Cannon

C. A. N. Art Handworks founder Carl A. Nielbock proudly announces the restoration of a pair of 30-Pounder Parrott Cannons, which are slated to become the largest restored original fully functional Civil War cannons in the United States.

The restoration project includes the construction of two ordinance carriages, Models 1861 and 1862, to original West Point specifications. One is a horse-drawn wagon to be made mobile by local Civil War reenactment groups; the second is a stationary cannon to be mounted on the southeast bastion of Historic Fort Wayne facing the Detroit River. No other restoration project of this type exists in the state of Michigan.

Union forces introduced Parrott cannons on the eve of the Civil War. The cannons came in a variety of sizes, and were praised for their great range, accuracy and hitting power. The 30-Pound Parrott Cannon could send a projectile almost four miles. Its shell could pass through masonry walls and solid stone.

Moving the heavy 30-Pounder Parrott Rifled Cannon requires eight horses with four drivers. The barrels, combined with their carriages, each weigh over two tons.

All 30-Pounder Rifled Parrott guns were cast, rifled and finished at the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, New York, situated on the east side of the Hudson River. Robert Parker Parrott, the cannons' inventor, managed the West Point Foundry during the Civil War period as a private contractor to the U.S. Ordinance Department. Prototypes tested at the foundry were fired into Storm King Mountain on the Hudson River's west side, near the present West Point Military Academy.

C. A. N. Art Handworks founder Carl A. Neilbock's restoration of the 30-Pounder Parrott Cannons signals a call for the rebirth of local public knowledge of Detroit's vitally important role in the great history of our nation.