Military

The Museum's superb military collections document the history of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States. The collections include ordnance, firearms, and swords; uniforms and insignia; national and military flags and banners; and many other objects.

The strength of the collections lies in their enormous depth. Some 3,000 military small arms and 2,400 civilian firearms document the mechanical and technological history of the infantryman's weapons from the beginning of the gunpowder era to the present. Among the 4,000 swords and knives in the collection are many spectacular presentation pieces. The collections also include Civil War era telegraph equipment, home front artifacts from both world wars, early computers such as ENIAC, Whirlwind, and Sage, and materials carried at antiwar demonstrations.

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.36
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.36
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.08
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.08
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.04
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.04
When World War II broke out in 1939, LIFE magazine sent Carl Mydans and his wife Shelley overseas to document the unfolding events as a photographer/reporter team. The two began by covering the siege in London.
Description
When World War II broke out in 1939, LIFE magazine sent Carl Mydans and his wife Shelley overseas to document the unfolding events as a photographer/reporter team. The two began by covering the siege in London. They then moved on to Finland where Mydans was first exposed to combat. After a short stay in Italy, they traveled to France where they witnessed its fall to Nazi Germany.
Mydans' words describe the scene: "Each war begins where the last one left off." French soldiers in May 1940 could be mistaken for the poilus or infantrymen of 1914 as they straggle past a shelled village near Verdun after the German breakthrough at Sedan.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1940-05
1940
photographer
Mydans, Carl
ID Number
2005.0228.059
accession number
2005.0228
catalog number
2005.0228.059
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.10
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.10
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.25
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.25
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
maker
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.01
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.17
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.17
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.16
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.16
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.37
catalog number
2012.0167.37
accession number
2012.0167
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.34
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.34
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.11
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.11
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.07
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.07
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.26
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.26
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.15
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.15
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.29
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.29
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.13
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.13
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.38
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.38
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.31
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.31
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.02
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.02
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2012
maker
Weingarten, Robert I.
ID Number
2016.0002.0001
catalog number
2016.0002.0001
accession number
2016.0002
This innovative piece of memorabilia consists of a tintype of Augustus B. Hayes in a hardtack frame. At the age of 18, Hayes enlisted in the 1st Regiment Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery Battery B on August 8, 1862.
Description
This innovative piece of memorabilia consists of a tintype of Augustus B. Hayes in a hardtack frame. At the age of 18, Hayes enlisted in the 1st Regiment Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery Battery B on August 8, 1862. Hayes was wounded on December 31, 1862 in the Battle of Stones River. Despite this he served three more years and was mustered out June 16, 1865.
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1861-1865
ID Number
1979.0916.02
catalog number
1979.0916.02
accession number
1979.0916
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.09
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.09
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2010
photographer
Pflaeging, Sascha
ID Number
2012.0167.33
accession number
2012.0167
catalog number
2012.0167.33

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