Quaker Gun - The Original "Quaker Gun Trick"

The Original "Quaker Gun Trick"

During the American War of Independence, after nearly a year of brutal backcountry conflict between American Colonel William Washington and the fierce British commander Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, Colonel Washington had retreated to North Carolina in October 1780.

Ordered to return to lead an irregular force of colonial dragoons in the South Carolina theater by Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, Colonel Washington still lacked the proper artillery to dislodge the Loyalists. On December 4, the Americans, were able to trap the Loyalist Colonel Rowland Rugeley and his company of 125 or so men in Rugeley’s house and barn near Camden, South Carolina. He told his cavalrymen to dismount and surround the barn. While out of Rugeley’s sight, Washington’s men fabricated a pine log to resemble a cannon.

This so-called "Quaker Gun Trick" worked quite effectively. Colonel Washington faced the fake cannon toward the buildings in which the Loyalists had barricaded themselves and threatened bombardment if they did not surrender. Shortly afterwards, Rugeley surrendered his entire force without a single shot being fired.