In European armies pikemen played a very prominent role. Offensively they were used for shock tactics in charges against the enemy. Defensively, with the butts of their pikes driven into the ground, they formed movable semi-fortresses behind which musketeers could retreat in the face of a cavalry charge. Because of this prominence as a weapon in Europe, the Pilgrims brought some pikes with them to Plymouth, but they quickly found them disappointing. Although the pike was effective in the set tactics of Europe, it was of little use against an enemy who would neither charge nor stand against a charge and whose forces were never arranged in compact formation but scattered and always on the move. A weapon fourteen feet long was also difficult to handle in the woods where there was little room for maneuvering. Thus the Pilgrims first abandoned the full pike for the half pike, which was only six or eight feet long. As late as 1646 the Plymouth fathers still required one half pike for every four men on military duty, but after the outbreak of King Philip’s War in 1675, the settlers of Plymouth agreed with their neighbors in Massachusetts Bay “... it is found by experience that troopers & pikemen are of little use in the present war with the Indians ... all pikemen are hereby required ... to furnish themselves with firearms....” The history of the halberd at Plymouth is quite different from that of the pike. At this period it was primarily an emblem of rank, and as such it survived long after its usefulness in warfare ceased. Halberds were carried by sergeants as symbols of their authority and by ceremonial guards. In Virginia, for instance, Lord Delaware had fifty halberdiers to form his guard when he was governor. This was a vastly larger number than normal in America, but most colonial governors, including John Winthrop in Boston, had a few attendants so armed. Plymouth was no exception. As late as 1675 it was ordered that four halberds be carried before the governor on the first day of the General Court, and two on succeeding days. It is known also that the sergeants at Plymouth had them, and there is a possibility that court officials also carried them. At least one of the halberds from the Plymouth colony has survived and is now preserved in Pilgrim Hall. It was probably made about 1600-1610 and was found in the cellar of the John Alden house. The haft is a modern replacement. FIREARMS