US Navy 100-Pounder Parrott Rifle Number 38 displayed in Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania

The photos of the cannons in Reynoldsville in this post were taken by Elias Doll. Many thanks to him for a great set of photos!

Two US Navy 100-Pounder (6.4-Inch) Parrott Rifles are displayed at Veterans Memorial Park in Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania. The two cannons are displayed on iron display stands.

One or perhaps both of these Parrotts may have been used in action by the US Navy against the ironclad ram CSS Albemarle. The two Parrotts are:

US Navy 100-Pounder Parrott Number 38: Manufactured by West Point Foundry in 1862. Weight as originally manufactured 9,826 pounds. The Big Guns states that this Parrott was carried aboard USS Sassacus.
US Navy 100-Pounder Parrott Number 42: Manufactured by West Point Foundry in 1862. Weight as originally manufactured was 9,832 pounds. The Big Guns states that this Parrott was carried aboard USS Whitehead and USS Minnesota.

The Veterans Memorial Park of Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania

The Veterans Memorial Park in Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania in June 2025

The Veterans Memorial Park on Main Street in Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania was dedicated on October 7th, 2023. Local citizens worked together over a period of several years to bring various monuments which were scattered around town to a single display. Flanking the entrance arch are the two 100-Pounder Parrott Rifles. A 1917 monument to Civil War soldiers stands at the center of the park.

I have not yet been able to determine when the two Parrott Rifles were first brought to Reynoldsville, though they have both been present in the area for many decades. It appears that they and the monument were originally located in front of a local high school (If anyone knows of their early history in Reynoldsville, I would be very glad to learn of it!)

An early 20th Century illustration showing both the 1917 monument and one of the 100-Pounder Parrotts may be seen on “Card Cow” here: High School and Soldiers' Monument Reynoldsville, PA Postcard

The Reynoldsville War Memorial Facebook Page shows photos from the construction of the park and those involved in the work.

The 100-Pounder Parrott Rifle in US Navy Service

100-Pounder Parrott Rifle aboard USS Mendota in 1864 or 1865. The Parrott Rifle is mounted on a pivot carriage allowing it to fire on either broadside. The two 100-Pounders of USS Sassacus were likely mounted on similar carriages. Naval History and Heritage Command Photo: https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-59000/NH-59439.html

Introduced in 1861, the 100-Pounder Parrott Rifle is a cast iron, rifled cannon which has a wrought-iron reinforcing band fitted over the breech. It has a 6.4-Inch bore. The rifled barrel allowed it to fire elongated projectiles of varying weights depending on whether they were shot or shell, but the heaviest would be up to 100 pounds.

The 100-Pounder Parrott was similar in weight to the smoothbore 9-Inch Dahlgren (9,200 pounds), and the two cannons often served alongside each other on the same ships. USS Sassacus, for instance, carried two 100-Pounder Parrotts and four 9-Inch Dahlgrens. The two types of cannons complemented each other’s strengths.

In popular history, the Parrott Rifle has a very poor reputation for reliability - being thought of as more dangerous to its own crews than those it was fired upon. During the war, twenty-eight of the three hundred fifty-two 100-Pounder Parrotts produced for the US Navy would burst or otherwise fail in service. (Including, according to Mike Ryan’s research, 100-Pounder Number 25 carried aboard USS Sassacus in January of 1865.) The problem received its greatest attention after six of the type burst during the December 24th, 1864 bombardment of Fort Fisher near Wilmington, North Carolina - which indeed caused more casualties than return fire from the Confederate fort.

A January 1865 Bureau of Ordnance “Report on Rifled Guns” makes these points:

Smaller caliber (10-Pounder, 20-Pounder, and 30-Pounder) Parrotts did not suffer from reliability issues to the same extent as the larger models.
Difficulties experience by the US Army firing the type on Morris Island may be attributable to sand getting in the barrels.
The problems experienced by the US Navy may have been due in large part to the shells detonating in the barrel rather than problems with the cannons themselves.

Three US 100-Pounder Projectiles displayed at Fort Macon in North Carolina. They are, from left to right, a solid shot, a case shot (exploding shell holding shrapnel), and an explosive shell. Their weights are 77 pounds, 76 pounds, and 86 pounds respectively.

US Navy Parrott Rifle Number 38 of USS Sassacus

USS Sassacus, making about 10 knots, rammed CSS Albemarle on May 5th, 1864 during the "Battle of Albemarle Sound." During the battle, she carried two 100-Pounder Parrott Rifles - one of them was likely Number 38 displayed in Reynoldsville. They other may have been 100-Pounder Parrott Number 25. (Olmstead et al. only note that a cannon served aboard a ship at some point. While it is very likely that Number 38 was aboard during the battle, further research is needed to confirm that fact.)

