All language subtitles for NOVA.S52E07.Revolutionary.War.Weapons.1080p.WEB.h264-BAE_track3_[eng]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
In 1775,

an irregular army made up of
American farmers and tradesmen

took up arms against the most
powerful nation on Earth,

Great Britain.

We think of them
as inexperienced and outgunned,

struggling
with inferior technology,

but was that true?

(cannon and muskets firing)

Can we ever know
what it was like

to fight
in the Revolutionary War?

(cannon fires)

♪ ♪

JOEL BOHY:
You can read books,

you can go to the battlefields,

but doing experiments,
shooting these weapons,

really helps give us
a better understanding

of the soldiers from both sides

who fought
in the American Revolution.

JAY WALLER: Certainly gives
a whole different...
MAN: Right.

...appreciation and horror.
BOHY:
Yeah.

MATT KEAGLE:
The Revolutionary War

is on a real cusp militarily.

You see echoes of older ways.

RUSSELL REED:
This is aiming for the head.

♪ ♪

KEAGLE:
And you see some of these
kind of glimmers

of the future.

The new technologies.

♪ ♪

FALLON BURNER:
Indigenous ingenuity
and European design.

Technology evolves because
of this collision of cultures.

(winding)

We have a ticking bomb.

This is ticking.

(bursts)
Whoa-ho!

(muskets firing)

NARRATOR:
How did ordinary Americans

use this technology
to win their freedom?

(cannon fire)

KEAGLE:
You want to be hitting
that same spot,

again and again and again.

(fires)

I've never experienced or seen
anything like this.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
"Revolutionary War Weapons."

Right now, on "NOVA."

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
April 19, 1775,
Massachusetts.

Tensions between the British
and the American colonists

are at a boiling point.

(men calling in distance)

♪ ♪

A moment that's commemorated
even 250 years later.

♪ ♪

(men calling in distance,
talking softly)

A silversmith named Paul Revere
has spread word

that 700 British troops are
marching from Boston to Concord.

Their mission?

Seize an American stockpile
of weapons and supplies

to stop a revolution
before it begins.

But as the British pass
through Lexington,

they are stopped
by around 80 militiamen.

♪ ♪

(men calling)

One of them is 36-year-old
farmer John Robbins.

READER:
Sometime before sunrise,

there suddenly appeared
a number of the king's troops,

about 1,000.

NARRATOR:
The militia and the British

are under orders not to fire.

(shouting)

NARRATOR:
But within minutes,
shots ring out.

(muskets firing)

The skirmish sparks a war
that lasts eight brutal years

and leads to the establishment
of the United States of America.

It's said that in war, history
is written by the victors.

In the story of
the American Revolution,

the colonial forces are
often portrayed as plucky heroes

standing alone,
armed with inferior technology,

against the most powerful nation
on Earth.

But the truth
is far more complex.

♪ ♪

Now, with modern insight,

we can reach
a better understanding

of what it was like to stand
in the line of fire,

armed with the weapons
of the day.

This image
of the Battle of Lexington,

engraved months later,

is based on eyewitness accounts.

It reveals some of the true cost

of the colonists' fight
for freedom.

Americans lie dead and wounded,

and the British are using
the most common weapon

of the Revolutionary War,

the smoothbore musket.

(men yelling, muskets firing)

Today, the musket is seen
as crude and inaccurate,

especially when compared
to modern guns.

But is that true?

At Fort Ticonderoga

in upstate New York,

historic firearms researcher
Joel Bohy

is finding out
how effective the musket was

on the battlefield.

BOHY:
So what we've got here

is a British Pattern
1756 Long Land musket,

more commonly known
as the Brown Bess.

The Brown Bess begins use
in about 1730,

and this type of gun
would have been the workhorse

of the British Army
through the 18th century

into the 19th century.

It was an extremely
important gun

to building the British Empire,

and used through
the American Revolution.

NARRATOR:
Manufactured
in the British Isles,

each Brown Bess is made up
of around 50 individual pieces.

The 46-inch barrel

is forged from a single piece
of iron,

heated to 2,500 degrees
Fahrenheit,

then beaten and welded
into shape.

The inside is reamed
and polished

to remove rough edges,

resulting in a smooth
internal bore.

The stock fashioned from walnut

because it is less prone
to splitting.

The final step:

assemble the metal components,

including the flintlock
mechanism and trigger,

to make the finished musket.

To load it, the soldier starts
with a paper cartridge,

about a third of an ounce
of premeasured gunpowder

and a lead ball
enclosed in the wrapper.

BOHY:
Take the tail.

Bite it off.

Pour some powder into the pan.

More gunpowder down the barrel,

with a musket ball.

And...

