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 95 items.
Page 1 of 10
A Battery of French 75's
- Description
- Charcoal with brush and ink wash. Horizontal landscape format. Several buildings and trees in background; four pieces of field artillery going into action. Soldiers standing at each canon. Pile of shot on the ground in the left of the sketch. Sketch done on white wove paper mounted on beige card with decorative ruled lines in graphite on the mount.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-06-07
- associated date
- 1917-1918
- associated person
- War Department
- maker
- Duncan, Walter Jack
- ID Number
- AF*25685
- catalog number
- 25685
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
A Lodging for the Night, 42nd Division
- Description
- Pen and ink with touches of graphite. Horizontal landscape format; village scene. Church tower and hills in background. Vehicles and a line of horses in foreground. Several soldiers moving about. Sketch done on white wove paper that is mounted on tan card with decorative ruled graphite lines.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1918
- associated date
- 1917-1918
- associated person
- War Department
- maker
- Duncan, Walter Jack
- ID Number
- AF*25686
- catalog number
- 25686
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
A Quiet Game in Essey
- Description
- Pen and ink sketch of an interior scene of a soldiers' billet. One group of men is playing cards while others watch. Another group appears on the other side of a clothesline. There is a horse in the left background. Sketch is done on tan card.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-09-15
- associated date
- 1917-1918
- associated person
- War Department
- maker
- Duncan, Walter Jack
- ID Number
- AF*25687
- catalog number
- 25687
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
American Officer Mess in the Cellar
- Description
- Graphite, charcoal, and ink wash sketch. Five officers sit around a table while another soldier serves them. The chair in the foreground is empty. On the table, a lamp illuminates the men's faces and casts shadows on the walls. A box telephone and two bottles of wine are among the items on the table. The sketch is done on white wove paper mounted on beige card that is ruled with decorative graphite lines.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1918
- associated date
- 1917-1918
- associated person
- War Department
- maker
- Duncan, Walter Jack
- ID Number
- AF*25688
- catalog number
- 25688
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
American Soldiers
- Description
- Very light ink wash and brush with touches of graphite. This interior scene is framed by the sloping roof of a loft. In the left foreground, a soldier sits on a cot holding his gun. A sword hangs on the wall in the right of the sketch. Two more soldiers can be seen through a doorway on the back wall of the loft. The sketch is done on beige wove paper mounted on beige card which is ruled in graphite. A label below the sketch, mounted on the card, reads: "AMERICAN SOLDIERS/Quartered in the loft of an old barn on the/outskirts of Chateau Thierry/BY W. J. DUNCAN/TRANSFERRED FROM THE WAR DEPARTMENT/2847"
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-06-07
- associated date
- 1917-1918
- associated person
- War Department
- maker
- Duncan, Walter Jack
- ID Number
- AF*25689
- catalog number
- 25689
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baldwin Locomotives
- Description
- Highly detailed graphite sketch. A bridge frames the top portion of the drawing. Underneath this bridge are several locomotives and many men working in what appears to be a rail yard. On the other side of the bridge, in the background, are buildings. People on the bridge are looking down at the locomotives. The sketch is on beige wove paper mounted on beige card, which has decorative ruled graphite lines.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-07-26
- associated date
- 1917-1918
- associated person
- War Department
- maker
- Duncan, Walter Jack
- ID Number
- AF*25690
- catalog number
- 25690
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Barber Shop and First Aid Station of the Red Cross at Essey
- Description
- Graphite with brush and black ink wash. The sketch depicts a shell-torn building with an automobile parked inside. A line of clothes is visible through the large hole in the building. A group of men gather around a chair, where one man is being attended to by a barber. Army truck at right of building. The sketch is done on beige wove paper mounted on beige card ruled with decorative graphite lines.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-09-17
- associated date
- 1917-1918
- associated person
- War Department
- maker
- Duncan, Walter Jack
- ID Number
- AF*25691
- catalog number
- 25691
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Blacksmith and Wagon Repair Shed on the Road to Boucq
- Description
- Graphite and black ink wash sketch. Outdoor scene of a large temporary structure where soldiers, horses, and wagons are gathered. One of the soldiers is shoeing a horse. Beige wove paper mounted on tan card ruled with decorative graphite lines.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-05-20
- associated date
- 1917-1918
- associated person
- War Department
- maker
- Duncan, Walter Jack
- ID Number
- AF*25692
- catalog number
- 25692
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Cold Nights Coming on
- Description
- Pen, ink, and brush and ink wash sketch. Several soldiers sit around a fire in a large chimney in a structure that is in ruins. Parts of the roof are missing. Two soldiers on top of a platform in the right of the sketch. Two horses on the left of the sketch. A line of clothes runs from the platform to one side of the fireplace. The sketch is done on white wove paper mounted on tan card that is ruled with decorative graphite lines.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-10-20
- associated date
- 1917-1918
- associated person
- War Department
- maker
- Duncan, Walter Jack
- ID Number
- AF*25693
- catalog number
- 25693
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Awaiting a Call
- Description
- Graphite, brush and ink wash sketch. Sketch of trucks lined up in a town square. People and soldiers are depicted; one woman with a child carries an umbrella. Two small dogs in front of the line of trucks. Hills and clouds in background. Sketch is done on white wove paper that is affixed to a larger piece of off-white card.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-05-18
- associated date
- 1917-1918
- associated person
- War Department
- maker
- Duncan, Walter Jack
- ID Number
- AF*25694
- catalog number
- 25694
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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