Two “State of Connecticut” marked 3.8-Inch James Rifles at Manassas
Two 3.8-Inch James Rifles marked “STATE OF CONN.” are part of a display on Matthews Hill at Manassas National Battlefield Park. Both were cast by Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts in 1862. They are part of a display representing the 2nd Rhode Island Battery which took a position near this point on July 21st, 1861. The 2nd Rhode Island Battery was equipped with six James Rifles.
The “Widow Blakely” at Vicksburg
The “Widow Blakely” is displayed at Vicksburg National Military Park. Originally the piece was a British 42-Pounder smoothbore gun manufactured in 1862 by the Low Moor Iron Company in Bradford, Yorkshire. It was reamed out to 7.5 inches, rifled, and banded by Blakely.
Many thanks to friend-of-the-page Jeff Brantly for sharing these photos!
According to the National Park Service, it is one of the few guns displayed at Vicksburg known with certainty to have been present at the siege. It appears to have been called the “Widow Blakely” because it was the only Blakely rifle present in Vicksburg’s defenses.
US Army 20-Inch Rodman at Fort Hancock
A US Army 20-Inch Rodman is displayed at Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. This was the second 20-Inch Rodman cast - it bears the registry number “2” on the muzzle. It was cast at Fort Pitt Foundry in 1869 and weighed 115,100 pounds as cast.
Many thanks to William from South Jersey for taking the video from which these stills were taken!
12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer, Heavy, of USS Monongahela in New Haven, Connecticut
A US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer, Heavy, Number 128 is one of four of the type displayed around a monument in New Haven, Connecticut.
Many thanks to friend of the page James Murray for taking and sharing these photos!
12-Pounder Boat Howitzer, Heavy, Number 128 was manufactured at the Washington Navy Yard in 1862. As manufactured it weighed 750 pounds.
12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer, Small, at the National Museum of the Marine Corps
A US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer, Small, is displayed at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia. It was manufactured at the Washington Navy Yard in 1864. It is registry number 19, and as manufactured it weighs 305 pounds.
Number 19 is displayed on a landing carriage, and is part of an exhibit on Marine landing parties in the 19th Century.
12-Pounder Confederate Boat Howitzer at Gettysburg
A 12-Pounder Confederate Bronze Boat Howitzer, Heavy, is in storage at Gettysburg National Military Park. It bears the Tredegar Foundry Number “1169” on its muzzle
Many thanks to friend of the page Seth Lemley for inquiring about this piece and forwarding the NPS Photos and description.
National Park Service Photos, Gettysburg National Military Park, GETT 31170
US Navy 30-Pounder Parrott Rifles in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine
Two US Navy 30-Pounder Parrott Rifles, Numbers 350 and 385, flank a monument in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine.
Many thanks to friend-of-the-page Lee James Thieman for sending these photos!
The two 30-Pounders are:
US Navy 30-Pounder Parrott Number 350 manufactured by West Point Foundry in 1864. Weight as manufactured is 3,470 pounds. Number 350 served aboard USS Yucca.
US Navy 30-Pounder Parrott Number 385 manufactured by West Point Foundry in 1864. Weight as manufactured is 3,460 pounds.
US Navy 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Two US Navy 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds are displayed flanking a monument in Lawton Park in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Many thanks to friend of the page Louis Robert Bob Dispenza for sharing these photos.
The two 32-Pounders are:
32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds Number 17 manufactured by Seyfert, McManus, and Co. in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1865. Weight as manufactured was 4,620 pounds.
32-Pounder of 4,500 Pounds Number 89 manufactured by Fort Pitt Foundry in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in 1865. Weight as manufactured was 4,520 pounds.
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 451 of USS Wabash and USS Worcester
US Navy 9-Inch Dahlgren Number 451 is seen at the National Civil War Naval Museum. Number 451 was manufactured by West Point Foundry in 1862. In July of 1862 USS Wabash exchanged her spar deck battery of fourteen 8-Inch shell guns of 63cwt for a like number of 9-Inch Dahlgrens (Numbers 444 to 453 and 602-605). This brought her total battery to a total of forty-two 9-Inch Dahglrens and two 10-Inch Dahglrens (one of which would later be replaced by a 150-Pounder Parrott). Following the war, Number 451 was removed from Wabash. In December of 1871 it was mounted on USS Worcester upon which it served until 1877 when it was removed at Norfolk following Worcester's decommissioning.
US Navy 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds in Worcester, Massachusetts
Three US Navy 32-Pounders of 4,500 Pounds are displaced together in a tripod at Hope Cemetery in Worcester, Massachusetts. As a nearby interpretive sign notes, the display is near a section of graves of Civil War soldiers and sailors. The sign also points out that of a pre-war population of around 25,000, 4,227 men enlisted for service in Worcester.
