CANNON[1]

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 theMayfloweritself. 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 minionand 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 theMayflowerand 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.

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. Cannistershot 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.

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.

“Patrero” or “murderer” viewed from above.For a side view see title page.

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.

Base viewed from above.

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.

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