Explained and illustrated at Amusing Planet:
Deception turned out to be very fruitful during the American Revolution in 1780. When the continental forces under the command of Colonel William Washington attacked a fortified barn near Camden, South Carolina, where the Loyalists under Colonel Henry Rugeley had barricaded themselves, the Colonel asked his men to surround the barn and prepare a pine log that resembled a cannon. He pointed the “cannon” towards the building and threatened to blow it away if the Loyalists didn’t surrender. Rugeley’s men meekly surrendered without a single shot having been fired.Details at the link, with additional photos.
This was the first recorded incident of a “Quaker gun”—the name is a reference to the religious community of Quakers who believed in pacifism and non-violence.
Quaker guns played a small but significant role during the American Civil War...
Weird synergy--I was just listening to a podcast which featured Quaker guns. The guest was a historian who argues that the fact that the Industrial revolution was driven by the fact that Britain was continually at war during this period. It was huge amounts of government spending, including on arms manufacture, that kickstarted the IR. Samuel Galton Jr. was a key figure in this. The podcast is here: https://kpfa.org/episode/against-the-grain-february-4-2019/
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