Brit.Privateer

that reference to using a firearm barrel to cauterize wounds reminds me of a scene from one of the worst pirate movies ever made, "Blackbeard the Pirate" with Robert Newton as Blackbeard. In one scene, to get someone to talk, they heated up a barrel of a pistol in a fire, and where going to use it, until another event interrupted (won't go into it). While this is a reasonable idea, but even the guys in the movie made a good point saying "that ruins a good pistol." For pirates, I see pistols used for cauterizing as not likely.

Well, one thing to think about is that they must have been doing a lot of damage the shipping economy if the British government was willing to send out ships of war to capture and destroy the pirates.

For the Flints, I remember from Benerson Little's "Sea Rover's Practice" that a flint (most probable he meant a good one) lasted 20 "snaps." Also, when the list refers to "4 bills," what are they talking about (I doubt they mean bellhooks)

Very interesting. I always wondered where the pirates and privateers docked up on the northern part of the North American coast. I thought that Tortuga and Port Providence were too far a distance to travel. Rhode Island makes sence as a pirate port due to the fact that it's name comes from the term given to them by the rest of Puritan New England "Rouge's Island." The Puritans did not like Rhode Islanders due to they were not Puritan, but a mix, with the first Baptists, Jews, and other religions. There was no established religion in this colony. Hopefully we will see more information soon!

It was suggested earlier that we should contact our Congressmen on this. How would we go about this? My first thought would be to obtain a published article about this issue. Where is the original article on this? Second, I live in Wisconsin, how would my sending a letter to him help?

I know that system. I like this site better though: http://www.antique-horology.org/_Service%2...l/shipsbell.htm

Here is another question that may influence the whole thing on glasses, were there a significant number of people who needed glasses back then? I would imagine if the demand for glasses were low, that little effort would be put toward developing a functional pair for the public. Also, if knowledge of the amount of people who needed glasses is known, do we know if they are far sited or near sighted. If the majority of those needing glasses were near sited (meaning they can not see things close up), I would have a feeling that many would not want or try to get glasses (I have seen many people at convenience stores who have problems reading the credit card swiper screen being able to write their check, due to "they forgot their glasses." If people today don't see glasses as important enough to have with them everywhere, then I can imagine common people back then not even thinking of getting glasses due to they thought they would not be that important. Many people wouldn't need them due to they couldn't read and write.). That is a angle to look at it from.

Sounds interesting, but can I get his email?

Yea, It does help. I don't know how I missed that before. I actually own the book. Thanks.

You mean Fort Matanzas or Castillo de San Marcos? All I can find are the National Monument sites (which I doubt would help me, Government sites seem to just concentrate on tourism). Anyone got a link to a website that concentrates on the history more (if one exists)?

Hi all, Has anyone realized it is a little bit harder to find information on Spanish Weaponry? Information for The English and French are more commonly seen. I can't seem to find anything on Spanish made pikes, mainly those meant to be boarding pikes. I know that pikes did not differ much, but there were some differences between the pikes of France and England, so why shouldn't Spain be different? There are very few books available, maybe a handful at most, that could have that information. But there is a problem, my "treasure chest" has finally run out (unless I want to sell something I own on ebay). So are there any places on the internet where I could find some information? For examples of available books, take a look: Spanish military weapons in colonial America, 1700-1821 Small Arms of the Spanish Treasure Fleets A history of Spanish firearms, (Arco gun library) And, to get an idea of how expensive it can be to get some of these books, here is the cheapest price for the first book in the above list: Ebay Sale: SPANISH MILITARY WEAPONS IN COLNIAL AMERICA 1700-1821

I think that due to no other evidence suggests otherwise, I think I will agree with that statement.

If you want some online stuff, here you go: A General History of the Pyrates: http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/historyfiction/...tem.aspx?id=joh A History of the Pyrates (sequal to General History): http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/historyfiction/...tem.aspx?id=joi and my favorite, The 1720 Cyclopaedia: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/H...CITECH.CYCLOSUB Also, I would suggest in books two of my favorite books on period weapons at sea, "Boarders Away" and "Boarders Away II" both by William Gilkerson. Excellent resource.

"Pirates are the New Cowboys" A interesting concept, but I see pirates having a long way to go to fill that title. I really haven't seen dozens of television shows or hundreds of movies on pirates yet like westerns. But, if they try their hardest, I think they could. As a Civil War reenactor, I am surprised someone could transition from something so serious to something that can be so at ease like pirate reenacting.

Nice to see another fellow Pirates of the Burning Sea compatriot here. Recently, 10 short videos of gameplay have been released from the GenCon floor. It is very interesting to watch. So if you want to get an idea of what the game looks like, just go there.

To throw something more into this, two good books I own I will suggest for material on medical studies of the period: >Stephen R. Bown's "Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentleman Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail" and >Zachary B. Friendenberg's "Medicine Under Sail" Both books I enjoyed and learned a lot from. If you shop around enough, you will most likely get a fair price for them.

If you want some info and a picture of a sheath knife, William Gilkerson's book "Boarders Away" has a good section on knives, including sheath knives. My article I recently wrote in the Age of Sail and Piracy '101' project also includes a section on knives.

