by Harold L. Peterson Patrero or “murderer” Published by Plimoth Plantation, Inc. and the Pilgrim Society, Plymouth 1957 A seventeenth century musketeer ready to fire his matchlock. From Jacques de Gheyn , Maniement d’Armes, 1608 . The average colonist landing on the wild shores of North America in the early 1600’s set great store by his arms and armor. The Pilgrims were no exception. They were strangers in a vast and largely unknown land, inhabited by wild beasts and peopled by savages who were

Of all the pieces of defensive armor, the most popular was the helmet. Almost everyone wore one when he prepared for trouble. Most of those worn at Plymouth were undoubtedly open helmets which left the face uncovered, although it is possible that a few completely closed helmets were also used. These open helmets were of three principal types: the cabasset, the morion, and the burgonet. The cabasset was a simple, narrow brimmed helmet with a keeled bowl and a tiny apical peak pointing to the rear

The edged weapons brought to America by the Pilgrims were of four principal types, swords, daggers, pikes and halberds. The bayonet was almost unknown on this continent at the time. Of all these arms, swords were by far the most plentiful. Every soldier, whether he was armed with a musket, pike or halberd or served a cannon, was required to carry a sword. Thus, since almost every able-bodied man was supposed to perform military service, all had to be familiar with the weapon, and a large supply

The projectile arms of the Pilgrims were their most important weapons. The American Indian usually preferred to do battle against Europeans in loose formation and at long range, resorting to hand-to-hand combat only in surprise attacks or when he believed that the enemy had been sufficiently decimated and disorganized by his sniping tactics. In addition to their value in warfare, projectile arms were also important in providing the settlers with fresh meat. For these reasons, the evolution of de

The ammunition which the colonists fired from their guns consisted of round balls of lead propelled by charges of black powder. The powder was weak by modern standards and thus comparatively large loads were used. When it was ignited it gave off clouds of white smoke which smelled strongly of sulphur. Usually for military purposes a single ball was used, but sometimes, especially for hunting, a number of small shot, much like present day buck shot, were used. These were called swan shot by the m

In addition to their small arms, the Pilgrims also brought some heavy ordnance. On a commanding hill overlooking the bay and landing site, they built a meeting house and fort with places for their cannon on an upper deck. On February 21, 1621, William Bradford and Edward Winslow relate how “the Master came on shore, with many of his saylors, and brought with him one of the great peeces, called a Minion, and helped us to draw it up the hill, with another peece that lay on shore, and mounted them,

Plimoth Plantation was founded in 1948 as a non-profit educational organization to foster public understanding of the Pilgrims of Plymouth. To this end the corporate organization, Plimoth Plantation, is re-creating the Plimoth Plantation of 1627, the farming community from which sprang the Old Colony of New Plymouth. It is a functioning village, over half completed (in 1969), in which guides and hostesses in Pilgrim dress carry on the tasks necessary for daily living and sheep and chickens wande

The Pilgrim Society, Plymouth, Massachusetts, was organized in 1820. Its main purposes have been to insure a universal appreciation of the Pilgrims and their contributions to the American heritage. In Pilgrim Hall, one of the oldest museums in the country, there is displayed a collection of Pilgrim relics and material bearing on the history of Plimoth Colony. Every effort is made to enlarge and improve this collection and to preserve in the library of Pilgrim Hall a comprehensive history of the