Military - Overview
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.
"Military - Overview" showing 2 items.
Creek War Flag
- Description
- Physical Description
- Cream-colored silk, with thirteen stars above an eagle. Just inside the border is an embroidered floral pattern of pink roses, green leaves, and gold-brown stems. Near the lower border is the motto "God Armeth The Patriot."
- Specific History
- Captain David Deaderick is credited with risking his life in the thick of combat to save this flag when it fell from the hands of a wounded standard bearer.
- General History
- The Creek War began on August 30, 1813, when a faction of Creek known as the Red Sticks attacked a contingent of 553 American settlers at Lake Tensaw, Alabama, north of Mobile. The British were believed to be a main ally of the Indians. In response to the Alabama attack, Jackson led 5,000 militiamen in the destruction of two Creek villages, Tallasahatchee and Talladega. The fighting lasted into the next year, culminating in Jackson’s troops destroying the Creek defenses at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
- On March 27, 1814 the battle ended with 800 Creek warriors killed and 500 women and children captured. On August 9, 1814, Major General Andrew Jackson signed the Treaty of Fort Jackson ending the Creek War. The agreement provided for the surrender of twenty-three million acres of Creek land to the United States. This vast territory encompassed more than half of present-day Alabama and part of southern Georgia.
- date made
- 1813
- used date
- 1813
- ID Number
- AF*35696
- catalog number
- 35696
- accession number
- 100522
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Major Lemuel Montgomery's Pistol
- Description
- Physical Description
- American-made pistol, .38 caliber.
- Specific History
- One of a pair of flintlock pistols Andrew Jackson presented to Major Lemuel P. Montgomery following the battle of Talladega. Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, would take its name from the major.
- General History
- Andrew Jackson had a long history with the Indians. During the War of 1812, he led militia forces in a war against Creek Indians. One faction of the Creek sided with the British and fought the United States along the western frontier. This group, known as Red Sticks because of their bright-red war clubs they carried, followed the teachings of the charismatic Shawnee, Tecumseh. The Red Sticks believed that Indians of many tribes needed to unite against the United States.
- Andrew Jackson received a plea for help from a tribe of allied Creeks at Talladega. Jackson mobilized an army of 1,200 infantry and 800 cavalry and set out for the Creek fort at Talladega, arriving there in the early morning of November 9, 1813. Jackson surrounded the town with a brigade of militia under General Isaac Roberts on the left and a brigade of volunteers led by General William Hall on the right. The Creek attacked the line held by Roberts’ brigade, and the brigade retreated, allowing hundreds of Creek to escape. The gap was quickly filled by reserves and the position repaired. Within fifteen minutes the battle was over. At least 300 Creek perished on the battlefield while American losses amounted to fifteen killed and eighty-six wounded.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1815
- user
- Montgomery, Major L. P.
- manufacturer
- Bellah, J.
- ID Number
- AF*16090
- catalog number
- 16090
- accession number
- 13152
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center