A fun experiment, testing Revolutionary War era makeshift armor

[David LaPell]

I decided to test something I had seen 20 plus years ago recently, and that was makeshift armor from the Revolutionary War.

During the Battle of Valcour Island, Benedict Arnold and his small fleet of gunboats and ships engaged the larger and more heavily armed British fleet on October 11, 1776 on Lake Champlain. On his gunboats, Arnold hung fascines on the gun deck to protect the crews from musket fire from the Mohawk allied to the British who were firing from the shoreline. There's nothing written anywhere if the fascines, the wrapped up bundles of sticks, actually protected the crews, so I decided to try it out.

I made this bundle a couple months ago and then recently took it out and shot it with a .58 caliber roundball. That's about the same size as many of the trade guns that the Native Americans used. I only loaded the gun with 50 grains of Goex FFG and aimed for the center of the fascine.

The ball seemed to have penetrated pretty well, and the roundball proved to be pretty destructive. So it seems the "armor" was more about concealment then cover.

The full scale replica Philadelphia with the fascines hung as Arnold had them.

The fasine after the roundball hit it. The wood might have slowed down but it didn't stop.

 

[Breakaway500]

Well..it's sure better than haybales and empty boxes.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Curious, at what distance did you test fire? And, How far would the musket ball be deadly (weather accurate or not)?

Ivan

 

[brucev]

Before Arnold went bad, he was a really effective hot rod patriot officer. His creative effort to deal with musket fire was a good idea. Perhaps heavier solid logs would have been more useful? Reminds me of photos showing Patton tanks in the ETO w/ pieces of railroad iron, etc. placed on the front to help deal with German AT rounds. Occasionally some photos show them w/ logs chained on the sides, but these were probably for getting over deep ditches, etc. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[Absalom]

The ball seemed to have penetrated pretty well, and the roundball proved to be pretty destructive. So it seems the "armor" was more about concealment then cover.

It was likely a combination of all factors. You’d expect inconsistent, frequently undercharged musket shots, angled hits, possible deflections while also being slowed down.

In combination with moving boats, powder smoke, and the visual cover, the fascines likely did save lives as they made it impossible to draw a clear bead on anyone who would have stood exposed next to the cannon.

 

[Rudi]

That's pretty cool.

 

[dockmurgw]

And here's one of the many men, buried next to my house, that did the work.

 

[bullmack]

David,

Your photos of the replica gunboat that the Maritime museum built were taken one bay North of my family's summer home. We all refer to it as South bay. For some silly reason all of the Basin Harbor folks refer to it as North Bay!

 

[dockmurgw]

David,

Your photos of the replica gunboat that the Maritime museum built were taken one bay North of my family's summer home. We all refer to it as South bay. For some silly reason all of the Basin Harbor folks refer to it as North Bay!

South Bay is at the extreme southern end of the lake, its in NY near Whitehall.
Here is a video of the Philadelphia being raised...its in the Smithsonian now.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35pvLqmJvEI&t=2s[/ame]