These swords were more than mere military decorations. They were highly necessary weapons. In a period when firearms were inaccurate and loading and firing were time-consuming operations, the outcome of most battles was determined largely by hand-to-hand combat. The musket, once it had been fired, was then of no use for it had no bayonet. At such times the sword became the principal weapon, and a soldier’s life depended upon his skill with it. There are numerous records indicating the use of swords by the Pilgrims. On their first expedition ashore, they used them to “hew and carve the ground a foot deep.” In one interesting coincidence, a sword’s hilt figured in the death of two persons. In 1646 a privateer commanded by Captain Thomas Cromwell put into Plymouth. While there, one of the sailors assaulted the captain who had been trying to restore order during a brawl. In the course of the struggle, Cromwell seized the man’s rapier and struck him on the head with its hilt. The cross guard pierced his skull and killed him. Since the man had been a notorious trouble-maker, Cromwell was acquitted in a trial by a council of war. Some three years later, however, Cromwell fell from his horse and landed upon the hilt of his own rapier which so injured him internally that he died shortly thereafter. In addition to their swords, many men also carried knives or daggers. Miles Standish and his followers used knives effectively in liquidating the trouble-makers at Wessagusset, and there are numerous other references to their presence at Plymouth. Unfortunately no specimens used by the Pilgrims or their 17th century descendants at Plymouth have survived. There is a knife that belonged to John Thompson in Pilgrim Hall, but it is a table or general utility knife, and not a weapon. In all probability the most popular form of dagger employed at Plymouth was the quillon or left-hand dagger. This weapon had a simple cross-guard or quillons, probably with a ring opposite the grips on one side. It had a straight blade which tapered evenly to a point, and it was designed to be held in the left hand while the rapier was held in the right. In addition to these edged weapons which were worn on the belt, there were also weapons with long wooden hafts, known as pole arms. Of these, two forms were principally used at Plymouth, the pike and the halberd. The pike was a spear with a simple leaf-shaped head attached by long straps to a wooden pole some fourteen feet long. The halberd was a combination of axe and spear, and its haft was much shorter, perhaps six or seven feet, exclusive of the head. [Illustration: _Halberd from the cellar of the John Alden house. The haft is modern._] [Illustration: _Pike._]