I’ve read the book

In Camp and Battle with the Washington Artillery of New Orleans: A Narrative ...
By William Miller Owen

up thru December 1862 and the author noted everything noteworthy about the weapons and ammo. Since he made no mention of receiving Parrott rifles, I’ve concluded that none of the nine captured 2.9 inch Parrott rifles went to the Washington Artillery during that period.

 

Given Some info found today in the “Official Records” I’m updating my tentative list of those Confederate units that received any of the 9 10-pounder Parrotts captured at Bull Run.

Unit. ____ # captured 2.9 Parrotts

*1st Rockbridge ___ 2
Lynchburg Artillery. __ 1?
Richmond Howitzers. _ 2?

There are 5 possibilities, where did the other 4 go?



*Assignment of Bull Run-captured Parrott(s) to unit is documented

 

Here’s a photo of the drag marks on top of the tube. These could help identify it if we get it narrowed down to a few possibilities and only one of them is known to have been dragged off the battlefield because its carriage was destroyed.

 

A friend in UK sent this in answer to my question of where did the other 4 go.

”
Have been through information I have on Virginia batteries and have two more possibles and a long shot for you.



1. Henrico Company B Artillery Organised Autumn 1861 Reorganised Apr 1862

24 June 1862 armed with1 x 10pdr Parrott, 3 x 6pdr SB



2. Richmond ‘Crenshaw’ Artillery Organised March 1862

Known to have 2 x 10pdr Parrotts in 1863, may have had them from the start.



Long shot is:

Nottoway Artillery Organised June 1861 Reorganised May 1862

Probably armed with 6pdrs in 1861 but the reorganisation date is earlier than many batteries.

Unusual in that the battery ended up with 4 x 10pdr Parrotts. This is recorded later on in the war but is a very unusual structure as I know of no other Virginia battery thus armed.”

Haven‘t had time to study this info yet.

 

Here’s another input from Steve, adding info regarding two more Parrott 10-pounders captured at Bull Run. “Hi John,
First the good news I can confirm that 2 of the 10pdr Parrotts captured were given to
Company D, 1st North Carolina Artillery aka ‘Reilly’s Battery’ aka ‘Rowan Artillery’
On July 27th 1861, arrived in Richmond and went on to Manassas, where it was equipped with two 10-pounder Parrott Rifles and two 24-pounder (sic) Dahlgrens that had been captured at the Battle of Manassas. The battery was assigned to Whiting’s Brigade, 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac.
There is a history of the Rowan Artillery - 'Men of God, Angels of Death' by Jack Travis (a well known reenactor so probably well researched).
I think there is a reenactor battery that may have some information on the battery history.
Looking at the strengths for this battery:
Company D, 1st North Carolina Artillery aka ‘Reilly’s Battery’ aka ‘Rowan Artillery’
July 1861 2 x 10pdr Parrotts, 2 x 24pdr (sic) Dalhgren Howizers
May 1862 2 x 3” Burton and Ascher (?) Rifles added
July 1862 At Gaines Mill abandoned one of the Ascher Rifles for a captured Federal 3” Rifle
Antietam 2 x10pdr Parrotts, 2 x 3” Rifles, 2 x 24pdr (sic) Dahlgren Howitzers
Feb 1863 2 x 24pdr (sic) left in Richmond, exchanged for 2 x 12pdr Napoleons
Gettysburg 2 x 10pdr Parrotts, 2 x 3” Rifles, 2 x 12pdr Napoleons
10 pounder Parrott substituted? Lost 1 Rifle – barrel burst
Apr 1864 2 x 10pdr Parrotts, 1 x 3” Rifles, 2 x 12pdr Napoleons
Dec 1864 3 x 10pdr Parrotts, 1 x 12pdr Whitworth, 2 x 8pdr Armstrongs

 

So here’s the “final list” of Confederate batteries we think had one or more 10-pounder Parrott rifles that were captured at Bull Run. How sure we are ranges from “certain” such as 1st Rockbridge, to “maybe” as with Nottoway.

1st Rockbridge
Henrico Company B Artillery
Lynchburg Artillery
Nottoway Artillery
Reilly’s Battery
Richmond ‘Crenshaw’ Artillery
Richmond Howitzers

Now we’ll look more closely at the engagements in which those batteries participated to identify any where a Parrott rifle carriage was destroyed and the tube was dragged away over rocky soil. When we’re done we won’t be certain we’ve identified THE Confederate battery that No. 10 served, but we will have done as much as possible with the limited information available.

