Carl, thanks for posting that excellent Read-Parrott bolt. It helps fill in some blanks I had with regards to the CS use of copper sabots on their Parrott projectiles. A few years ago, Pete G. and I practically came to blows over his labeling all CS Parrott projectiles as "Read-Parrotts." But Carl, this shell of yours deserves that label more than any other of the hundreds I have examined and photographed. I believe its mold pattern and sabot die were actually designed and possibly produced for a Deep South foundry (I suspect Skates of Mobile - see the documents below) by Dr. Read himself during 1862. At that time, the Alabama and Mississippi foundries were making many rifled bolts to accompany their shells (see below). It has Read's distinctive raised base knob - an essential part of his original 1856 patent and its function was clearly described. It forced the initial propellant charge into the high band sabot causing lateral pressure to ensure it took the rifling grooves. You will find the same "Read knob" in the bottoms of the many bourelled Reads of various calibers (including his 24 pdr. and 32 pounder rifled projectiles) made early in the war in accordance with his patterns. In Virginia, we find it associated with the numerous 3 inch Read bolts fired at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. These had been sent north with other fuses and projectiles at the urgent request of the Richmond Arsenal.
Carl, are you absolutely sure it was made for a 2.9 inch Parrott and not a 3 inch. As far as I can tell, there were no 2.9 inch guns in the Deep South until late 1862. However, you will see in the Skates invoice below they were making 2.9 inch Parrott shells and bolts during the winter of 1862-63. So, it might date from that period. We know for certain that Dr. Read set up the Skates production line with his patterns. Read was a civilian ordnance agent operating out of Mobile. Despite a February 1862 directive from Richmond to produce only Mullanes in all calibers, Skates continued to make the excellent Reads with the copper cup. Also, documented below is the fact that Skates produced around five Parrott Rifles for the state of Alabama. That would explain the recovery of your projectile around Montgomery.
Look at the first document below written by Dr. Read in Jan. 1862. He mentioned having been asked to supply ammunition for the "iron Parrott guns." In the Deep South, Dr. Read was the projectile expert. Sadly, his excellent work was disregarded by the authorities in Richmond. During 1861, all Read projectiles (heavy and field) were supposed to have wrought iron sabots. At the end of the year, Dr. Read announced a switch to all copper sabots. The iron wore out the bores too quickly and did not take the rifling as well. Therefore, beginning in early 1862, a genuine "Read-Parrott" should have had a copper sabot, a fact that was understood in Alabama but ignored by Richmond. Even the Yankee, Robert Parrott, who called his Parrott ammunition "Read shells," switched to a copper ring sabot before long. This explains the large scale use of copper sabots by some of the Deep South foundries.
I now have a better grasp of a confusing mix of copper-saboted Read-Parrotts dug in Virginia. Many different styles have come from the Gettysburg and Cold Harbor battlefields. Some sabots were cast, others die-struck. The iron shell bodies varied too much to be from a single arsenal or foundry. Still, I thought they all came from Augusta which received special permission from Richmond in March 1863 (letter posted previously) to use copper sabots of their own design and ridged interiors (not in their Parrotts) on all rifled field projectiles and the shipment of their ammo to VA is recorded. Now I realize that many copper-saboted Read- Parrott were received in 1863 and 1864 from CS foundries in Alabama and maybe Mississippi along with the well known sphericals with letter "G" stamped and the beautiful 3 inch Read bolts.
Take a look at the page from Lee's Thunderbolts, below, showing a Read-Parrott dug at Winchester, but probably made in Alabama, using Dr. Read's actual sabot-stamping dies. Note the low convex top and two holes for molten iron to pass thru and secure the sabot. Two holes were recommended by Dr. Read or "notches" in the edge of the central opening of the copper cup. (See the first letter below) When you have 3 holes, it was produced by the Augusta Arsenal during 1863-64 when it tried to recreate Read's initial patterns to improve the performance of the CS field ammo. Like Dr. Read's early-war designs, Richmond ignored the cutting-edge research and production occurring at Augusta under Cols. Raines and Girardey. But it provides us with evidence that can help identify the makers and production time period of many excavated examples of there fascinating rusted iron objects.
So Carl, to sum up all of this rattle trap, you have an actual Read-Parrott bolt likely made in Alabama by Skates for the state of Alabama. If it is 2.9 inch, then it was made around late 1862 or early 1863 when the first 2.9 inch guns arrived from Virginia. If 3 inch, it was made during 1862 in accordance with patterns supplied by Dr. Read in person.
Woodenhead