Alternatives?
What else could Lalor have done? Probably not a lot, after all he had to arm his men both for practical fighting reasons, and to encourage their morale by appearing to indicate they had some chance of spilling military blood. If things came to violence, Lalor seems to have intended to meet the soldiers in the field, rather than in the stockade.
After the battle, Lalor said it was never intended to use the stockade for the purpose of a defensive battle, but to have men well out in the field who would warn him of the approaching soldiers, so the miners could get out and meet them on the Gravel Pits, and if forced "we should retreat by the heights to the old Canadian Gully, and there we shall make our final stand".
If this had occurred as planned it would have been absolutely disastrous for the pikemen, at least. The professional British soldiers would have cut them up something wicked. But as it happened, the battle occurring at the stockade was actually beneficial, in that it minimised the deaths and injuries of the poor buggers.
Another option, besides or in addition to pikes could perhaps have been the making of heaps of the ghastly caltraps. These are an awful weapon, especially for anyone who loves horses, against which the weapon is generally used, although it could cause problems for advancing foot soldiers as well. Caltraps are metal gadgets, usually with three spikes sticking out. However they're thrown down, often in a hurry by fleeing cavalry, two of the spikes support the device on the ground, while the third sticks up to pierce a galloping horse's hoof, or an unwary soldier's boot. Caltraps would have made the approaches to the stockade much less suitable for horseback fighting, allowing the battle to be taken to the foot soldiers, whose advance would be slowed, and possibly broken up as they sidestepped the wicked spikes.
Not that fighting the British foot soldiers would have been in any way easy, as the soldiers had the great advantage of being trained in the use of the bayonet, which was a much more flexible and useful weapon than the clumsy pike for close-in fighting, especially when the pike was in the hands of an untrained man.
The British soldiers were armed with the 1842 model musket. It was to be replaced shortly. However, even with their old guns, the soldiers would be capable of firing two rounds a minute, considerably faster than the untrained miners, with their motley array of weapons.
As it happens, most of the stockaders were pikemen. At least, at the start. But any with smarts and/or knowledge were quickly making their way elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, desertion was a greater enemy than the English. On the day, there were only around 20 of them, pikemen, that is. They fought hard and well, not even fleeing when the outcome was clear. And some of them suffered for it after the battle.
After the battle, Lalor said it was never intended to use the stockade for the purpose of a defensive battle, but to have men well out in the field who would warn him of the approaching soldiers, so the miners could get out and meet them on the Gravel Pits, and if forced "we should retreat by the heights to the old Canadian Gully, and there we shall make our final stand".
If this had occurred as planned it would have been absolutely disastrous for the pikemen, at least. The professional British soldiers would have cut them up something wicked. But as it happened, the battle occurring at the stockade was actually beneficial, in that it minimised the deaths and injuries of the poor buggers.
Another option, besides or in addition to pikes could perhaps have been the making of heaps of the ghastly caltraps. These are an awful weapon, especially for anyone who loves horses, against which the weapon is generally used, although it could cause problems for advancing foot soldiers as well. Caltraps are metal gadgets, usually with three spikes sticking out. However they're thrown down, often in a hurry by fleeing cavalry, two of the spikes support the device on the ground, while the third sticks up to pierce a galloping horse's hoof, or an unwary soldier's boot. Caltraps would have made the approaches to the stockade much less suitable for horseback fighting, allowing the battle to be taken to the foot soldiers, whose advance would be slowed, and possibly broken up as they sidestepped the wicked spikes.
Not that fighting the British foot soldiers would have been in any way easy, as the soldiers had the great advantage of being trained in the use of the bayonet, which was a much more flexible and useful weapon than the clumsy pike for close-in fighting, especially when the pike was in the hands of an untrained man.
The British soldiers were armed with the 1842 model musket. It was to be replaced shortly. However, even with their old guns, the soldiers would be capable of firing two rounds a minute, considerably faster than the untrained miners, with their motley array of weapons.
As it happens, most of the stockaders were pikemen. At least, at the start. But any with smarts and/or knowledge were quickly making their way elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, desertion was a greater enemy than the English. On the day, there were only around 20 of them, pikemen, that is. They fought hard and well, not even fleeing when the outcome was clear. And some of them suffered for it after the battle.