(ramrod tapping)

We ram that cartridge home.

And the gun's loaded
and ready to fire.

NARRATOR:
It's cumbersome.

The process can take
15 to 20 seconds,

and must feel like an eternity
in battle.

The musket would seem primitive
to anyone familiar

with the sophistication
of a modern rifle.

BOHY:
So, here we have
the Lee-Enfield No. 1,

commonly used in World War I
and through World War II,

and is a good representation
of a modern gun.

NARRATOR:
Here, the loading process

has been made easier
with a self-contained,

primed, metallic cartridge.

BOHY:
We've got a brass casing,

a primer, which sets off
the powder inside,

and it fires
a jacketed lead bullet,

which is a lot different
than the Brown Bess.

NARRATOR:
This .303-caliber round,

or .303 of an inch,

is also half the diameter of
the .69-caliber musket ball.

With a magazine
that holds ten rounds,

the Lee-Enfield can fire
multiple shots

in the time it takes to load
a single musket ball,

which is a big advantage
in combat.

BOHY:
The bolt is pushed forward.

It's chambered for a round now.

It can fire.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
But for Joel,

the best way
to assess the musket

is not by comparing it
to modern weapons,

but by testing its effectiveness
in battle 250 years ago.

To gain a better understanding,

Joel's team will fire
at a ballistic gelatin block

designed to replicate
human tissue,

providing valuable insight

into how different projectiles
can affect a person's body.

With the aid
of a slow-motion camera,

he'll also try to answer
a question:

how damaging
could a musket shot be?

Finally,
he will measure the speed

each round exits the barrel,

known as the muzzle velocity,

using a chronograph.

Marksman Jay Waller
will be firing the guns.

First up, the musket,

with the .69-caliber ball.

(fires)

Pulling the trigger
instantly sets off

a chain reaction
in the flintlock mechanism.

(musket fires)

A stone flint
strikes a steel hammer.

The impact creates sparks,

which ignites the priming powder
in the pan.

This ignition
passes through a small hole

and sets off the gunpowder
inside the barrel.

The gas pressure produced here

propels the round
out of the gun.

(bang echoes)

On inspection,

it's a direct hit.

You can see where it traveled
right through the block

and came out the other side.

NARRATOR:
Reviewing the footage,

they can see
the horrific damage caused.

BOHY:
Wow.

You just see that ball
zip right through.

Look at the cavitation
in the gel

from that
.69-caliber ball.

NARRATOR:
When the ball moves
through the block,

it displaces the gel around it,

creating a cavity.

This is known as cavitation,

similar to what would happen
to living human tissue,

devastating to bones
and internal organs.

BOHY:
The men on Lexington Green

knew how deadly
these weapons were,

but they never had
the opportunity to see

the damage in the way
that we're seeing it now.

♪ ♪

Wow.
Wow.

Yeah, certainly gives...
MAN: Right.

...a whole different
appreciation

and horror for what happened.
BOHY:
Yeah, yeah.

NARRATOR:
On April 19, 1775,

one of the Lexington militiamen

who feels the destructive power
of the smoothbore musket

is farmer John Robbins.

READER:
The foremost of the three
officers ordered their men,

saying, "Fire, by God, fire."

Being wounded, I fell.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The shot enters his back,

passes through his body,
and shatters his jaw.

In total, ten militiamen
are wounded and eight killed.

The musket is clearly deadly.

So why do we see it
as a primitive weapon?

Likely because of
what later guns can do.

Joel demonstrates this
with the modern rifle.

(fires)

WALLER:
Oh! Whoa!

Look at that.

(shot echoing)

You can see the smoke
from the bullet.

NARRATOR:
The modern rifle's power
is far more terrifying,

but what does the data reveal?

Using the chronograph,

Joel and Jay
compare muzzle velocities.

On the Enfield,

that is 2,314 feet per second,

whereas the musket
is 845 feet per second,

so there's a big difference
between the two guns.

But you can really see
the velocity

when you look at the
ballistics gelatin blocks.

(fires)

NARRATOR:
The higher velocity of
the modern rifle's bullet

means it carries
substantially more energy.

When it penetrates the block,

much of this is transferred
to the gel,

causing it to lift
into the air.

With a muzzle velocity
nearly three times the musket's,

the data proves that the musket
is much less powerful.

But what makes the rifle bullet

have such a high
projectile speed?

When the trigger
is pulled on the modern rifle,

the charge is ignited

within
the self-contained cartridge.

The vast majority
of the explosive force

is transmitted to the bullet,
propelling it.

The bullet travels flush
against the barrel,

and, with
a more aerodynamic shape,

moves cleanly through the air,
retaining its power for longer.

