The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds

First published: 1941; illustrated

Type of work: Historical fiction

Themes: Coming-of-age

Time of work: 1757

Recommended Ages: 10-13

Locale: Guilderland, near Albany City in New York State, a British colony

Principal Characters:

• Edward Van Alstyne, a ten-year-old boy who uses an ancient matchlock gun to protect his mother and sister from attack while his father is fighting with the militia in the French and Indian War
• Gertrude Van Alstyne, Edward’s mother
• Teunis Van Alstyne, Gertrude’s husband and Edward and Trudy’s father, who is called away to war, leaving his family unprotected except for the matchlock gun
• Trudy Van Alstyne, Edward’s much younger sister

The Story

This account of an actual historic event provides a realistic glimpse of the bravery displayed by women and children in the early colonial period.

Teunis Van Alstyne jokes about the old-fashioned, ineffective Spanish matchlock gun his wife’s grandfather, Dygert, had brought from Holland. Matchlock guns were fired by means of a slow-burning wick, or match, that was mechanically touched to the gunpowder when the gun’s trigger was pulled. Their use preceded that of the more efficient and less dangerous flint-fired musket. Edward has a special fascination for the gun. Every time his father goes on military maneuvers and takes a newer flint musket instead of the matchlock, Edward is disappointed.

One rainy, blustery November day, a horseman from Albany reports that Indians are heading toward Palatine Bridge, which is close to Guilderland. The militia gather to ward off possible attack. As Teunis Van Alstyne makes his final preparations for joining the militia, Edward is again disappointed to see his father bring the musket instead of the old Spanish gun. To humor his son, Teunis takes the heavy gun that is longer than a grown man down from its place and shows the boy how to fire it.

Gertrude Van Alstyne spends a fitful night lying awake after Teunis leaves thinking about whether she should join her mother-in-law at the “big house,” which is clearly visible from the road, or remain in her own little cottage. Deciding that she would be safer from attack in her own house, she determines to remain there, but begins thinking about what she would do if Indians did attack. The next morning, when a fellow colonist, John Mynderse, arrives to report that the French and Indians have been killing people and burning the upper settlements, Gertrude becomes very apprehensive and begins thinking about specific plans of defense. Worried that the Indians could sneak up on the cabin and attack them without any forewarning, Gertrude devises tasks that will keep the children and herself outside all day so she can keep constant watch in all directions. At dusk, they see smoke in the distance; knowing that the Indians have circumvented the militia, Gertrude solidifies her defense plans.

She takes the matchlock gun down from its place on the mantel. Lacking proper bullets, she loads it with nails and any other bits of metal she can find. She then lays it on a table with the muzzle pointing toward the stoop outside. Closing the shutters, she takes an ax and chops a small hole in the shutter through which the gun muzzle protrudes. She then gives Edward important instructions. Regardless of what Gertrude calls out to him, he is to set the wick to the gunpowder only when she calls his name. Leaving the children inside, Gertrude goes into the shadows of dusk under the pretext of picking beans. When Indians suddenly come toward her, Gertrude lures them to the house, screaming the names of everyone she knows. As she reaches the door, she calls “Edward.” The boy fires the gun just as the Indians reach the stoop and he kills three of them, but not before they throw a tomahawk into Gertrude’s shoulder and set fire to the house.

Recovering from the gun’s stunning recoil, Edward rolls his unconscious mother off the stoop and away from the flames of the house, and lugs the old gun from the house. Several hours later when Teunis Van Alstyne and his fellow militiamen arrive at the burned Van Alstyne home, they find Gertrude still unconscious, Trudy asleep, and Edward sitting up with the matchlock gun across his knees. Teunis is very proud of his son, and John Mynderse exclaims: “You’ve killed more than all the rest of us put together!”

Context

The Matchlock Gun is one of many historical fiction novels written by Walter Edmonds for both children and adults, about the area around Albany, New York, where the author lived. Steeped in reminiscences and legends of the people who settled in the area after leaving Germany and Holland, Edmonds amplified his historical knowledge by careful research and became a well-known expert in the field. The story of the matchlock gun was sent to Edmonds by descendants of the Van Alstynes, whose encounter with the Indians was recorded and passed on by Trudy Van Alstyne, Edward’s young sister.

Readers may note the dated viewpoints of the two past eras represented by the novel: the historical period of the plot and the social milieu during the period that the book was written (the 1930’s). The portrayal of stereotypical roles by children, males and females, nonwhites such as black people and Indians, as well as the perceptions of the history itself, may be disturbing to some readers. The book does provide an interesting example of the discrimination that was extant both when the book was written as well as during the period in which it is set.

The role of women is interestingly ambiguous. On one hand, they are considered weak and submissive, but on the other, they are expected to perform unusual feats of bravery. When Gertrude is left alone and totally defenseless, the reader cannot imagine what Teunis expects her to do. As history recorded, Gertude not only found an inadequate supply of gunpowder for the matchlock gun but also was left with no bullets; using her own ingenuity, she substituted nails and buttons for bullets and was stunningly creative in saving her family. Because it is clear that Teunis did not believe that the matchlock gun would work and also that he left Gertrude and the children totally vulnerable, questions about Teunis Van Alstyne’s attitude and concerns about his family arise. Perhaps he placed community welfare before that of his family, and maybe he simply did not have any choice. Perhaps he thought that his family would be incapable of self-defense and therefore left them with a fatalistic attitude about their survival. The answer may lie with a common misconception about children during the late 1930’s when this book was written—that young readers would accept what they read without thinking or questioning.

John Mynderse’s exclamation of praise at the end of the book is also indicative of another time and different values. Amazed to see three dead Indians, he says, “You’ve killed more than all the rest of us put together.” His comment accurately reflects the dehumanizing view prevalent during much of American history that Indians, like slaves, were not really people. Interestingly, Mynderse’s comment is offered to the reader at face value, with no tempering statement to indicate that attitudes in America had perhaps changed from the 1700’s to the 1930’s. When today’s values are taken into account, the shift in viewpoint is even more striking.

An important factor, however, that should be considered in analyzing the bitter attitudes toward the enemy is that the book was written when World War II was demanding the same self-sacrifice and bravery so strongly evident in The Matchlock Gun. The war demanded desperate efforts, and the draft took husbands and fathers to fight, leaving women and children vulnerable and fending for themselves at home in the work force. Similarly, the joy at the number of French and Indians killed voiced by Mynderse may also be a direct reflection of the war’s dehumanizing effects.