Abstract
One type of clothing system used in the English Civil War, more common amongst cavalrymen than infantrymen, was the linen shirt, wool waistcoat and buff-coat. Ballistic testing was conducted to estimate the velocity at which 50% of 12-bore lead spherical projectiles (V50) would be expected to perforate this clothing system when mounted on gelatine (a tissue simulant used in wound ballistic studies). An estimated six-shot V50 for the clothing system was calculated as 102 m/s. The distance at which the projectile would have decelerated from the muzzle of the weapon to this velocity in free flight was triple the recognised effective range of weapons of the era suggesting that the clothing system would provide limited protection for the wearer. The estimated V50 was also compared with recorded bounce-and-roll data; this suggested that the clothing system could provide some protection to the wearer from ricochets. Finally, potential wounding behind the clothing system was investigated; the results compared favourably with seventeenth century medical writings.
Highlights
At the end of the seventeenth century English Civil Wars, many survivors of Alexander Popham’s Parliamentary Forces marched home to Littlecote (Wiltshire, UK), laid aside their weapons and armour and returned to their peacetime occupations [3]
Firth and Dowen suggested that 12-bore musket balls were the most common projectile used during the English Civil War [12, 14], and this calibre was selected as a representative projectile for the current work
The thicknesses of the leather, wool and linen were measured using a Mitutoyo Thickness Gauge Model ID-C1012MB with a tolerance of ± 0.02 mm
Summary
At the end of the seventeenth century English Civil Wars, many survivors of Alexander Popham’s Parliamentary Forces marched home to Littlecote (Wiltshire, UK), laid aside their weapons and armour and returned to their peacetime occupations [3]. Considered to be the last surviving Civil War armoury in Britain, the Littlecote House collection appears to have largely been assembled by Alexander Popham in the mid-seventeenth century [24] and was acquired by The Royal Armouries in 1985 [23]. Amongst the collection were 36 buff-coats [3] which form the largest single surviving group of such items in the world [23]. Buff-coats have been described as ‘an oil-tanned, leather garment, typically with thigh to knee-length skirts used in place of, or in conjunction with, plate armour’ [11]. Buff-coats were one of the most widely worn forms of body-protection amongst the cavalry of many European nations [11]
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