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 3 items.
Rigged Model, Massachusetts Privateer Rhodes
- Description
- Although the Salem, Massachusetts privateer Rhodes was less than 98 feet long, it had a crew of 90. Privateers needed large crews not only to intimidate their prey and hopefully make them surrender quickly, but also to overpower their enemies if a battle occurred. After a fight, the winner also needed to put a “prize” crew aboard to sail the captured vessel into port, where the ship and contents could be inventoried and sold. The auction proceeds were then distributed among the owners, the ship officers and the crew.
- The three-masted ship Rhodes was sharply built for speed and heavily armed, with 20 cannon. Despite these features, it was captured on a cruise in the West Indies by H.M.S. ship Prothé in February 1782. It was taken back to England, where its hull shape was drawn on paper to document how it might have obtained its speed. The Royal Navy then purchased it and renamed it H.M.S. Barbadoes.
- Date made
- 1962
- privateer captured
- 1782-02
- ID Number
- TR*320667
- catalog number
- 320667
- accession number
- 245900
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
USS Carondolet Model
- Description
- Physical Description
- Wooden model with plastic parts.
- Specific History
- Model built to the plans of William Geoghagen.
- General History
- USS Carondolet was a 512-ton ironclad gunboat in the style of the Cairo. It was built in Saint Louis and commissioned in January 1862. Within a month it had contributed to the capture of both Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. The Carondolet fought in more engagements than any ship until World War II, including the capture of a Confederate fortress at Island Number Ten, operations against Fort Pillow, near Memphis, and a major campaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi. The only real opposition the Carondolet faced was in the Yazoo River when it engaged the Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas. On July 15, 1862, the Carondolet was severely damaged by the Arkansas. After repairs, the Carondolet and the other ships of the army’s Western Gunboat Flotilla were transferred to the U.S. Navy. It was decommissioned in 1865.
- Date made
- 1961
- associated date
- 1862
- decommissioning
- 1865
- made original plans
- Geoghegan, William Earle
- maker
- Tragle, Thomas E.
- ID Number
- AF*58945N
- catalog number
- 58945-N
- accession number
- 241885
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Letter of Marque Topsail Schooner Lynx
- Description
- Peter Kemp, Baltimore’s best known 19th-century shipbuilder, worked in the Fells Point area. He built the square topsail schooner Lynx in 1812 for just under $10,000. It measured 97 feet long and 25 tons, a bit larger than the swift pilot boats after which it was modeled. Pilot boats had to be fast, for the first one that reached a vessel offshore won the job to lead it through local waters into the port facilities.
- The Lynx was a letter of marque—a merchant vessel authorized to take prizes—rather than a privateer designed and built only to raid enemy shipping. Letters of marque were armed merchant vessels which were granted the authority to chase enemy merchantmen during the normal course of business, if an opportunity arose. Unlike privateers, letter of marque vessels paid their crews a regular wage, and their income did not depend on income from enemy ships. As a result, the Lynx carried only six guns and a 40-man crew instead of the many guns and big crews of privateers.
- Lynx served less than a year before it was captured by a British fleet of 17 vessels while trying to run a blockade off the Rappahannock River, Virginia. Renamed the Mosquidobit, it served in the British naval squadron blockading Chesapeake Bay. At the end of the War of 1812, it served against France. In recognition of its superior sailing characteristics, its hull shape was recorded by the Royal Navy. In 1820, it resumed service as a private merchant vessel.
- Date made
- 1964
- Associated Date
- 19th century
- shipbuilder
- Kemp, Peter
- ID Number
- TR*323263
- catalog number
- 323263
- accession number
- 249753
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center