3-inch (10-pounder) Army Parrott Rifle (Reproduction) - Gettysburg, PA
N 39° 48.478 W 077° 14.156
18S E 308599 N 4408835
Two rifles represent the 9th Michigan Battery & flank the monument. This waymark, on the left if facing the monument looking west, is a reproduction produced to counter a shortage of display armaments. The other rifle is authentic and saw action.
Waymark Code: WMFT9Z
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 11/27/2012
Views: 5
This example of the 10-pounder Parrott rifle can be found on the west or left side of Hancock Avenue if traveling north, just past the Pennsylvania State Monument, located on the east or right side of he road. The Pleasanton Avenue intersection is just north of this position. The front inscription faces the east, so you would be facing the west to read it. Additionally, these two 3-inch Parrott Rifles flanking the monument point to the west as well. This location is a hot-bed of activity and one of the best examples of a hands-on history lesson of the Civil War one could hope to find. All along both sides of the road are these types of tablets, memorials, monuments, sculptures, and all manner of cannons, rifles and guns. Parking is available at enlarged shoulder cutouts on the right side of the road, directly across from the various monuments. Be sure to keep vehicles off the grass or you will be ticketed by park police. I visited this monument on Thursday, July 5, 2012 just before 6:00 P.M. I was at an elevation of 575 feet, ASL. I used a Canon PowerShot 14.1 Megapixel, SX210 IS digital camera for the photos.
The cannons are in terrific shape: their limbers, carriages, barrels and all other things weaponry are in terrific condition. These rifles are more rarer than the 3-inch ordnance rifles and the Napoleons which seems to be everywhere. The muzzle stamps are practically indistinguishable from one another (although this one does not have one). The Parrot is very similar to the 3-inch ordnance save for the band around the breech which makes it distinguish itself from the 3-inch ordnance. This Parrott rifle is a reproduction that was produced for the Battlefield Commission in the 1890s.
The 9th Michigan Artillery served as a member of Robertson’s Brigade in the Pleasanton’s Corps, Army of the Potomac. The artillery unit was commanded by Captain Jabez J. Daniels (1830-1880), a merchant from Hudson, Michigan. Under his command, 119 men (and 6 Ordnance Rifles) were engaged at the Battle of Gettysburg and among them, 1 was killed and 4 were wounded.
About the Gun
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. SOURCE
I also remembered the Antietam Battlefield people placed a small identification marker sticking out of the ground next to one of their Parrotts which read:
10-POUNDER PARROT RIFLE
The cast iron rifle with its band of wrought iron reinforcing
the breech was a modern weapon of the day. It was effective at
moderately long range. The 20-pounder, similar except for size,
was the heaviest rifled cannon used at Antietam.
The most common rifled field artillery piece in Civil War service generally, the 10-pdr. Parrott was made of cast iron with wrought iron breech reenforcement. It was an accurate and reliable weapon. Confederate versions of the Parrott Rifles were built by the Noble Brothers Foundry and the Macon Arsenal in Georgia. This Parrott design went through several improvements during the war and was changed in 1863 to a larger 3-inch bore and matching Parrott shell. By 1864 the 3-inch Parrott was standardized and most of these 2.9-inch guns were withdrawn from service.
One of the pages of the Historical Marker Database also provided some interesting facts about this weapon and history about the rifle: This 3-inch Parrott Rifle was produced at West Point Foundry in 1864, well after the battle. At the battle, the Parrott Rifles on the field were actually 2.9-inch bore models, commonly called 10-pounder Parrotts. Problems arose with logistical support, since similar shells were made for the 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. The Army opted to replace all 2.9-inch weapons with the slightly larger bore, and West Point began producing "new" Parrott rifles with 3-inch bores. Note the registry number "11" on the bore of this gun. There is a duplicate "11" at Antietam.
The monument accompanying the rifles indicates the position held by Daniel’s Battery on July 3, 1863 and reads as follows:
(Front):Ninth Mich. Bat'y. I. First Art'y.
1st Brig.
Horse Artil'y.
Cavalry Corps
(Back):Mustered in at Detroit, Mich.
Aug. 29, 1862.
Mustered out at Detroit, Mich
July 14, 1865.
This monument marks the position
held by the Ninth Mich. Battery,
from 12-30 p.m. July 3 until 7 a.m.
the following morning.
322 rounds of shot, shell
and canister expended.
Casualties
One man killed and four wounded.
Battery sustained a loss of 23 horses
killed in this engagement.
Army Potomac.
from Dec. 1862 to Oct. 1863.
Army Cumberland
From Nov. 1863 until close of service in 1865.