42. FIRE PIKES
Having discussed the problem of Musket Arrows, may I ask if anyone can provide similar details of Fire Pikes. Brig. Young [THE ENGLISH CIVIL MAR], dealing with the storming of Bristol, mentions the use of these weapons viz ".Littleton galloped along the inside of the line with a blazing fire-pike" and "several Royalist officers ran at them with fire-pikes, and this proved more than horse or man could endure".
Were these weapons explosive (a kind of petard on a stick?) or were they a primitive form of flamethrower??? Pyrotechnic proposals please!
John Tiicey
Other Queries
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41. Naming of Guns
42. Fire Pikes
43. Hopton's Army
44. Cromwell's Troop of Horse
45. Waller's Dragoons
46. Haselrigg's Harquebusiers
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