8″ Siege Mortar
A cast-iron siege mortar from 1861 hides inside Front V of the Fort, directly above the main entrance. Workers discovered this rare piece at Boston’s Mount Hope Cemetery and donated it to the Castle Island Association. While the fort’s other cannons defended the harbor against ships, this mortar served a different role. Soldiers used it to stop enemy infantry on the ground.
Unlike traditional cannons, mortars were designed to lob explosive shells high into the air—perfect for hitting ships or enemy troops behind cover. They typically fired at a 45-degree angle, providing an average range of about 1,200 yards.
The average weight of an 8-inch siege mortar is 1,010 pounds, while each projectile weighs 44.5 pounds.
It was designed to fire direct, high-angle “vertical” shots at small enemy landing ships and invading troops.
This cannon was discovered at a local cemetery and donated to the Castle Island Association.
Rodman Gun: The Beast of The Battlefield
Standing at a massive 15 feet long and weighing over 49,000 pounds, the 15′ Rodman Gun was a true game-changer in thebattlefield. A 50-pound powder charge would fire a 440-pound solid shot or a 352-pound shell up to three and a half miles away. It had a smoothbore barrel loaded from the front using a special crane and had a standard crew of eleven to fourteen men to operate.
Each battery on the ramparts had an independent magazine that stored powder, fuses, cartridges, and other volatile explosives. The magazines were positioned nearby so that the crew could maintain a rapid fire. Each magazine was buried beneath an earthen cover, and heavy wooden doors were always closed to prevent a premature explosion.
Imagine the sheer force and NOISE of firing this thing!
20 Pound Parrot Rifles For Precision Shots
On the parade grounds at the Fort, you’ll find two 20-pound Parrott rifles, proof of how quickly military technology advanced during the Civil War.
Designed by Robert Parker Parrott, a graduate from West Point in 1824. He was a First Lieutenant at the Fort with the Third Artillery from 1831 to 1834. He became a specialist in artillery, and by 1861, he had perfected the rifled cannon to excellent quality and had improved its ease of manufacturing, safety and reliability of firing the weapons.
The new guns were cast iron and had a large wrought iron reinforcing band overlaid on the breech to give them additional strength. Robert Parrot patented his new rifle in 1861. The Parrott rifle imparted a spin to its specially-designed, elongated projectile that made it a much more accurate weapon than its smoothbore predecessors. During the War of 1812, cannon weaponry was not robust or accurate enough to destroy a granite fort. With this advancement in weaponry during the Civil War, defensive forts of this type became obsolete.
The cannons shown below are on loan from https://www.nps.gov/sama/planyourvisit/salem-armory.htm to Castle Island Association.
Resources used for this Article:
Castle Island and Fort Independence book by William Reid.
This book can be found at the Boston Public Library or purchased on online on amazon.com
Great resourece on Robert Parker Parrot , here is more information of him from Dartmouth Library.