USS Sassacus rams CSS Albemarle during the Battle of Albemarle Sound, May 5th, 1864. Naval History and Heritage Command: https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-01000/NH-1500.html

During the Battle of Albemarle Sound, the elevating screws of both 100-Pounders carried by Sassacus broke as the Parrotts were repeatedly fired at maximum depression. Sailors resorted to using handspikes to depress the guns. At one point in the action, the forward 100-Pounder was fired only partially run out as the Albemarle was so close - and the recoil from this shot damaged the carriage. One of the shots fired by Sassacus broke the muzzle of one of Albemarle's Brooke Rifles - which would require that cannon to be replaced after the battle. CSS Albemarle did put two shot into Sassacus - one of which hit the pipes of one of Sassacus's two boilers. The resulting escape of steam scalded sixteen men - some of them fatally - and was responsible for most of the casualties sustained aboard in the action.

All together, twenty-nine rounds were fired by the two 100-Pounders carried by USS Sassacus on May 5th, 1864. CSS Albemarle, though damaged, was able to retire. Neither the 100-Pounders nor the 9-Inch Dahlgrens of Sassacus or the rest of the US Navy squadron had been able to appreciably damage Albemarle. Lietuenant Commander F.A. Roe, captain of USS Sassacus, wrote that 100-Pounder shot fired by his ship’s Parrotts “flew into splinters” upon striking CSS Albemarle’s iron armor. USS Sassacus had a boiler out of action, both Parrott Rifles disabled, and was leaking from ramming Albemarle. It took courage for the sailors of the US Navy squadron, all of which were wooden gunboats, to face an ironclad. (See reports of the battle in “Official Records - Navies” Ser. 1. Vol. 9. pp. 732-771).

US Navy Parrott Rifles have their identifying information stamped on top of their breech reinforcing band. The stampings here show that the piece was produced by Robert Parker Parrott (at West Point Foundry), it is Number 38 of an eventual 352 US Navy 100-Pounder Parrott Rifles, and it weighed 9,826 pounds when completed. The loop mounting for the rear sight can be seen at right.

The year of manufacture, 1862, and type, 100-Pounder, can be seen on the right trunnion. Above the trunnion is a mounting point for the forward sight.

The “P” indicates that the cannon was successfully proof-fired before acceptance into naval service.

The 6.4-inch rifled barrel can be seen here. A plug has been placed several inches into the barrel to prevent the accumulation of debris.

The two holes in the cascabel (extension off the breech) have different functions. A heavy rope ran through the larger to help absorb recoil. The smaller hole was the attachment point for a bracket connected to the elevating screw.

Additional photos of US Navy Parrott Rifle Number 38

US Navy 100-Pounder Parrott Rifle of USS Whitehead and USS Minnesota

US Navy 100-Pounder Parrott Rifle Number 42 was manufactured in 1862 at the West Point Foundry and is displayed at the Reynoldsville War Memorial in Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania. According to the research reflected in "The Big Guns" by Olmstead et al., this Parrott Rifle served aboard USS Whitehead and USS Minnesota. As originally manufactured, this 100-Pounder weighed 9,832 pounds.

If the 100-Pounder was still aboard USS Whitehead on May 5th, 1864, then there is a good chance that both of the 100-Pounders displayed at Veterans Memorial Park in Reynoldsville took an active part in the Battle of Albemarle Sound against CSS Albemarle. While USS Whitehead's contribution to the battle was not as dramatic as that of USS Sassacus, the diminutive ship still took an active part in the battle. USS Whitehead was 93 feet long and not quite 20 on the beam with an Acting Ensign in command. Her armament was the single 100-Pounder as well as three 24-Pounder Dahlgren Boat Howitzers. During the battle, USS Whitehead fired seventeen solid shot at CSS Albemarle.

USS Whitehead's commanding officer, Acting Ensign G. W. Barrett, wrote of his ship's gunnery: "I approached within 200 yards of her. At this distance we succeeded in making some excellent shots, the projectiles used being solid , chilled-end shot, which must have made a serious impression on the iron armor of the ram , as I judged from the appearance of the plating on her when viewed through a glass." (Official Records - Navies: Ser. 1 Vol. 9. Pg. 755)

There is the potential - still to be determined by further research - that sitting in the Veterans Memorial Park in Reynoldsville are two cannons which fired on CSS Albemarle. They are a monument to their respective ships: USS Sassacus (100-Pounder No. 38) and USS Whitehead and USS Minnesota (100-Pounder No. 42).