The Swamp Angel was an 8-inch (200 mm) Parrott cannon used by Union Brigadier General Quincy Gilmore to bombard the city of Charleston. It was located on the Marsh Battery on Morris Island, SC, about 7,000 yards from the city. The weight of the gun was 16,500 pounds, the powder charge weighed 16 pounds, and the shell 150 pounds. On August 21, 1863, Gillmore sent Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard an ultimatum to abandon his entrenchments on Morris Island or the city of Charleston would be shelled. When the positions were not evacuated by the next day, Gillmore ordered the Parrott rifle to fire on the city. Between August 22 and August 23, the cannon fired on Charleston 36 times until it burst on the 36th round, using many incendiary shells that caused little damage and few casualties. It is known that the weapon had the registry #6. Based on proofing and foundry records it was made at the West Point Foundry, New York, in 1863 and weighted 16,577 pounds when delivered. The distinctive breech band seen on Parrott rifles of all sizes, which is missing in the images of the gun in Cadwalader Park in Trenton, New Jersey, was misplaced in transit and only the barrel and the breech fragment survive today. An intact 8-inch Parrott cannon is shown below.

The Swamp Angel was the subject of a poem by Herman Melville titled “The Swamp Angel”, shown below.

The next two images show a close up of where the barrel burst.

The images below show the Marsh Battery itself