♪ ♪

But when it comes to the musket,

18th-century gunpowder
is less efficient

than the modern equivalent.

Its smoothbore barrel
is also slightly larger

than the ball it fires.

This means the ball
bounces down the barrel

and allows gases
to escape around it

when the gunpowder is ignited,

resulting in less energy
being transferred to the ball.

Being larger, rounder,
and less aerodynamic

than the modern bullet,

it is further slowed
by air resistance.

But perhaps the musket's
biggest weakness

is its relative inaccuracy.

The best way to demonstrate this
is to see

what a skilled marksman
can do with a modern gun.

BOHY:
So here we're going to do

a test with a modern rifle

and the Brown Bess,
or the musket,

at 100 yards.

NARRATOR:
First, the Lee-Enfield.

(fires)

(shot echoing)

♪ ♪

At this distance,
it's a great shot.

Now Jay tests the accuracy
of the Brown Bess.

The musket shot at 100 yards.

(fires)

NARRATOR:
There's no new impact.

(musket fires)

(fires)

No matter how many times
they try.

All right, so,
this shot missed the target.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Why did it miss?

One key reason is the difficulty

of holding the musket steady.

WALLER:
It's interesting,
because it's only

a matter of milliseconds

between the time that the flash

and the charge in the pan
is ignited,

and it ignites the charge.

But that fraction of a second

is enough to lose and
go off-sight.

Yeah, you can move the,
move the gun a little bit

from the time
you pull the trigger

till the time
it actually goes off.

NARRATOR:
This, plus all the factors
that make it less powerful,

means the smoothbore musket
is also less accurate.

(guns firing in distance,
people calling in background)

Despite this, we know
from written accounts

that facing musket fire
was not for the faint of heart.

To compensate
for any inaccuracy,

armies during
the Revolutionary War

relied on a lethal tactic.

(man shouts order, muskets fire)

Massed volley fire.

By standing in rows
and firing multiple lead balls

at their enemy,

they made up for the musket's
lack of precision,

making it very dangerous
when used en masse.

♪ ♪

After the April 19 clash
at Lexington,

the British continue on
to Concord,

where they are attacked
by 400 militiamen

and forced to retreat,

leaving hundreds
dead and wounded.

♪ ♪

Soon, what began as a skirmish
turns into all-out war.

(men yelling)

♪ ♪

Following the American colonies'
declaration of independence

in July 1776,

the war spreads
from the land to the sea.

Some 200 British warships,

with 32,000
musket-wielding troops,

arrive in New York.

From here, they rapidly deploy
into battle.

The Americans are
outnumbered and outgunned,

so they begin working on a plan
to blow up the British warships.

In the United Kingdom,
military historian Mike Loades

is investigating one of the
war's most audacious weapons.

LOADES:
This is a model
of the first combat submarine.

Now, I say "model"

because the original
doesn't exist.

All we have is a few
hints and clues

from subsequent writings.

from American inventor
David Bushnell.

READER:
The external shape
of the submarine vessel

bore some resemblance
to two upper tortoise shells

of equal size joined together.

NARRATOR:
It was later nicknamed
"The Turtle."

LOADES:
First, you've got
the overall shape.

It's using
the technology of a barrel.

It's thick oak staves
bound together

with iron hoops.

It's not quite barrel-shaped,
though,

and the reason for that is
because you need space inside

for an operator to sit,

so that's going to broaden it
in the middle,

and you need space at the top
for a hatch,

for the operator to get in.

At first glance,

it immediately reminds you
of a space capsule.

But what it is, in fact,
is a time capsule,

a time capsule
of contemporary technologies.

You've got these pedals here,

so the operator
is pedaling away--

this is powered by pedal power--

and they are driving
a propeller.

NARRATOR:
The concept of the propeller

dates back to Greek
mathematician Archimedes.

His Archimedes screw
famously moved water

using a spiral blade
inside a tube.

Bushnell took this concept

and located a blade
on the outside of his Turtle.

This is thought to be one of the
first practical applications

Along with a rudder, the Turtle
has all the components needed

to maneuver on the surface.

A particular feature
on the outside of the vessel

is this hatch at the top here.

It's got these
watertight windows,

so he has got some natural light
inside.

Then, above there,

these strange-looking things
are really snorkels,

so that when it's above water,

it's fully ventilated.

NARRATOR:
Using the windows,
the operator could

maneuver on the surface

to locate and position
the Turtle next to a ship.

It is then ready to descend,

by filling the area

at the base of the vessel,

known as the bilges.

To do that,

the operator kicks a lever.

LOADES:
This will flood the bilges
down there with water.

NARRATOR:
Under the surface,

a second propeller is used
to lower or raise the Turtle.

