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Pikemen were the backbone of European armies in the 15th through 17th centuries.  Armed with long spears called pikes, reaching up to 20 feet in length, pikemen stood in ranks to protect musketeers from enemy cavalry.  In the 16th century, pikemen made up one-half to two-thirds of the infantry.  As firearm technology improved, musketeers began to outnumber pikemen. 

Pikemen, who had to maneuver the long wooden pike staff, were often chosen for their robust build.  Each wore a cuirass (breast and backplate) with tassets to protect his thighs, and a helmet (known as a pikeman's pot) on his head.   Leather gauntlets protected his hands from the staff.

		Very little armor associated with the Pilgrims has survived.  This tasset from a suit of pikeman's armor was excavated from the Kingston, Massachusetts, homesite of Mayflower passenger John Howland.  Tassets protected the pikeman's thighs.  Documentary references suggest that many of the Pilgrims wore protective padded jackets, as supplies of iron armor were often lacking.
Iron Tasset 1600-1650, made in Europe. Courtesy of the Pilgrim John Howland Society

At muster, held several times a year in England and four to six times a year in Plymouth, men aged 16 to 60 drilled with pikes.  Pikes and other staff weapons were not very practical in America, as pikemen needed space to march in their square formation.   Large masses or "squares" of pikemen worked well in Europe, but not in the heavily forested colonies of America.  Pikes were used until October 1675 in Massachusetts, at which time they were replaced by firearms.

By the end of the 17th century, musketeers carried bayonets to defend themselves against cavalry, making pikemen obsolete.