WHat Firearms did the pilgrims bring

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Thanks for the links. Wheel-locks for the high end crowd and match-locks for others.

Jamestown, while a little later, also provides valuable insights into that period.
 
Yup!
Jamestown was arrived at/first settled on May 14, 1607:)
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If you want to see one of the original firearms that belonged to the Massachusetts colonists, the NRA museum has a wheellock musket that was found inside a wall in some old house in Massachusetts. It is impressive and is in excellent shape, probably not having been touched in 300 years. Likewise, there was an old helmet dug up in the 17th century settlement of Wolsetenholmtowne, near Williamsburg. It is also referred to as Martin's Hundred. The settlement was abandoned after the Indian revolt in 1622. The settlement was located almost directly in front of the house at Carter's Grove.

In fact, after referring to some references I have on the subject, there were two helmets found, both of the closed style (face entirely covered). You can imagine what shape they were in having been in the ground a stone's throw from the James River, yet they were restored and are on display somewhere. I thought of those when reading posts about those who have found firearms, or the remains of one, somewhere in the ground.
 
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The two are close and the firearms would not have changed.
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So "later" is no different from "sooner" as long as they're close?
Wow I love precision.
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No major change in technology. Gonnes evolved a lot slower back then and Charles Darwin wasn't around to help with natural selection. :D
 
Charles Darwin wasn't around to help with natural selection.
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So, you're saying, like, that there was, like, no "survival of the fittest", like before Mr. Darwin "invented" it?:eek:

Isn't that a bit like denying gravity before Sir Isaac Newton "invented" it?

How do you explain the failure of the James river colony attempt without Darwinism?:confused::rolleyes::D
 
Wogpotter - they weren't on the James River. They were on the peninsula side opposite of the York River. Had Darwin been with them, he could explain why they were dropping like flies and how if they kept two guns in close proximity to one another they would eventually multiply and produce a better gun. Its proven to work in our gunsafes nationwide. Mind you, despite long evolutionary progress, defects (name the brand here) do show up and something ugly does appear now and then. :D
 
Peterson wrote a book about this period : "Arms and Armor in Colonial America 1526-1783"

Not much on the Pilgrims, but they did have match locks and a few had flint arms, which were snaphaunce locks.

The book shows a snaphaunce lock excavated at Jamestown.

Peterson also wrote : "Arms & Armor of the Pilgrims"

He says there are no records which positively state wheel locks were at Plymouth and no relic wheellocks survived. It is a could be for wheellocks. The Pilgrims used "fowling pieces" and pistols. In 1677 the Plymouth General Court outlawed the matchlock, so Peterson concludes the snaphaunce was the principal ignition system by then.

Some stuff here:

http://www.pilgrimhall.org/C-arms.htm

I would say, just look at the arms of the British Civil War and you will see the same equipment at Plymouth.
 
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Since Peterson's book, there was a wheellock found, as I mentioned earlier. It is on display at the NRA museum not far from where I live. I suspect, however, that they didn't have many, the wheellock being an expensive weapon. At the rebuilt Jamestown fort, matchlocks are used for shooting demonstrations. Don't know if they have a working wheellock.

While Jamestown was a little earlier than Plymouth Colony or Massachusetts Bay Colony, so also was the Quebec colony and the Spanish colony in New Mexico. They don't teach that in Virginia history but they make a big deal of Pocahontos.
 
Well, not to argue but when I was there taking these pictures in 2006 it absolutely was on the James river. I don't know what else to say.

The pics are the foundations of what the map refers to as the "4th statehouse" & you can see the James River & it's ferry in the background. The foundations are literally right on the bank of the river as is the reconstructred stockade for the fort. The archaelogicalo dig in thr ruins of the governors house is only about 25 yards from the bank as well so this is the correct site for the Jamestown colony.
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I was only kidding about the York River. I've been on that Peninsula many times and even caught that Hwy 31 freebie ferry. My mistake was that I should have returned by ferry boat rather that get caught up in the automobile traffic that's around Fortress Monroe. The National Park Service at Jamestown has a glass blowing foundry and I bought a bottle that I gave my sister-in-law.

I went to Yorktown because of two sieges (Revolutionary War and the Civil War) and sharpshooting stories that arose from them. I even tried to find a little known battlefield (Spencer's Ordinary which is in Freedom Park). The Virginia State War Museum and the Mariner's Museum are nearby too. The latter has the USS Monitor and the former has an 8" railroad gun outside. The Seven Days' Battle was fought there as was Seven Pines and Drewry's Bluff. If one gets tired of the Peninsula, there's Petersburg with its Siege Museum and battlefield and Richmond with all its historic sites (Chimborazo, Museum of the Confederacy, Belle Isles, Tredagar Iron Works, Marshall House, Valentine Museum, State Library).
 
They don't teach that in Virginia history but they make a big deal of Pocahontos.
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My family has a lot of history in Jamestown and Henrico County in general beginning in 1634. We once owned Varina plantation of Pocahontas fame.
 
good topic. there's a good account of the firearms actually used by the plymouth adventureist writen by Capt.Miles Standish. on Dec 8th,1620, a group of colonist landed at what became known as wellfleet bay. a skirmish broke out immediately with local natives. in Standish's account, he says they used their snaphunce muskets to hold the savages at bay while members of the landing party ran back to the shallop(landing boat) to bring up the extra matchlock muskets left in the shallop. he also states that every man be equiped with a musket sword and corslet. corslet is a period term for light armor. edged weapons were also brought along, halberds, pikes, broad swords, rapiers. nothing dealing with the prilgrims at this time mentions pistols, other than those carried by M.Standish. detail study indicats they may have been scottish snaphunces pistols. there is no mention of wheelocks. in coloinal america it seems wheelocks don't show up in arms inventories much past the 1620s. having used wheelocks, I can understand why colonists would be reluctant to have them. cost is a big factor. then as now,there is a limit to how many times they can be consecutively fired. the best I ever did was 12 shots befor the wheel jammed up. priming powder residue and pryrite debre lodge between the wheel and lock plate making the wheel unspanable or slowing it down till it won't give fire . finally, the high maintenance, the chain drive stretches and breaks, sears wear down not allowing the wheel to hold. ect. not to mention losing the spanner. without this tool the wheelock is useless. it is what is used to wind the lock. by the way, they only wind a quarter of a turn. as for the wheelock in the nra museum, its Italian 1630-1650s and it is from the work shops of Brescia. supposably restocked in america oak. the stock style is classified as a club butt. this style didn't appear untill the 1660s. while the gun may have been used in colonial times it was probably much later in the 17th century. perhaps by Brewster's decendants, hence starting the story. I digress, hope this helps answer your question.
 
I suspect that wheellock pistols and carbines were used more by mounted troops than others until replaced by some form of flintlock, mainly because of the difficulty of using a matchlock while mounted. Although they were expensive, acquiring and maintaining a horse was probably more expensive.

I have heard of Harold Peterson and his books starting in the 1950s but I'm not sure I've actually ever read one. I think he also wrote a book entitled "The Last Mountain Man" about a character in Montana, whose name escapes me at the moment.
 
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