Many thanks to friend-of-the-page James Murray for these photos!
Additional Photos of the 8-Inch Columbiad at Drewry’s Bluff
An 8-Inch Confederate Columbiad is displayed at Fort Darling at Drewry's Bluff on the James River near Richmond, Virginia. The Columbiad, Number 66, was cast at Bellona Foundry in 1862. The Columbiad, mounted on the commanding position overlooking the James, represents the battery which fought USS Galena and USS Monitor on May 15th, 1862.
US Navy 100-Pounder Parrott Rifle of USS Galena in Newmanstown, Pennsylvania
US Navy 100-Pounder Parrott Rifle Number 10 is displayed in a cemetery in Newmanstown, Pennsylvania. It was manufactured by West Point Foundry in 1862 and weighs 9.866 pounds.
Many, many thanks to friend of the page James Murray for twice visiting this site to photograph Number 10.
Number 10 is recorded as being carried aboard the ironclad USS Galena during her first commission in 1862-1863.
US Navy 30-Pounder of USS John Adams in Rockland, Massachusetts
US Navy Parrott Rifle Number 70 was manufactured at the West Point Foundry in 1862. As manufactured it weighs 3,490 pounds. It is displayed in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Rockland, Massachusetts.
Many thanks to friend of the page James Murray for taking and sharing these photos!
US Navy Records show that it served aboard the sloop USS John Adams and was donated to a Grand Army of the Republic Post in Rockland in 1900.
US Navy 12-Pounder Boat Howitzer Number 134 in New Haven, Connecticut
US Navy 12-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzer (Heavy) Number 134 was carried aboard USS Lehigh. It is possible that Number 134 is the boat howitzer depicted in two photos taken aboard the monitor during the American Civil War.
Many thanks to James Murray for sharing these photos!
US Navy 30-Pounder Parrotts of Waterville, Maine
Many thanks to James Murray for taking and sharing these photos!
Three US Navy 30-Pounder Parrott Rifles may be seen in Waterville, Maine in Veterans Memorial Park.
US Navy 30-Pounder Number 146 is recorded as serving on USS Tuscarora - though perhaps not until 1868 according to the Bureau of Ordnance Register of Naval Guns.
US Navy 30-Pounder Number 193 is recorded as serving on USS Ethan Allen.
US Navy 30-Pounder Number 366 is not known to have seen service afloat.
The Fragment of a US Navy 32-Pounder of 46 Hundredweight at Fort Branch
Part of the remarkable collection of artillery at Fort Branch on the Roanoke River is a fragment of a 32-Pounder. Olmstead et al. identifies it as the only surviving portion of the sixty-six 32-Pounders of 47 Hundredweight cast for the US Navy by Cyrus Alger in 1846. It served aboard the Frigate USS United States.
Danish Rifled 18-Pounder at the Danish War Museum
Many thanks to Rob from the YouTube Channel FirearmsAddict for sharing these photos!
A Rifled 18-Pounder is displayed at the Danish War Museum in Copenhagen. The photos show a cast-iron tube manufactured in 1837 that has a reinforcing band (likely wrought iron or steel). I expect this gun was originally manufactured as a traditional 18-Pounder smoothbore. I also guess that the rifling and banding happened circa 1860.
US 13-Inch Mortar in Hartford, Connecticut
A US 13-Inch Mortar is displayed on the grounds of the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut. It is placed upon a pedestal dedicated to the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery which was originally formed as the 4th Connecticut Infantry in 1861 and which was mustered out of service as a heavy artillery regiment in 1865. Many thanks to friend-of-the-page James Murray for these photos!
The plaque on the front of the pedestal claims that the very mortar displayed was in used by the regiment in front of Petersburg in 1864-1865 and was given the nickname “The Petersburg Express”.
US Army 30-Pounder Parrott in Worcester, New York
US Army 30-Pounder Parrott Rifle Number 381 is displayed beside a monument to the “Boys in Blue” at Maple Grove Cemetery in Worcester, New York. It was manufactured at West Point Foundry in 1865. It’s weight as manufactured was 4210 pounds. Many thanks to friend of the page James Murray for these photographs!
US Army 3-Inch Ordnance Rifles of Plaistow, New Hampshire
Two US Army Ordnance Rifles are displayed in Plaistow, New Hampshire. Many thanks to friend-of-the-page Nick Patrick for sending these photos! The two rifles are:
US Army 3-Inch Ordnance Rifle Number 69 manufactured by Phoenix Iron Company in 1861. The weight as manufactured was 819 pounds.
US Army 3-Inch Ordnance Rifle Number 683 manufactured by Phoenix Iron Company in 1864. The weight as manufactured was 816 pounds.