Quaker Gun
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A Quaker Gun is a fake cannon made from a wooden log, sometimes painted black, used to deceive an enemy. Misleading the enemy as to the strength of an emplacement was an effective delaying tactic. The name derives from the Religious Society of Friends or "Quakers", who have traditionally held a religious opposition to war and violence in the Peace Testimony.
The "Quaker gun trick" was used by Colonel William Washington's Continentals during the American Revolutionary War. On December 4, 1780 approximately 100 Loyalists under Colonel Rowland Rugeley surrendered rather than face "bombardment."[1]
Quaker guns were used by both sides in the American Civil War. The Confederate States Army frequently used them to compensate for a shortage of artillery. They were painted black at the "muzzle", and positioned behind fortifications to delay Union attacks on those positions. On occasion, real gun carriages were used to complete the deception.[2]
Perhaps the most famous use of Quaker guns was by Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston who placed Quaker guns in his field works around Centreville, Virginia in March 1862, to indicate that the works were still occupied while, in fact, the Confederates were withdrawing to the Rappahannock River. Quaker guns were also used at the Battle of Corinth I and the Siege of Petersburg.
The B-25s used in the Doolittle Raid were "armed" with painted broomsticks in place of machine guns to reduce weight.
[edit] Notes
- ^ December of 1780. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2008-05-26.
- ^ Definitions of Civil War terms. www.civilwarhome.com/. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
[edit] Further reading
- Ripley, Warren (1984), Artillery and Ammunition of the Civil War, Charleston, S.C.: The Battery Press.
- Latimer, Jon (2001), Deception in War, pp.26-9. London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-5605-8.
