On July 4, 1902 the Village of Freeport on Long Island in New York State was honored with the placement of a Parrott Rifle from the U.S.S. Hartford at the Grove Street School on Pine Street and South Grove Street where John W. Dodd Middle School is now. It was moved to a small park along what is now Sunrise Highway on the corner of Madison Avenue. The Parrott Rifle came from the U.S.S. Hartford, the flagship of Admiral David Farragut’s fleet that closed the Confederate stronghold of Mobile Bay in Alabama in August of 1864.
Robert Parker Parrott superintendent of the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, New York, invented the Parrot Rifle in 1860, just before the start of the Civil War. The artillery piece’s innovation was having a cast iron barrel with a wrought iron reinforcement around the breech of the gun.
The artillery piece was frequently photographed with young women sitting on it during the 1940s and 1950s. Here is one representative photo from 1955. In the background is the Methodist Church. You can see deterioration on the carriage of the Parrott Rifle.
While the Parrott Rifle itself is intact, and the carriage has been repaired, it is not well cared for. Cleaning and restoration are needed. The barrel has also become a garbage receptacle. The last records showing restoration work are from 1999.
The plaque on the side of the gun carriage says that this is a 30 Lb. Parrott Rifle 240 presented by the United States Navy. It may, in fact, be a 20 pounder.
This photo below shows the U.S.S. Hartford at a Navy Yard in California. The ship was launched in 1858 and was 225 feet long. Although the Hartford had sails, during the fighting in Mobile Bay she was propelled by her steam operated propeller.
The operations at Mobile Bay lasted from August 2 to 23, 1864. Mobile was one of the few Confederate ports still open and it was heavily defended. Three forts protected the bay, Fort Morgan with 46 guns, Fort Gaines with 26 guns, and Fort Powell with 16 guns. A small Confederate fleet, including the powerful ironclad C.S.S. Tennessee, was on guard. Entry to the bay by an attacking force was extremely hazardous because the Confederates had deployed mines, called “torpedoes” at the time, to sink the Union ships.
The U.S.S. Hartford’s fight at Mobile Bay was immortalized in the painting below showing Admiral Farragut in the rigging during the fighting. The Confederate ironclad C.S.S. Tennessee is to the right, firing into the wooden Hartford. Farragut’s words when his ships slowed as they approached naval mines, remembered as “Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead,” is among the most quoted lines from a Civil War military officer.
The painting below shows the crew firing a 9 inch Dahlgren Gun. There were two Parrot Rifles on the Hartford, which could fire shot over a mile.
At the time of the Civil War, Freeport was a small village of fewer than 1,000 people. It had a large fishing fleet and was particularly known for oystering in the Great South Bay. With streams running through the village, there was a gristmill, a sawmill, and a papermill. About forty men from Freeport joined the Union Army, many serving in “The Hempstead Company” the 119 Regiment New York Volunteers Company H.
The men serving on the U.S.S. Hartford included Richard Dunphy, an Irish immigrant who came to New York City and joined the Navy in 1863 as a 22 year-old coal heaver feeding coal into the engine powering the U.S.S. Hartford. Dunphy was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service during the battle. His citation says:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Coal Heaver Richard D. Dunphy, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving on board the flagship U.S.S. Hartford during successful attacks against Fort Morgan, rebel gunboats and the rebel ram Tennessee, Mobile Bay, Alabama, 5 August 1864. With his ship under terrific enemy shellfire, Coal Heaver Dunphy performed his duties with skill and courage throughout this fierce engagement which resulted in the capture of the rebel ram Tennessee.
Although Dunphy lost both his arms in the combat with the C.S.S. Tennessee, he survived the war, moved to Wisconsin, married, and raised a family. He lived into the first decade of the 20th Century, dying in California in 1904.
In 1999 the Landmark Preservation Commission placed what is commonly called a “New York State Historical Marker” at the site. Although only 23 years old, the marker needs repainting. It was likely damaged during Super Storm Sandy and the time has come to attend to it. The sign also misspells Parrott Rifle as “Parrot Rifle.”
The Village of Freeport is extremely popular during the summer months. The Nautical Mile along the Woodclift Canal has a number of seafood restaurants and fishing boats. Close to New York’s most-visited state park, Jones Beach, and on “the way home” from Fire Island and the Hamptons, tens of thousands stop off in Freeport on the warm weekends. There is also a developing Latinx community with some great Central American food available near the Parrott Rifle.
Note: All color photos were taken by Pat Young.
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