US Army 300-Pounder Parrott Rifle in Ypsilanti, Michigan
US Army 300-Pounder Parrott Rifle Number 19 is displayed in Ypsilanti, Michigan
US Army 300-Pounder Parrott Rifle Number 19 is displayed in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It was manufactured at West Point Foundry in 1865 and weighs 26,820 pounds. It is displayed at Prospect Park and is mounted on a pedestal recording the year it was dedicated: 1902. A historical marker at the park records that the giant Parrott came from Fort McClary in Maine - which is also reflected in US Army records which show that Number 19 was shipped from Fort McClary to the Carpenter Post Number 180, Grand Army of the Republic in 1901 (See this table of “Condemned Cannon Distributed” in a 1901 report.)
The 300-Pounder Parrott has a 10-Inch bore. Despite its name, projectile weights were usually around 250 pounds. A 25 pound propellant charge was used. At least three of the type were used to fire on Fort Sumter from Morris Island. However, it is very likely that Number 19 saw no active service during the war.
The 300-Pounder Parrott is the heaviest Civil War-era artillery piece to have been donated as a monument to local communities. At least two others survive as monuments: one in Trumansburg, New York and another in Wyoming Michigan. Others survive in seacoast fortifications where their great weight may have contributed to their survival - they were too heavy and too much trouble for the scrap dealers of the early 1900s.
