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, and a Saker and two Bases.” In 1627 Isaak De Rasieres
visited Plymouth and noted that the Pilgrims had six cannon of
unspecified types in their fort and four “patreros” mounted in front of
the governor’s house at the intersection of the two streets of the town.
[1] In the preparation of this section I am much indebted to Mr. Edwin
N. Rich of Wellfleet, Mass., a life-long student of early artillery who
prepared the drawings from which the cannon in the reconstructed fort
were made.
These guns were probably not new, and they may well have been part
of the armament of the _Mayflower_ itself. The largest of the cannon
mentioned by name was a minion. This would have been a brass gun, which
weighed between 800 and 1200 pounds. It would have had a bore of about
2.9 inches diameter and fired an iron ball weighing 3½ pounds for
distances up to 1600 yards. The saker was slightly smaller, probably
weighing 650 to 800 pounds. It would have had a bore of about 2.7
inches in diameter and shot a 2¾ pound ball up to 1700 yards. Since
cannon designations were used rather loosely by the artillerists of the
time, there is room for considerable differences in these dimensions.
On Burial Hill in Plymouth are two early English cannons, one a minion
and the other a small saker or sakeret. These guns were used as the
models for those mounted in Plimoth Plantation’s reconstruction of the
original fort. Since it is presumed that the Pilgrims’ guns came from
the armament of the _Mayflower_ and since they were dragged up the hill
and mounted immediately, it has been assumed that they were placed on
carriages from the ship, and so naval carriages of the period have been
reproduced for the reconstructed fort.
[Illustration: _Full scale model of a minion in Plimoth Plantation’s
reconstruction of the first fort._]
The loading and firing of one of these cannon was a complicated
procedure, requiring the assistance of several men. The recoil from the
discharge would normally drive the piece back away from the gun port.
If it did not roll back far enough, the crew would seize the ropes
or “training tackle” and haul it into a position that would permit
them to load it. First a wet sponge on the end of a long handle was
run down the barrel to put out any sparks that might remain from the
previous shot. Then came the powder which was handled in one of two
ways. Sometimes the proper amount was fastened ready-to-use in a cloth
bag or cartridge. At other times it was brought loose to the cannon in
a wooden bucket with a purse-like leather top closed by a drawstring.
From this “budge barrel,” as it was called, the powder was dipped and
inserted into the barrel by means of a copper ladle on a long wooden
handle. After the powder was rammed home, a wad, was inserted and
rammed, and finally the projectile which was forced home by a rammer.
This projectile might be either a solid ball or one of the more deadly
anti-personnel missiles such as grape shot or cannister. Grape shot
was made up of a series of small balls grouped on a wooden stand
and wrapped with burlap or canvas. Upon firing, the stand and cloth
disintegrated, and the balls spread out over a wide area. Cannister
shot was based on the same principle. In this form, however, the small
balls or other iron fragments were enclosed in a thin metal cylinder
which came apart upon firing. Other missiles included cross bar and
chain shot, in which spheres or hemi-spheres were joined by a bar or
several links of chain. These were particularly useful against ships
because they revolved in flight and cut rigging. It is doubtful if the
Pilgrims had all of these forms of projectiles with them in 1620. Some
of them were just then developing. But by 1690, any or all of them
might well have been used at Plymouth.
[Illustration: _Some seventeenth century artillery projectiles. From
left to right: solid shot; fragment of shell, stand of grape shot._]
Once the gun was loaded, a few more steps were necessary before it
could be fired. It was primed by pouring powder from a flask or horn
into the touch hole. Then the crew again seized the training tackle and
pulled the gun back into position. The gunner aimed it by directing the
way in which the men pulled the ropes and by shifting the position of
the wedges under the breech of the barrel. Then he took a forked staff,
known as a linstock, which held a length of burning match similar to
that used in the matchlock muskets. He touched the lighted end of the
match to the powder in the touch hole and fired his gun.
[Illustration: _“Patrero” or “murderer” viewed from above. For a side
view see title page._]
[Illustration: _Side view of base._]
The two bases in the fort and the four “patreros” in front of the
governor’s house were much smaller guns. Both types were made of iron,
and both were breech-loaders. The guns of this category were called by
a great variety of names, and the situation is even more confused than
with the larger pieces. The type of base used by the Pilgrims, however,
was probably a gun some 4½ feet long, which weighed about 200 pounds.
It would have had a bore about 1¼ inches in diameter and fired either a
lead ball weighing 5 ounces or an iron one weighing 3 ounces. In order
to load it, the ball was placed in the breech end of the barrel, and a
separate chamber filled with powder was placed behind it and fastened
securely with a wedge. The “patreros” were probably of the type known
also as “murderers.” These differed from the bases in that the bore
expanded in diameter from breech to muzzle. Instead of a single ball,
these guns were normally loaded with small shot, short lengths of iron
bar, or broken pieces of iron and stone. The expanding bore helped
spread these projectiles as they left the muzzle and thus made the
murderer a vicious anti-personnel weapon at short ranges. Both the base
and the murder were mounted in forked swivels of iron set in a wooden
pedestal.
[Illustration: _Base viewed from above._]
[Illustration: _The first fort as reconstructed by Plimoth Plantation
contains a collection of arms and armor of the period. Woodcut by
Thomas Nason._]
These were the weapons which the Pilgrims brought from Europe to win
their new home. They came without sufficient arms “... nor every man a
sword to his side; wanting many muskets, much armour, &c.” Once in this
country, however, the need not only for enough weapons but also for
good weapons was soon felt. Forced by their dependence on their arms,
the settlers soon threw away their armour and their pikes, discarded
their matchlocks for more efficient guns, and began to use paper
cartridges well before these innovations were generally adopted in
Europe.
* * * * *
This booklet has been published by two organizations devoted to the
study and interpretation of all aspects of Pilgrim history.