 

Keep after this John, you will get it.

 

Read this free book, fantastic, tells it like it was. One unique feature of this book: graphic descriptions of the effects of artillery projectiles on men, horses, and equipment. Not for the squeamish.

I read the book because this unit was armed, in part, with two 10-pounder Parrott rifles captured at BullmRun.

The Story of a Cannoneer Under Stonewall Jackson

The Story of a Cannoneer Under Stonewall Jackson

In which is Told the Part Taken by the Rockbridge Artillery in the Army of Northern Virginia

By Edward Alexander Moore · 1907

 

Here’s a similar account but of the “Richmond Howitzers.” The company of which the author was a member, was armed with two ten-pounder Parrotts and two Napoleons, until the end of the War. This is a very interesting read, lots of combat described in detail. I read the book because this unit was armed, in part, with two 10-pounder Parrott rifles captured at BullmRun.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of From the Rapidan to Richmond and the Spottsylvania Campaign, by William Meade Dame

 

After reading a few books on the “ Richmond Howitzers “ one passage came back to me, and unfortunately I hadn’t made a note on where I saw it. It was like “our 10 pounder Parrott rifles were named ‘The Cat’ and ‘the Eagle.’ “. Some rationale for the names was given but told by a man who may have made it up, didn’t sound very convincing to me. Here’s another possible explanation: Those names were indicative of numbers, maybe gun registry numbers. What numbers and why? A cat has nine lives, and an eagle was a ten-dollar gold coin. I can’t yet back this up but it is at least an intriguing possibility. Parrott rifles no. 9 and 10 were both captured at Bull Run and redistributed to Confederate batteries.

 

Is the 'cat-o-nine-tails' contemporary and something army grunts would have been familiar with?

 

Thx Shred, possibly.

Info is continuing to come in. I now believe the scarring on top of the tube is ballistic damage. I couldn’t find ant instances of tubes being dragged; normal practice to move a tube without carriage is to lash it up under a limber. But I read about many instances of tubes and carriages being shot up badly. The Richmond Howitzers regiment had to send 3 guns back to Richmond. Tubes had to be recast, or that’s how I read it. This was after the Battle of Malvern Hill, a disaster for the South.

 

Normal movement of tubes may be careful and with proper gear. But, at war's end, a sudden cache of 54 tubes to be recovered throws all the normal procedures out the window. Especially if recovery is being done by other than artillery guys who know the "proper" way. "Use your horses and drag those dang cannons out of those holes and up to the road and someone will pick them up and we can get back to being cavalry." Not "their" guns, just "captured stuff, not even captured in battle."

Those look like marks from being dragged over several rocks with the weight of the barrel holding it in contact as it passed over. Ballistic damage would more likely be a short point of contact before being deflected/ ricochet away, not several long parallel scrapes. IMHO.

 

Yes, correct. One new fact I got yesterday was confirmation that, of the three companies of the “Richmond Howitzers” only 1st Company, the one whose Artillery may have included 10 Pounder Parrott Rifle No. 10, buried its guns near Red Oak Church.

 

I am sure most here applaud the research and identification of the history of this gun as it served both sides, and the brave men who served it.
However, some people take a very different view of history, and prefer to rewrite or erase as much history as they can. Thus the Richmond Howitzers are seen by some not as a historical event, but as some sort of evil threat, and anything commemorating them must be destroyed.

As exciting as the histor of gun number 10 is, it may be best to keep knowledge of it relatively low key, lest it too become a target. Here is what the mob has done to the Richmond Howitzer Monument in Richmond two years ago.

Protesters tear down another Confederate monument in Virginia

The Howitzers Monument located near Virginia Commonwealth University's Monroe Park campus was toppled on Tuesday night.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

Atrocious. Someone once said words to the effect, be careful about history, if you forget it, you are bound to repeat it.

That being said, be careful, politics is off limits here on this board unless it directly relates to black powder mortars and cannons.

 

FWIW, the Broadway Landing pictures show a couple small banded guns just lying in the dirt as well as a few other ersatz transportation methods. The larger piece in the center has a tree trunk lashed in place of one wheel to act as a skid.

 

Thought I was nearly done with this but today went back over it, checking my work, and found some mistakes or points needing confirmation. One important point is the composition of 1st Co., Richmond Howitzers battery when they disbanded. I was thinking it was Napoleons and Parrotts but some references mention Napoleons and ordnance rifles after a rearming. One error was working too fast and mistaking a fictional account for real Events,

The Burial of the Guns

books.google.com

So, forget the gun names, dreamed up by fiction author Thomas Nelson Page.

