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 10 items.
Hernan Cortes
- Description
- This engraving shows Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), the Spanish captain who headed the conquest of the Aztec Empire. He became a part of popular mythology the moment he arrived in Mexico in 1521. Cortés had spent time in Cuba killing and enslaving its indigenous inhabitants and administering the new social order of the Spanish colonies of the Caribbean. As his well-read memoirs attest, even his experiences in Cuba did not prepare him for the history-altering intrigues, battles, and cultural encounters between the Spanish and the Mexicans, Mayas, and their many neighbors in between. Motivated by an ancient notion of fame, Hernán Cortés wrote his own version of the conquest of Mexico that put him squarely at the center, favored by the Christian God. But neither his victories nor his pillage of the Mexican capital would have been possible without the aid of soldiers, slaves, and supplies from the enemies of the Aztecs. As a testament to Cortés's enduring fame, his portrait by the Spanish painter Antonio Carnicero was published as an engraving by Manuel Salvador y Carmona in 1791 in the book, Retratos de los españoles ilustres, con un epítome de sus vidas, (Portraits of Illustrious Spaniards, with a Synopsis of Their Lives.)
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1795
- depicted
- Cortes, Hernan
- original artist
- Carnicero, D. A.
- graphic artist
- Carmona, D. J. A.
- ID Number
- GA*20683
- catalog number
- 20683
- accession number
- 226630
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
[Military training in front of adobe homes.] Active no. 2178. [Stereo photonegative], 1905
- Notes
- Similar to RSN 11412. Orig. no. 41219
- Possibly taken by one of the Underwood brothers. Company catalog card included
- Currently stored in box 2.1.17 [64]
- Date
- 1905
- 1900-1910
- publisher
- Underwood & Underwood
- photographer?
- Underwood, Elmer 1859-1947
- Underwood, Bert 1862-1943
- publisher
- American Stereoscopic Co
- Local number
- RSN 10483
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Topographical Engineer's Uniform
- Description
- Physical Description
- Dark-blue cloth, double-breasted, with two parallel rows of buttons. Standing collar and cuffs of dark-blue velvet; the collar and cuffs are embroidered in gold, with oak leaves and acorns, according to the designs in the Topographical Bureau. Buttons bear the shield of the United States and the letters "T.E." in old English characters.
- Chapeau for Officers of Topographical Engineers
- The chapeau is of black beaver felt and is described in the regulations as "cocked without binding; fan or back part not more than eleven inches, nor less than nine inches; the front or cock not more than nine inches, nor less than eight inches; each corner, six inches; black ribbons on the two front sides." The ends are decorated with tassels of gold bullion; the front has a black silk cockade under a gold loop, eleven inches long, ornamented with a gilt spread eagle, a scroll, and the button of the Corps. The plume is of black swan feathers, drooping from an upright stem, feathered to the length of eight inches.
- Specific History
- This coat and hat were part of the uniform of a Topographical Engineer.
- General History
- Topographical Engineers were authorized for War Department duty by a March 3, 1813 act, to conduct engineering surveys for military purposes and to explore routes for the passage of troops. Specifically the duties of the topographical engineers were "to make such surveys and exhibit such delineations as the commanding generals shall direct; to make plans of all military positions which the army may occupy and of their respective vicinities, indicating the various roads, rivers, creeks, ravines, hills, woods, and villages to be found therein; to accompany all reconnoitering parties sent out to obtain intelligence of the movements of the enemy or of his positions; to make sketches of their routes, accompanied by written notices of everything worthy of observation therein; to keep a journal of every day's movement when the army is in march, noticing the variety of ground, of buildings, of culture, and distances, and state of roads between common points throughout the march of the day; and lastly, to exhibit the positions of contending armies on the fields of battle, and the dispositions made, either for attack or defense."
- date made
- ca 1830
- associated date
- 1839
- ID Number
- AF*22702
- catalog number
- 22702
- accession number
- 64127
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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
Buffalo Coat
- Description
- Physical Description
- Specific History
- According to legend, this coat was made from the skin of a buffalo killed by Buffalo Bill, and presented by him to Captain J. B. Irvine, Twenty-second U.S. Infantry. Irvine then presented it to Second Lieutenant Albert C. Dalton, Company A, U.S. Infantry.