Once submerged in darkness,

the operator only has
two instruments for guidance.

LOADES:
This is a barometer.

It has a little cork in it,

and each of these marks
on the glass tube

represents a fathom,
that's about six feet.

So as he sees
the cork bobbing down,

he knows he's going down
another six feet.

How can he see that underwater?

Because it's been covered
with a fungus called foxfire,

which is luminous--
it glows in the dark.

And over here is a compass,
which, again,

the needle on the compass
has been coated

with this luminous fungus,
so he can read his heading.

NARRATOR:
The Turtle is designed
to move into position

armed with a bomb
to blow up its target.

LOADES:
So, assuming that we've
now got to the right depth,

we now need to attach
the payload,

and that's this crank here.

This crank operates
that drill at the top,

and that bores its way up
into the hull of a ship.

NARRATOR:
The drill is attached
to the bomb by a rope.

Once connected,
the Turtle detaches itself,

leaving the explosive
secured to the ship.

LOADES:
And now you've got
to get out of here,

so you, you pedal away.

When you want to surface,

you use these two hand pumps.

Yet more exertion
to save your life,

pumping away to get that water
out of the bilges.

But my goodness,

that's a heck of a lot of work
to get to that stage.

NARRATOR:
Employed to carry out
this dangerous mission,

27-year-old American Ezra Lee.

The plan:
drive into New York Harbor

and blow up
the British flagship, HMS Eagle.

But how could Ezra Lee

attach a bomb big enough
to sink the British ship

and get away safely?

Inventor David Bushnell's
writings provide some clues,

allowing pyrotechnics expert
John Hargreaves

to figure out
how it was supposed to happen.

HARGREAVES:
I've rigged this
as a demonstration.

This is pretty much the size
of the bomb

that would have been on
the Turtle.

That holds the gunpowder?

HARGREAVES:
Correct.

150 pounds.

How do we get a spark to it?

HARGREAVES:
Well, in the references

to Bushnell's machine,

they show
a flintlock mechanism.

So this little
pocket pistol?

Correct.

Which has got
this flintlock here.

So, that flint
strikes that...
Yes.

...which creates the spark.

NARRATOR:
The pistol's muzzle is screwed
into the barrel.

When it's fired,
it will ignite the gunpowder.

But Ezra Lee would need
time to escape

before it exploded.

Bushnell had a plan.

READER:
Within the magazine
was an apparatus

constructed to run
any proposed length of time

under 12 hours.

HARGREAVES:
This is a specialist clock.

It is a very early
19th-century version, actually,

but is the nearest thing
I could find

to the right mechanism.

NARRATOR:
The mechanism John thinks
Bushnell used

comes from
a period pocket watch.

HARGREAVES:
The pocket watch had been around

at the beginning
of the 17th century.

It was a pretty rare thing,

and they were all
watches like this.

The clock is going
to count down to zero.

When it gets to zero,
it pulls a lever

which I have attached to the
trigger mechanism of my pistol.

So it pulls the trigger
and fires the gun.

(winding)

LOADES:
This is absolutely
ingenious, John.

HARGREAVES:
I'm going to set it

to a minute to.

(clock ticking softly)

Can you hear it ticking?

We have a ticking bomb.

Yeah, this is ticking...

(bursts)
Whoa-ho!

Look at that!

(chuckling)
Excellent!

Proof of concept!
Yes.

NARRATOR:
The timer for the bomb
was set to 30 minutes,

and sealed
in a watertight casing.

The countdown would begin

when the bomb detached
from the Turtle.

READER:
This apparatus could not
possibly move

till, by casting off
the magazine from the vessel,

it was set in motion.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
To test the gunpowder bomb
underwater,

they use a modern firing
mechanism for safety.

When Bushnell
first tested the bomb,

he did so with varying amounts
of gunpowder.

For safety,
John is only using five pounds.

Ezra Lee was carrying 150.

NARRATOR:
At 11:00 p.m.
on September 6, 1776,

after being launched into
the water from a whaleboat,

Lee starts his mission.

Even though this
is a scaled-down test,

John is taking all
the necessary precautions.

Ezra Lee is facing the real risk

that the bomb could fail
to detonate, or, worse,

explode too early,
killing him instantly.

For over two exhausting hours,

with the constant risk
of being spotted,

he navigates
toward the British ship.

Upon reaching it,
he begins his descent,

dropping close to 30 feet below
the surface, with the bomb.

(explosion pounds)

(Hargreaves chortles)

There she blows!

(explosion pounds
in slow motion)

(explosion pounds)

That's just five pounds?

Yes-- five pounds
of gunpowder.
The...

The bomb they're dealing with
was 30 times that magnitude.