 

So it may be time to declare victory, do an article, and move on! I’m not hugely disappointed that figuring out which Confederate battery used No. 10 hasn’t happened yet. I’m not convinced that another 100 hours of research would get me much closer to learning which Confederate battery used this gun after the Bull Run-captured Parrott rifles were distributed. But of course I’ll revisit the case occasionally, or now that I’ve advertised the project here and there, someone may come up with helpful documentation. I’ve only been through a fraction of the Confederate records that may be useful. There are tons of potentially-useful documents that are beyond my reach now, such as manuscript collections held by numerous educational institutions. I have listed several batteries known or suspected to have received one or more Bull Run-captured 10-pounder Parrott rifles, and I’m fairly certain, given further evidence, that one of these will prove to have been the Confederate owner of No. 10.

 

I’ve had a couple of very knowledgeable “cannon people” tell me the only place I’m likely to find the detailed info I’m seeking is files of or about individual officers. Fold 3 is such a source. I’ve never used it before but it looks like I’m going to start. The officers to research would be the commanders of batteries in the units I’ve listed previously.

 

Finding lots of interesting info in the Fold3 files of the various artillery officers. Most of that interesting info doesnt help much to connect no. 10 to a particular unit, but some tends to eliminate a unit here and there. I’ll post some items. Here’s one dated Oct 21, 1863 at Brandy Station, where Major James Reilly turns over all battery ordnance to CAPT. James Ramsay. There were three 10 pounder Parrotts. Interestingly the list also includes six pendulum houses sights and two brackets for same. I didn’t see any breech aka tangent sights.

 

I’ll post photos of the vent. I’ve seen other Parrott rifles, various calibers, and the top of the vent and area right around it are even and flat. The vent of no. 10 is hemispherical at the top. Theres a ”mound” of iron you can see. Why is that? Only thing I could think of was that it had been bouched with an iron vent-bouching aka “grain.” And not all of the square top end, which fits in the big tap wrench used to screw the grain in, had been removed. The present vent hole diameter is 0.275 in. A new vent is 0.200. John Morris has shared 2 photos with you!

 

I’ll post photos of the vent. I’ve seen other Parrott rifles, various calibers, and the top of the vent and area right around it are even and flat. The vent of no. 10 is hemispherical at the top. Theres a ”mound” of iron you can see. Why is that? Only thing I could think of was that it had been bouched with an iron vent-bouching aka “grain.” And not all of the square top end, which fits in the big tap wrench used to screw the grain in, had been removed. The present vent hole diameter is 0.275 in. A new vent is 0.200. John Morris has shared 2 photos with you!

Here’s a photo of the vent on No. 23, owned by a friend. You can clearly see the outline of the grain, aka bouch, under the paint. It is a wrought-copper, threaded vent bouch or grain. Another friend owns Parrott 10 pounder no. 26?; he reports it has a copper grain In the vent.

 

This photo shows the breech area of no. 10. There’s no evidence that a pendulum hausse sight bracket was ever installed; otherwise there would be two threaded screw holes. I don’t have any info that suggests Parrott rifles ever used pendulum hausse sights. Prior to 10 pounder registry no. 4, only the tall front sight was present, so the range-adjustable hand-held breech sight was needed. No. 34 and after had a sight-mounting ring on the right breech face, and a vertically-sliding sight post was installed when firing.

 

The research continues. One complicating factor is of course the fact that artillery batteries‘ armament changed at times for many different reasons. We can find documentation describing some of these changes but I’m guessing there are at least an equal number of changes which may have been recorded at the time, but the paperwork didn’t survive. Here’s one example of such documentation with my explanatory notes in yellow.

 

I’ve spent a day looking into the location of No. 10 from when it was donated by the War Department in 1874, until it was sold by the cemetery at an unknown date but probably ca. 1990. Here’s the report of legislation covering the donation.

 

Here’s the late Wayne E. Stark’s data sheet filled out when he visited the IOOF cemetery in Tamaqua, PA to record the markings on the four 10-pounder Parrotts there, my recent notes in green. Form copy courtesy of Jim Bender, the present registrar of Civil War artillery.

 

Here are some pix of the Soldier’s Circle in the IOOF cemetery in Tamaqua, PA, and the replica Parrott rifles put there to replace the sold originals. John Morris has shared 3 photos with you!