Quaker gun

quaker gun English 2025 March 27 Etymology thumb|A Quaker gun near Centreville, Virginia, U.S.A., in March 1862, after the Confederate withdrawal during the American Civil War (1861–1865). A man is pretending to fire the cannon using a stick as a linstock. From en Quaker gun 1 exocentric, referring to the pacifism associated with practitioners of the Quaker religion.n 9429746764 March 2025n Pronunciation en /ˌkweɪkə ˈɡʌn/ RP en En-au-Quaker gun.ogg AU en /ˌkweɪkəɹ ˈɡʌn/ GA en ʌn 3 en Quak er gun Noun en idiomatic chiefly US weaponry historical A nonfunctional imitation of a gun or an artillery piece, typically made of wood and usually intended to deceive enemy forces into overestimating one's available firepower. I III 216 Nor was he content with thus strongly garrisoning the fort, but he likewise added exceedingly to its strength by furnishing it with a formidable battery of quaker guns—rearing a stupendous flag-staff in the centre which overtopped the whole city—and moreover by building a great windmill on one of the bastions. II VI 84–85 84 The captain examined the marks left on the grass, and was of opinion that more than one man had been employed to set up the decoy figure, "At all events, your honour, I will carry the quaker in," said Joyce, tossing the stuffed figure on a shoulder. "He will do to man the quaker gun at least, and may be of use in frightening some one of the other side, more than he has yet frightened us." 4 October 1861 Our troops at Munson's Hill https://web.archive.org/web/20151104150456/http://www.nytimes.com/1861/10/04/news/great-rebellion-startling-rumor-new-orleans-fleet-national-vessels-preparing.html No one would imagine, from the appearance of the troops on Munson's Hill and the vicinity, that they were new comers. Fortifications are already so complete as to forbid all hopes of the rebels regaining possession of these localities. The Quaker gun found there was consigned to the flames to-day, and in its stead heavy artillery, of the genuine sort, commands all the surrounding country. en 1980 w:Marjorie Sykes The British India Society 1815–1843 Quakers in India: A Forgotten Century London George Allen & Unwin 19 https://archive.org/details/quakersinindiafo0000syke/page/19/mode/1up 978-0-04-275003-3 Those who watched from the shore as the beautiful vessel moved upstream saw that she too carried guns, but when they boarded her they found that the 'guns' were dummies made of wood. 'Yes,' explained the crew in answer to their wondering questions, 'them's Quaker guns. "Quakers" would be no use in a fight, but they look all right at a distance. They frighten the pirates away – and they cost much less than the real thing!' en 1988 James M[unro] McPherson Farewell to the Ninety Days’ War Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War Era The Oxford History of the United States 6 New York, N.Y.; Oxford, Oxfordshire w:Oxford University Press 361–362 https://archive.org/details/battlecryoffreed0000unse/page/362/mode/1up 978-0-19-503863-7 In late September the southerners withdrew from one exposed position on Munson's Hill a few miles southwest of Washington. When the Federals moved in, instead of the large cannon they had expected they found a log shaped and painted to resemble a cannon. This "Quaker gun" embarrassed General George Brinton McClellan and called into question his reports of superior Confederate forces. The Quaker gun incident further dissipated the once-enormous reservoir of support and adulation for McClellan. Alternative forms en quaker gun Translations nonfunctional imitation of a gun or an artillery piece Finnish: fi valetykki French: fr Quaker gun m Lithuanian: lt Kvakerių patranka ? Macedonian: mk Polish: pl działo kwakrów n Russian: ru Spanish: es cañón cuáquero m Ukrainian: uk Квакерська гарма́та f References Further reading en noun-noun compound nouns en American Civil War American Revolution