther, and with more power on impact. Rifling of bronze
guns was not an effective solution, because the friction of the ammunition
wore down the rifling in that relatively soft metal. (Many older weapons,
particularly the nearly obsolete 6-pounders, were rebored with rifling at
the start of the War, and proved to be of very limited use after a very
short time.) Effective rifled cannon required harder metal, but cast iron,
the logical choice, was too brittle.