I brings more interesting content for all to read with an interview with Cindy Vallar, a historian in Maritime Piracy, and now Editor of the Age of Sail and Piracy ‘101’ project. This interview gives Cindy Vallar’s professional look upon numerous topics, including Pirates of the Burning Sea and the Age of Sail and Piracy ‘101’ project itself. Hope you enjoy: Click here to read the Cindy Vallar Interview

Hi all, just came here to tell you all that the ASP 101 project has released it's first article, Weaponry of the Age of Sail: The Pike, the Axe, and Tools as Weapons Here is a quick summary: In the Age of Sail when one ship’s crew boarded another ship in combat, many weapons come to mind. But not many people instantly think of the pike, the axe, and other tools as weapons. The boarding pike was primarily a defensive weapon that had either a spike or leaf shaped head. The boarding axe was more of a tool on a ship than a weapon, but filled both roles. Knives were more for work but were occasionally a last line weapon, as were handspikes, rammers for the ship’s guns, cutlery of all sorts, marlinspikes, belaying pins, and the numerous tools whalers used in their professions. All these tools and weapons were used by crews in combat, and many lived and died in their use. For the entire article, go here. For the main discussion forum go here. This will be part of a series of articles I will be writing on weaponry. The next topic I am writing on is swords. Hope you enjoy this article and future ones!

So far all we have is the Whydah showing us no true concentration of arms stored away in mass, and that the pirate weapons were more personal weapons. I have a feeling that they were stored either in their personal effects (for pistols and ect), and anywhere they thought was safe and easy to get at (for swords and muskets). One thing that sticks out in my mind, is "how much did pirates trust each other?" I would think if crews trusted one another a lot, the locations of weaponry would not be so "hidden" for safety. Another thing I think about is that, being a Civil War reenactor, A lot of the time during the day, we have our arms in a stack (for those who don't know what "stack" means, its when you put the guns together to form a sort of tripod). During the night, we don't have stacks, but rather have them next to us in our tent. Civil War soldiers were as possesive of thier weapons as pirates were. So, for our pirates, why not something like "during the day the arms are kept together in easily accessable areas (maybe with men guarding them depending on trust in the crew), with every man knowing which spot (or what place in the rack) he put his weapon, and at night weapons were kept by the sleeping quarters"? When did the Whydah crash anyways, at night? That could explain why the weapons were not grouped together. I think this idea could be plausible, but I have no research to back it up.

No, it does not take that long in the game world. This game is historically accurate, sure, but when it would get unfun like that, they don't do it. From what I have read, it would take a full half hour to cross the map, while most average trips would be around 10 minutes. Go check it out yourself guys, its worth it!: http://www.burningsea.com/

Hi all, I am back. To answer "what makes a historian,"... ...well that is a hard question to answer. To look at is several ways, many people see historians as someone who has either published accepted books or has gained degrees in history, or both. But then you have those "history buff" historians who have not written books or gotten degrees, but after a long period of reading and studying the topics they want are considered by many of the people around them as "history buffs." I think that my project so far has a few modern "qualified" historians, and many "history buffs." We have a "historian" (Cindy Vallar) as our editor, so if anyone is wondering about if these articles are accurate, I think a combination of our expert editor, having several other history buffs and historians as peers, and writing articles properly so as to reveal the amount and source of our resources will result in very accurate articles.

I think that all of you are mis-understanding a few things here: 1) My project is all effort donated from individuals, and I am not actually part of the Flying Lab Softwares company that is making POTBS. 2) You under estimate how good this game will be. While it is still in development, it is not far off from release. It has won several awards in the category of most promising online game out there (check them out for yourself for more specific detail). On a historical level, POTBS is probably the most historically accurate game out there. While not everything is not historically correct, as much as can be done without creating game play that isn't fun has been added in. The ships that are in the game and being RESEARCHED AND MADE BY PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE DEVELOPERS are all very accurate. TThe game is even set in the Caribbean with the historically correct ports of the period being represented. he huge fan base is also very interested in history, with many wanting to know things so as they can develop their characters and many other needs. http://www.burningsea.com/ I think you all need to check out the game yourself before giving it such negative comments like the ones I have read above. 3) This project is not just for the POTBS community. While a key target is the POTBS community, it is open to anyone, and I have begun spreading the work everywhere I can think of. I have hit a few forums outside POTBS, not only spreading word of my project, but of the POTBS game. I first concentrated on the POTBS community to get a good base of people supporting the proejct, and now am spreading out. 4) I hope that I do get some volunteers here to be part of the team, at least maybe for a little bit. I believe a well known person around here is already a member. If I am not mistaken, Ed Foxe is a member here I thought I saw posted that is also a writer on my project. I cannot post a detailed reply like I wanted to, especially to specific people above, but I must be going for the weekend, besides Age of Sail and Piracy history, I am also a American Civil War historian and reenactor, and am hitting the road this weekend for an event. See you all when I get back.

Hello all, Brit.Privateer here. Some of you may know me from the Pirates of the Burning Sea online game forums. I would like to introduce you all to my little project I have started there: The Age of Sail and Piracy '101' Project www.asp101project.com The main purpose of this project is to help educate the Pirates of the Burning Sea online game community (while it is also around to help others too) by writing articles on historical topics, primarily requested by people in the huge community of literally thousands of people. Not only will these articles help teach the community about history, but it will help by providing them valuable information that could be used in role-playing. The time period that this project primarily covers is 1625-1825. Right now, our team consists of 10 writers/researchers, Cindy Vallar as our Editor, and Cpt. DarkFrost as our Webpage designer. We are always looking for new people to be on the team. If you are interested in joining, go to our "joining information" section (and maybe some of the other parts of the site to get an idea of what we are all about). We are also about to release our first article (plus other content) very soon, it is just going through the final part of the editing process. I hope to find many willing historians around here. I hope you historians post here so I can get an idea who the historians are. I also hope to have some good time with this community.