(explosion pounds)

NARRATOR:
A detonation that large
would have been catastrophic.

(explosion pounds
in slow motion)

The wooden hull of a ship
offers less resistance

to the bomb's explosive force
than the denser water around it.

It would have just ripped
through the bottom of the boat.

Instant destruction.
Yeah.

(explosion pounds)

NARRATOR:
But HMS Eagle is not blown up.

After making his descent,

Ezra Lee is unable
to attach the bomb.

READER:
He went under the ship

and attempted to fix
the wood screw,

but struck, as he supposes,
a bar of iron.

NARRATOR:
At this crucial moment,

running out of air,
he abandons the mission.

In a later attempt,

the boat carrying the sub
is sunk by British gunfire.

This is the end of the Turtle.

LOADES:
I have absolutely no doubt

that if it had been successful,

and if it had been repeatable
to scale,

if they'd built many more
Turtles,

and they had destroyed
the British fleet,

it would have shortened the war
by years.

The war would have been over
in months.

(men shouting, muskets firing)

NARRATOR:
Following the failure
of the Turtle,

the war grinds on,

with neither side securing
a strategic advantage.

But, in 1777,

the tide starts
to turn.

Now, with access
to more weapons

and 13,000
troops,

a decisive
victory

at the Battle
of Saratoga.

Both armies are using muskets,

but there's another weapon
on the battlefield

bringing its own advantages
and weaknesses:

the long rifle.

Developed in the early 1700s
by German and Swiss immigrants,

the long rifle was designed as
a highly accurate hunting gun.

♪ ♪

After the outbreak
of the Revolutionary War,

the Americans quickly set up
sharpshooting rifle units.

At Saratoga,

it is claimed
one of these units,

Morgan's Riflemen,
plays a crucial role

in securing
the American victory.

This isn't the first time

Morgan's Sharpshooters
have been celebrated.

One newspaper in 1775 wrote...

READER:
Yesterday, the company
were drawn out

to show
the gentlemen of the town

their dexterity in shooting.

A clapboard with a mark
the size of a dollar was put up,

few shot being made that were
not close to or in the paper.

NARRATOR:
The report also suggests

the long rifle is much more
accurate than the musket.

But is that true?

BOHY:
This test is going to be
for accuracy.

We're going to be shooting
at that melon 60 yards downrange

with a long rifle.

NARRATOR:
Even before it's fired,

there is a visible difference
that gives it

an advantage over the musket.

BOHY:
The benefit of the rifle is,

it has front and rear sights,

while the musket
only has a front sight.

It's going to help
with the accuracy of the gun.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Having two sights allows
for more precise alignment,

providing two points
of reference,

enabling the shooter
to more effectively

maintain focus on the target.

Is this ready?

BOHY:
Yeah, he's going to go now.

(fires)

NARRATOR:
Having never fired
the long rifle before,

Jay just misses the melon.

But now he has his mark,
and adjusts his aim.

(fires)

(fires in slow motion)

♪ ♪

Yes!

(chuckles)

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
It's a direct hit.

But why is it so accurate?

The answer lies in the name,
the rifled barrel.

Forged by specialist gunsmiths,

the iron barrel is bored
to include spiral grooves,

known as rifling,
on the inside surface.

This changes
how the ball behaves.

When fired, the ball engages
with the grooves,

causing it to spin
around its longitudinal axis.

This spinning motion gives
the projectile angular momentum,

helping it resist
external forces

like air resistance

and maintain a straighter path.

The result?

The ball remains stable
in flight over longer distances,

significantly
enhancing accuracy.

Combined with improved sights

and a smaller, tight-fitting
ball,

which travels
at a higher velocity,

the long rifle is a
formidable sharpshooting weapon.

But there are also
disadvantages:

a slower loading time, with the
long barrel being cumbersome,

and the small ball needing
firm positioning.

BOHY:
If you're in combat,

you need to load and fire
as quickly as you possibly can.

With a rifle, it's going to be,

you know, one shot or two shots
a minute,

compared to the four you can get
with the musket.

NARRATOR:
Meaning this symbol of American
patriotism and success

is particularly vulnerable
during reloading,

leaving a soldier defenseless

and open to attack
from bladed weapons.

♪ ♪

Following the American success
at Saratoga in 1777,

the Revolutionary War
enters a new phase.

A year later,

the French officially join
the American cause,

bringing much-needed troops
and supplies.

Some Indigenous communities are
also playing a role in the war.

In the
Declaration of Independence,

Thomas Jefferson refers to them
as "merciless Indian savages."

But their relationships
with the colonists

and the crown are complex.

Both sides are seeking
to recruit them.

