From the July 31st McDonough County (Il) Voice ""A look at the history of Macomb's Civil War Cannon" by Walter Burnett.
I'm always interested in the histories of various Civil War cannons you see by courthouses, parks and cemeteries. This was a very informative article.
The McDonough Post #103 Grand Army of the Republic back in the early 1900s wanted to place a field cannon capable of firing salutes at Chandler Park in Macomb, Illinois. The park had been donated to the city in 1893 by C.V. Chandler and the Soldiers' Monument was already there.
In 1906, the post contacted their Congressman James McKinney who forwarded it to the US Army Ordnance Department. In 1908, they replied that they had no field pieces from the war, but did have a surplus Parrott rifle available for the cost of shipping it ($100) from an arsenal in New York.
The post obtained city permission to place it in the park and public donations funded the shipping.
And, that is how the cannon came to be in the park.
What Is a Parrott Rifle? --Old B-R'er
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