Artillery-- Part 10: Talking Whitworths and Rodmans

Col. William Lamb at Fort Fisher had a battery of long-range Whitworth guns that could fire four to four-and-a-half miles out to see.  He had them hooked up to horses and were his "Flying battalion" and would go out to keep blockaders away from stranded blockade runners.

Heavy artillery  generally manned  coastal or river  fortifications and mounted  large immobile guns like Rodmans or the larger Parrott guns.  

During the war, many Union "Heavies" served in the Washington, D.C. defenses and there were a lot of forts around that city.

Some foot batteries were equipped with medium-sized  pieces known as siege guns like 30-pounder Parrotts.  They were mounted on heavy, but relatively  mobile siege carriages which allowed them to follow in the wake of armies and be emplaced in temporary positions whenever the troops were likely to remain in one place for a while.

The Saturday, April 30th discussion group topic will be about "Spies."  It is moved to this date because if the DuPage Civil War Show,

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Artillery-- Part 5: More Exploding Parrotts

From the March 26, 2022, McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group.

**  The cannon called the Swamp Angel at Charleston, South Carolina, was a 200-pounder Parrott and had a gun crew from the 11th Maine.  During its career, it fired 35 massive projectiles, with 10 of them containing an incendiary mixture known as Greek Fire.

Charleston was 4 1/2 miles away.

But six other incendiary shells exploded prematurely.  It exploded on its 36th shot.

**  On December 24, 1864, at Fort Fisher, the 100-pdr Parrott on board the USS Juniata exploded, killing 5 sailors and two officers and badly injured 8 more.

The autopsy of Fireman Theodore Abos:  "left leg, thigh, hip. arm and forearm fractured, soft parts extensively lacerated, killed by hemorrhage and shock."

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT: Artillery--Part 4: Parrott Rifles Exploding at Fort Fisher

On the subject of Parrott rifled guns exploding as mentioned a couple posts ago.

Captain James Alden of the USS Brooklyn moved his two 100-pounder Parrotts to the side of his ship not firing at Fort Fisher after finding out other ones on the fleet had blown up.

The two three-day bombardments of Fort Fisher were the largest naval bombardments of the war.

The December 1864 bombardments caused several 100-pounder Parrott rifles to explode, killing and wounding 45 Union sailors and officers.  Confederate fire from the fort claimed just 11 casualties in December.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group-- Artillery-- Part 3: Parrott Rifles Were Cheap to Make

March 26, 2022

**  A gun meant to fire a 10-pound projectile could weigh over a half  a ton.

**  Cannonballs were used against fortifications and other artillery

**  Case Shot was anti-personnel projectiles.  Mainly a hollow shell filled with shrapnel designed to explode in mid air.

**  Some Confederate artillery was made in country, but this was a very small number compared to what Northern foundries could turn out.

**  Parrott rifles were cheap.  It only cost $187 for the West Point Foundry to produce a 10-pounder Parrott rifle.

**  The West Point Foundry operated around the clock.

**  The heaviest naval bombardment during the war occurred at Fort Fisher, North Carolina.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group: Artillery-- Part 2: Who Had the Advantage in Artillery?

Preliminary Questions, continued:

5.  Civil War artillery could fire just one type of ammunition or multiple types.

6.  Accidents and misfires were common or rare.

7.  What was the knock on Parrott rifles?

8.  Which side held the advantage in artillery?  Union or Confederate

9.  What was the largest use of field artillery in a battle?

10.  What was a cannon's barrel called?

*********************************

ANSWERS:

5.  multiple types  (solid shot, case shot, cannister and grape shot

6.  Common

7.  Parrots tended to explode  (made of cast iron and cheap to make)

8.  Union

9.  Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg

10.  Tube

--Old Secesh

Battle of Atlanta, the Troup Hurt House-- Part 2: Confederate Break Through

The most famous moments of the Battle of Atlanta occurred at this site:  a mid-afternoon Confederate attack on the entrenched Union 15th Corps, followed shortly by a Federal counterattack.  The Cyclorama shows this decisive moment, taking place at around 4:30 p.m., when Union General John A. Logan rallied his troops to restore the broken Federal line and turn back the attacking Confederates.

Brigadier General Arthur M. Manigault's brigade had spearheaded the mid-afternoon Confederate assault.  Manigault's troops, followed by Col. Jacob H. Sharp's brigade pf Brown's Confederate division, drove a wedge through the Union line at the railroad cut near the present-day Inman Park MARTA station, poured through this opening, and forced the Union defenders to retreat.

Manigault's troops then fanned out to the north and captured the Troup Hurt House and  Captain Francis De Gress's four-gun 20-Pdr. Parrot battery.

--Old Secesh

The History of Macomb's Civil War Cannon-- Part 2

Robert P. Parrott, a USMA graduate and later owner of the West Point Foundry in New York, established 1836. During the Civil War, his company became a major supplier of the Union war effort.

He provided artillery at cost, refusing to make a profit.

One innovative design his company came up with was a rifled cannon with a distinctive cast iron band at the breech to provide reinforcement.

The 4.2-inch 30 pound rifle that came to Macomb was capable of firing a 29 pound explosive shell nearly four miles with great accuracy and force.

Many different sizes of Parrott rifles were made, but this particular one was the most popular. But, at 4200 pounds, it was too heavy for field operations and most-often used for siege or defense operations.

The Chandler Park Parrott was cast in 1864, gun #367. Beyond that, none of its history is known, but there is a chance it might have been used at Petersburg, Savannah or in Washington DC's defenses.

Today, fewer than 200 of the cannons remain.

Parrtt Rifles. --Old B-Runner