Historian of
Indigenous Eastern Woodlands

Fallon Burner specializes
in this often-untold story

of the war.

BURNER:
Native people were involved
in the American Revolution

since the beginning,
since Lexington and Concord.

Native people fought
on both sides of this conflict.

That might be the American side,
that might be the British side,

that might be
remaining sort of neutral.

These decisions are based

on what is best
for that Native nation

and the trajectory
that they are on.

NARRATOR:
In a conflict often
characterized

by small skirmishes,

whoever Indigenous people
side with,

their impact is felt,

often with the help
of a deadly axe,

the tomahawk.

Fallon is meeting up

with Eastern Woodlands weapons
expert Russell Reed

to discuss
Indigenous people's weaponry

and its role in the war.

BURNER:
I know that the word
for tomahawk

actually comes from this area

here in Tidewater, Virginia.

Can you tell us
a little bit

about the kinds of tomahawks

that settlers would have
been seeing

when they first arrived here?

So, when the English
first arrived,

you're going to see the tribes
from Virginia,

and really, throughout much
of the Eastern Woodlands,

using stone-bladed axes
like this

to clear brush and fields,

to work on canoes, build houses,

and also, certainly, as a weapon
when the time required it.

However, after the English,
French,

Spanish, Dutch, and other
colonial powers arrive,

rapidly, you're going
to see this

replaced bit by bit
with iron and steel versions

NARRATOR:
With Europeans came
new technology,

including ironmongery
and steelwork.

Early on, colonial traders
realized

they could exchange metal goods,

including ax-heads,
for items needed in Europe.

REED:
The advantages to this
are several.

Stone tomahawks worked
for thousands of years.

There's no issue
in using them.

However, the iron and steel ones
can be brought

to a little bit of a finer edge
for more effective cutting,

and this can be purchased
or traded for

at fairly cheap cost-- in some
cases for a couple of deerskins.

It just makes a lot of sense
to trade

for scores of these

rather than make stone versions

that are a little heavier
and not quite as sharp.

NARRATOR:
Over time, metal tomahawks
transformed,

taking on new shapes
with intricate decoration.

Some even contained pipes
that could be smoked.

But the tomahawk remained
a weapon for close combat.

REED:
You're going to see
a sort of a system of weapons.

You're going to have
your long-range weapon,

so that's going to be
your longbow, your rifle,

or very commonly,

this Indian trade gun, musket.

NARRATOR:
Once in battle,

the system is deployed rapidly.

You're going to be leveling that
at your enemy...

...firing...
(gunshot echoes faintly)

...and then, while your enemy
is hopefully reloading,

you're going to see
this long-range weapon

tossed to the side,

immediately drawing tomahawk
and your knife.

And so you're going
to see the knife in one hand,

tomahawk in the other,

and actually
closing in on your enemy.

♪ ♪

Period sources routinely talk
about the fact

that this is actually going to
be brought aiming for the head.

It certainly can be
an effective weapon

against the body,
but layers of thick clothing,

and the fact that this
is a fairly light weapon,

you're going to see a lot more
targeting of the head,

the knife being something
you can use to follow up

or possibly to block a strike.

It's quickly either brought
to the side or straight down.

You can see it sort of cleaved
pretty much right through

the center of it,
like that,

and then it can even be
brought back

in the opposite direction.

♪ ♪

That would be terrifying
if that was my head.
(both laugh)

Now, you can imagine this
on a battlefield

with hundreds of warriors,
muskets going off,

arrows flying everywhere,

and then warriors
closing the distance

with devastating effect
on their enemies.

NARRATOR:
Against an enemy, especially
slow-loading riflemen,

the tomahawk could be
highly effective.

♪ ♪

So we definitely see a lot
in movies

or other cultural depictions
of Native warriors

throwing and letting go
of their tomahawk

to hit a target.
Mm.

How viable and actionable
do you think that is?

It's likely that actually
throwing your tomahawk in combat

would be incredibly uncommon.

This weapon simply
doesn't weigh a lot,

and you would have to match
the rotations

to hit your enemy perfectly,

and you're incredibly limited
on range.

It's certainly going to be
more effective

used in the hand.

So you throw it,
you've gotten rid of it,

then you don't have it
to use anymore.

Yes, you have now--
unless you've been incredibly

lucky and successful,
you have now disarmed yourself,

given your enemy
your main weapon.

So how much of a difference

do you think the tomahawk
made in the revolution?

It really is such an
effective hand-to-hand weapon

that you're going to see
colonial forces,

militia, and the British
all carrying tomahawks, as well.

And so we do get period accounts
in the revolution

where the tomahawk
comes into play

in a big way, with lots
of hand-to-hand fighting,

which can turn the tide
of the battle

one direction or the other,

commonly leading to the victory

of whoever is employing it first
and most effectively.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
After six brutal years,

the war takes a sudden turn.

