Visitors to the 145th commemoration of the Battle of Fort Pulaski last month witnessed something truly remarkable. A 30-pounder Parrott cannon, the largest firing cannon in the National Park Service, was unveiled. The reproduction cannon, which weighs 4,200 pounds and is eleven-feet long, is roughly four times the size of typical guns used in National Park Service demonstrations. The firing was the highlight of the event, and was a year in the planning.
Superintendent Charlie Fenwick was very pleased with the park’s newest addition. The park has one of the nation’s most active historic weapons programs. It can now offer visitors the rare chance to see a large siege gun being fired, something that Fenwick believes “will definitely make a lasting impression on anyone who visits Fort Pulaski.”
These large 30-pounder siege guns were instrumental in the Union victory of April 10-11, 1862, when rifled cannons shattered the walls of Fort Pulaski from a mile away. The battle featured the first significant use of rifled artillery in history and signaled the end of masonry forts. Fort Pulaski has some of the original cannons from the battle, but historic weapons are never used in live National Park Service demonstrations. The new fully-functional reproduction will help visitors better understand and appreciate this important type of military technology.
A crew of Fort Pulaski staff and volunteers provided live demonstrations throughout the event from Battery Park on Tybee Island. Battery Park is a newly-developed area that overlooks the Savannah River and Fort Pulaski on nearby Cockspur Island. Located near the site of the Union batteries during the battle, the new park allows visitors to visualize the battle from the Union perspective.
Parrott rifled cannon were introduced on the eve of the Civil War, and were named for their inventor, Robert Parker Parrott. The 30-pounder version used a 3.25-pound charge to fire a shell up to five miles.
