Arms and Armor of the Pilgrims, 1620-1692

The story of early American settlement is often told through sermons and harvest festivals, but the Pilgrims arrived with muskets on their shoulders and swords at their hips. This meticulously researched volume examines the actual weapons and armor that kept the first English settlements alive through starvation, disease, and constant threat of attack. Peterson traces the fascinating evolution of military equipment from the first landing at Plymouth through the chaotic wars with Native Americans and competing European powers. What emerges is a portrait of necessity as the mother of invention: farmers becoming soldiers overnight, European martial traditions adapted to American forests, and armor constantly refined as the realities of colonial warfare revealed what actually worked and what was useless dead weight. For anyone who has ever wondered what the Mayflower passengers actually carried, how they defended themselves, and what technological compromises they made to survive in a world that wanted them dead, this book cracks open that history with precision and authority.