Semmes, Paul Jones (1815-1863) [Contract with Robert P. Parrott to buy 16 rifle cannons for Georgia]
High-resolution images are available to schools and libraries via subscription to American History, 1493-1943. Check to see if your school or library already has a subscription. Or click here for more information. You may also order a pdf of the image from us here.
Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00474 Author/Creator: Semmes, Paul Jones (1815-1863) Place Written: s.l. Type: Autograph manuscript Date: 19 December 1860 Pagination: 11 p. : docket ; 32 x 20 cm. Order a Copy
Unsigned copy, written on one side. Contract to buy cannons, guns, and ammunition from Colt, Dupont, Ames, etc. to prepare Georgia for war. Semmes acted as agent for Georgia in preparation for the Civil War. Docket in Semmes' hand. "... This Contract made and entered into... That the said Robert P. Parrat hereby covenants and agrees to manufacture furnish and deliver on board Steamer in the Port of New York and bound for Savannah Georgia suitably prepared and packed for safe transportation within sixty days from the date just above written... (16) Sixteen Rifle Cannons..." New York was a center for arms deals by Southern states in preparation for secession. Semmes, a Georgia banker and plantation owner, was serving as agent for Georgia as that state prepared for Civil War. Parrott was the inventor of a superior rifled cannon known as the "Parrott Gun." Two dockets; one on verso of page six, the other on the last page.
Even before a single state had seceded from the Union, the State of Georgia negotiated a contract with a New York rifleworks company to supply the state with armaments. Paul Jones Semmes, who signed this contract, was a Georgia banker and plantation owner who served as a brigadier general in the Confederate army. He led Georgia troops at the battle of Gettysburg, where he received a wound from which he died in the retreat to Virginia. Semmes made the contract with Robert Parrott, who invented a superior rifled cannon known as the "Parrott Gun."
This Contract made and entered into this nineteenth day of December 1860 between Paul J. Semmes, Agent for the State of Georgia...and Robert P. Parrott...That the said Robert P. Parratt hereby covenants and agrees to manufacture furnish and deliver... (16) Sixteen rifle Cannons of 3.3 in (3 3/10 in) Calibre and of (1000) one thousand pound weight each.... Also (3500) Three thousand five hundred 'Dyer' solid shot of ten (10) pounds weight when finished. Also (4000) Four thousand 'Dyer' Cannon Shrapnel shot.... Also (500) Five hundred Canister Shot of the ordinary kind.... Also, One Hundred thousand (100,000) pounds of lead....
Citation Guidelines for Online Resources
The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.