In 1781, in a surprise move,

nearly 18,000 American
and French troops

corner 8,000 British
in Yorktown, Virginia.

(muskets firing, men shouting)

Outnumbered and surrounded,

the British are forced
to dig in.

Pitched battles
and skirmishes are out.

Now this becomes a siege war.

In this painting,
"The Siege of Yorktown,"

the artist captures
the defensive earthworks

built by both sides
and the powerful weapon

intended to defeat them,
the cannon.

(cannon firing)

The contest between
these earthworks and the cannon

would become one of
the most iconic in history.

But which one would come out
on top?

At Yorktown today,

historian Marvin-Alonzo Greer
is finding out.

♪ ♪

GREER:
So what you're seeing here
is a reconstruction

of the 18th-century earthworks

that the British created.

This foliage here,
this greenery,

would not have been here
at the time.

It would have all been dirt
and earth and palisades here,

these wooden spikes
sticking out of the ground.

NARRATOR:
In just six weeks,

the British construct a system
of fortified earthworks.

GREER:
These defenses would have
been built

by a mixture of people,

some by soldiers
in the British Army,

but the vast majority
of these defenses

would have been built
by freedom-seekers.

NARRATOR:
Before the Revolutionary War,

all 13 colonies
practiced slavery.

During the conflict,

many enslaved people are brought
to the battlefield,

often as laborers.

Some fight on
the American side voluntarily

with the hope of freedom.

The British
also offered them liberty

if they joined their ranks.

Thousands take this opportunity
at Yorktown.

They've become known
as freedom-seekers.

GREER:
Most of their names
are lost to history,

but we do have names
of at least two:

Eve, from Williamsburg,
and her son George.

They were enslaved
by Peyton Randolph

and his wife, Betty Randolph.

Betty Randolph writes in 1781

some of her enslaved people,
including Eve and George,

have gone to the enemy,

right here to Yorktown.

NARRATOR:
In the painting of the siege,

there are clues about
how the defenses are built.

Piles of strange-shaped objects
lie next to passing troops,

but what are they?

Revolutionary War expert
Matthew Keagle

has built three examples.

KEAGLE:
So these are called gabions.

Basically, big wicker baskets.

But they don't have a bottom
or a top,

so you can move them where you
need to go,

you can dump earth into them,

and they're going
to hold it there.

NARRATOR:
Gabions have been used
in defensive fortifications

since the time
of the Ancient Egyptians.

During the Revolutionary War,

and with so many American towns
lacking stone wall defenses,

gabions are commonplace.

We're just looking at this
cross-section of the works.

So imagine this continuing
through us and past us

to make a whole wall
nine feet or more deep.

NARRATOR:
With ditches dropping
no less than six feet

and ramparts of equivalent
height covered

in spiked palisades,

the earthworks at Yorktown
present a formidable obstacle.

But they had
to face down the cannon.

Originating in China
800 years ago,

the first experimental cannon
were made of bamboo.

By the 1770s,

the most expensive
and lightweight

are made of bronze,
but the more common ones

are heavier, larger,
and made of iron.

KEAGLE:
This is the most powerful
weapons system

known at this time.

The works at Yorktown
are all designed

around the capabilities
of these weapons,

either to prevent incoming fire

from damaging people
and equipment, or as platforms

to fire artillery from.

NARRATOR:
At Yorktown,

the Americans and French
bring 100 cannon to the battle.

The British have 250 cannon,

but not nearly
as much ammunition.

To defeat earthworks,

artillerymen
used solid iron shot.

KEAGLE:
Right here,

we're working
with a French four-pounder.

So that's not the weight
of the barrel.

That's the weight of the shot
this is going to fire.

So a solid iron ball
weighing four pounds

is going to come
hurtling out the muzzle

of this cannon downrange.

NARRATOR:
For this cannon,

there are five crew members.

Each has a specific role.

KEAGLE:
So what we see up here is,
on that front right,

he's got the sponge rammer.

NARRATOR:
The sponger ensures the cannon
is safe to fire.

By plunging the barrel
with water

and pulling it out
with the vent closed,

a vacuum extinguishes any embers

from the previous shot.

KEAGLE:
So when he pulls that out...

(vacuum pops)
...we get that sound,

which is evidence of the vacuum
inside the tube,

because if you put a round
or cartridge in there afterwards

and there's even
the smallest ember,

that could set that off.

NARRATOR:
Another crew member passes
the cartridge,

which holds the gunpowder,

to the loader.

After inserting this,
the loader then

adds wadding,
which holds the cartridge

against the breech
of the cannon.

