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Arms and Armor of the Pilgrims, 1620-1692

Chapter 1: ARMS AND ARMOR OF THE PILGRIMS 1620-1692
By Harold L. Peterson
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About This Book

A detailed study of the weaponry and protective gear used by early New England colonists, organized into defensive armor, edged weapons, and projectile arms. It catalogs helmet forms such as the cabasset, morion, burgonet and pikeman’s pot, and describes corselets, gorgets, breastplates, tassets and complete pikeman’s suits, including testing marks and surface finishes. The text explains how armor thickness corresponded to pike, pistol or musket threats, how firearms also supplied food and trade goods, and how practical needs and mobility led colonists to move from heavy plate toward buff leather and quilted protection over time.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Arms and Armor of the Pilgrims, 1620-1692

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Title: Arms and Armor of the Pilgrims, 1620-1692

Author: Harold L. Peterson

Release date: May 13, 2021 [eBook #65335]
Most recently updated: October 18, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Steve Mattern and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARMS AND ARMOR OF THE PILGRIMS, 1620-1692 ***

Copyright 1957 by Plimoth Plantation, Inc. and the Pilgrim Society

Fotoset and Lithographed by COLORTONE PRESS, Washington 9, D. C.

ARMS AND ARMOR
OF THE
PILGRIMS 1620-1692

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 frequently hostile. Greatly outnumbered by known enemies and possibly facing dangers of which they were not yet aware, these Englishmen placed their main hope for survival on the possession of superior weapons and protective armor. On the more peaceful side, their firearms were also valuable, for they provided fresh meat for the table and furs for sale back home.

Because the colonist was so dependent on his arms he soon learned to select the most efficient kinds that he could obtain. In so doing he pushed the evolution of military materiel far ahead of contemporary Europe and developed a high degree of skill, particularly in the use of firearms.

The military supplies which the Pilgrims brought with them may be divided into three major categories: defensive armor, edged weapons, and projectile weapons. A completely armed man, especially in the first years, was usually equipped with one or more articles from each of the three groups, usually a helmet and corselet, a sword, and a musket.