Thomas Harriot was a multi-talented associate of Sir Walter Raleigh, the founder of the Roanoke colony (known as the "lost colony" because all of the colonists mysteriously disappeared). Harriot learned the Algonquin language from a pair of Croatan who had been brought back to England by an earlier expedition. Harriot spent a short time attached … Continue reading A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia – Thomas Harriot 1590
Lethality
Range, Power, Penetration, Velocity of a Brown Bess – Roberts, Brown, Hammett and Kingston
A DETAILED STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS AND CAPABILITIES OF 18TH CENTURY MUSKETRY ON THE BATTLEFIELD N A ROBERTS, J W BROWN, B HAMMETT & P D F KINGSTON Abstract During the mid 18th century, the standard British Army issue weapon was the Brown Bess Musket. There are various accounts of the performance of this early … Continue reading Range, Power, Penetration, Velocity of a Brown Bess – Roberts, Brown, Hammett and Kingston
Andrew Battell of Leigh in Angola
Andrew Battell was an English trader who spent a very long time as a prisoner and conscript in Portuguese West Africa. He made multiple failed escape attempts. After Battell's first attempt to escape by stowing away aboard a Dutch ship, he was sentenced to military service. He spent six years in Fort Massangano before making … Continue reading Andrew Battell of Leigh in Angola
Samuel Champlain, Part 1
I'm going to make two or three posts on French explorers and their battles against native archery. This post will focus on Samuel Champlain, explorer of Quebec and the Great Lakes region. Champlain fought in several battles against the Iroquois on behalf of his allies, the Huron and Algonquins. In July 1609, Champlain and two … Continue reading Samuel Champlain, Part 1
Saukamappee: Plains Indians Use Guns in Battle for the First Time
This is an account by the Peigan Indian Saukamappee, whose life and times were recorded by the explorer David Thompson. Saukamappee describes the radical effect of firearms on Plains Indian warfare. Before, battles were fought with stone clubs and bows, and ended in stalemate unless one side was much larger. With only a handful of … Continue reading Saukamappee: Plains Indians Use Guns in Battle for the First Time
John Smythe on archers at Kett’s Rebellion and the Prayer Book Rebellion
The fiercest advocate of the longbow during the period of the Elizabethan bow vs. gun debates was John Smythe, a nobleman and a cantankerous soldier of long experience. Smythe had first served in France during the short reign of Edward VI, and afterwards had fought in the Netherlands (on the side of the Spanish) and … Continue reading John Smythe on archers at Kett’s Rebellion and the Prayer Book Rebellion
Bows Vs. Muskets in the Imjin War, part 2
More incidents from the Imjin War. These are taken from Firearms: A Global History to 1700 by Kenneth Chase. Bizarrely, Chase takes the typical position that bows were a superior battlefield weapon to firearms despite his book being full of evidence to the contrary. This quote by the Korean official Yu Song-nyong, for example, is … Continue reading Bows Vs. Muskets in the Imjin War, part 2
Bows Vs. Muskets in the Imjin War, part 1
The Imjin War was an invasion of Korea by the Japanese between 1592-1598. Although the Koreans were initially no match for the Japanese armies, the Japanese were eventually driven out thanks to Chinese military assistance and several decisive naval battles. At the beginning of the war, the Koreans had virtually no firearms. The Japanese, on … Continue reading Bows Vs. Muskets in the Imjin War, part 1
John Bingham- The Tactiks of Aelian, 1616
P24-27 http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A05855.0001.001 Archers haue alwayes beene of speciall esteeme for the field, and preferred before the other kindes of light-armed. Many nations haue beene commended for theire skill in shooting. Emongest the Graecians the Cretans were (of ancient time) sole archers, as Pausanias witnesseth. Yet was not theire service aequall with the service of the … Continue reading John Bingham- The Tactiks of Aelian, 1616
Barnabe Rich- A right exelent and pleasaunt dialogue, 1574
I was surprised to find that this one was published in 1574. The arguments are extremely similar to those of Roger Williams, whose Discourses were not published until 1590. The argument takes place in the form of a dialogue between Mercury and an English soldier. Since speaker tags have been forgotten in some places I've … Continue reading Barnabe Rich- A right exelent and pleasaunt dialogue, 1574
Bow Vs. Musket 