Next, the iron ball,

followed by more wadding.

KEAGLE:
Then the sponge rammer is
actually going to ram down

this whole mass into the breech,

because for the gunpowder
to work correctly,

to get the most force possible,
it needs to be compacted

into as small a space
as possible.

Now, at the rear,
at the vent of the weapon,

they're going to take
a small spike,

drive that through the vent
hole, through the cartridge,

opening up the gunpowder
inside there.

NARRATOR:
With the cartridge open,

the gunner pours additional
gunpowder into the vent,

and then inserts a fuse.

Finally, the commander
who aims the gun

prepares to fire.

At Yorktown, the closest

the American and French guns get
to the British lines

is just 200 yards away.

Fire.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Within an instant
of lighting the fuse,

the gunpowder inside the barrel
ignites.

The gases produced rapidly build
to create pressure

between the ball
and the base of the barrel.

In milliseconds, this pressure
propels the ball

out of the cannon.

(fires)

(fires in slow motion)

(cannonball pounds)

KEAGLE:
Came around here.

Oh!

Look at that!

Did it just plunge
right through the gabion?

Yeah.

See, see right there.

That shattered sapling, and then
we've gone right into here.

That's our second hole,
isn't it?

Yep.

KEAGLE:
It's dislodged
a fair amount of earth,

but they're still holding.

(cannonball pounds)

GREER:
The fact that it passed through

the earth, the saplings,
and into a second one...

And into
the next one.

That's some
power.

That really is.

Because this is so
loosely constructed,

this isn't like firing
into a stone wall,

so the nature of this defense

has helped it to kind of
almost heal itself.

NARRATOR:
Earthworks could effectively
withstand a single strike.

(cannon fires)

But at Yorktown,

the Americans and the French
are firing

up to 3,500 rounds every day,

with some cannon shot six times
the weight of this four-pounder.

(Greer talking indistinctly)
KEAGLE:
We got the palisade!

Right on target.

Bullseye.

(cannonball pounds)

NARRATOR:
The second shot is inches
from the first hit.

Your intention is, you want
to be hitting that same spot

again and again and again
and again,

ultimately battering down
that wall.
Oh, yeah, that...

(fires)

(cannonball pounds)

(fires)

(cannonball pounds)

NARRATOR:
After six tightly grouped shots,

they inspect the damage.

I have never experienced
or seen anything like this.

(laughs)
With that earth just

literally sucking up
all of that artillery fire.

Um, the accuracy
is amazing.

But it's this kind of
consistency that is ultimately

going to win you something
like the siege of Yorktown.

NARRATOR:
Over nine days of bombardment,

the Americans and French fire an
incredible 15,000 cannon rounds.

Finally,
after three weeks of siege,

mounting losses,
and low supplies,

the British surrender,

ending the last major battle
of the Revolutionary War.

As for the freedom-seekers

who helped build these defenses,
like Eve and her son George,

when smallpox breaks out
in the fort during the siege,

the British expel them.

Threatened once again
with enslavement,

most take their chances
between the opposing armies

in no man's land.

(cannon firing)

Eve escapes,

but after a reward is issued,
she is captured.

GREER:
We don't know what happens
to George.

Yeah.
Her son probably died
of smallpox

or in no man's land,

but Eve is sold
for "her bad behavior,"

for going to
and seeking her freedom.

"Harrowing" is the word
that continues

to come to mind
through all of this.

Exactly.

NARRATOR:
It would be another 84 years

before slavery is abolished
throughout the United States.

After the siege of Yorktown,

the British realize
the war can no longer be won.

After eight years,
and 57,000 killed in action

on both sides combined,

they recognize the independence
of the United States of America.

This freedom was only possible
thanks to the people who fought

and the extraordinary technology
they used.

KEAGLE:
As an American,

this is the foundation
of the United States.

We're a relatively young
country,

we're one that was born out
of eight years of struggle,

of a vicious war.

BOHY:
Going out and shooting
these weapons

can give you a much greater
understanding of the battles,

how they were fought,
how they were won and lost,

and it enables me to have

a much better understanding
of the war itself.

Back then, this was
cutting-edge technology,

this was experimentation,
this was original thought.

Indigenous people were involved
in this conflict

since the very beginning.

So was their technology.

The tomahawk is really this
unifying factor here that ties

Indigenous history
and American history together.

GREER:
Whether people are inventing
technology

or using the technology,
an instrument of war

can also be used
as an instrument of freedom.

And I think we as humans
can learn a lot

from this time period, because,
just like our lives today,

there's good and bad
happening on all sides,

and it's really up to we,
the users of technology,

to determine
how our future will be paved.

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