- General History
- In a life that was part legend and part fantasy, William F. Cody came to embody the spirit of the West. During the Civil War, Cody served first as a Union scout in campaigns against the Kiowa and Comanche; then in 1863 he enlisted with the Seventh Kansas Cavalry, which saw action in Missouri and Tennessee. In 1867, Cody took up the trade that gave him his nickname, hunting buffalo to feed the construction crews of the Kansas Pacific Railroad. According to Buffalo Bill, he killed 4,280 head of buffalo in seventeen months.
- He is perhaps best known for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, a theatrical extravaganza. His show dramatized some of the most picturesque elements of frontier life. It contained a buffalo hunt with real buffalos, an Indian attack with real Indians, and a grand finale that reenacted Custer’s Last Stand, with some Lakota who actually fought in the battle playing a part. The show was enormously successful and traveled the world for three decades.
- From Brigadier General Albert C. Dalton, US Army (Ret'd), written 26th July 1951:
- "This coat was made from the skin of a buffalo killed by the celebrated "Buffalo Bill" (Mr. William F. Cody) at the time he was engaged in supplying buffalo meat to the workers on the Union Pacific Railway, and also to the troops of the United States Army in the same area. The skin was presented to Captain Javan B. Irvine 22nd US Infantry who was a famous Indian fighter and a close friend of Buffalo Bill during the days when he was with the army as a guide and Indian Scout. Captain Irvine presented the coat to then 2nd Lieut Albert C. Dalton 22nd Inf. who served in Captain Irvine's Company "A" 22nd Infantry from May 1889 to Aug 1891---when he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieut and assigned to the regiment for duty as an officer. Captain Irvine retired the same year and on leaving the regiment gave the coat to Lieut Dalton.
- The coat was repaired and the quilted lining put in in place of the old lining in 1910 at the Schuykill Army Factory".
- wearer
- Cody, Buffalo Bill
- ID Number
- AF*54564
- catalog number
- 54564
- accession number
- 191694
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Cherokee .28 Caliber Percussion Pistol
- Description
- This .28-caliber percussion pistol with a distinctive underhammer design was made in Qualla Town, now Cherokee, North Carolina in 1843. Inscriptions in English and Cherokee identify it as the work of Salola, a blacksmith of the Oconaluftee Cherokee.
- Underhammer pistols were popular from the mid-1830s until the Civil War. Sometimes called bootleg pistols, underhammers were easily constructed, were easy to carry and draw, offered an unobstructed line of sight for aiming, and provided a measure of safety from exploding percussion caps to the shooter's eyes.
- This pistol was sent to the Patent Office in 1845 by William Holland Thomas as an example of the educational and industrial aptitude of the Cherokee people. A white trader in Qualla Town, Thomas learned the Cherokee language and was soon adopted by the tribe. He went on to become a lawyer and represented the Eastern Band of Cherokee as a state senator and as an advocate in Washington, D. C.
- The pistol was held at the Patent Office until the opening of the Smithsonian's Arts & Industries Building in 1883.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1843
- associated date
- 1845
- maker
- Salolinita
- ID Number
- AF*96913
- catalog number
- 096913
- accession number
- 13152
- 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
Andrew Jackson's Sword and Scabbard
- Description
- Physical Description
- Forged steel with metal scabbard.
- Specific History
- Andrew Jackson carried this sword and scabbard while commanding the American forces, which included Tennessee militia, U.S. regulars, and Cherokee, Choctaw, and Southern Creek Indians during the Creek War in the War of 1812.
- 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.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- used date
- 1812
- associated person
- Jackson, Andrew
- ID Number
- AF*32012
- catalog number
- 32012
- accession number
- 68016
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Lithograph of "Indian Antiquities" pottery artifacts
- Description
- P.S. Duval and Company (c.1840s–1858) of Philadelphia printed this lithograph of “Indian Antiquities,” depicting South American woodenware, from an original sketch by John M. Stanley (1814–1872) of Detroit (1834–1840, 1864–1872) and Washington, D.C. (1850-1860). The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate X in the “Indian remains” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by Thomas Ewbank (1792–1870).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1855
- original artist
- Wallis, O. J.
- Dreser, William
- Herbst, Francis
- graphic artist
- Sinclair, Thomas
- Dougal, William H.
- Duval, Peter S.
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- Stanley, John Mix
- Siebert, Selmar
- author
- Cassin, John
- Ewbank, Thomas
- Baird, Spencer Fullerton
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2007.0204.01
- accession number
- 2007.0204
- catalog number
- 2007.0204.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
[Military training in front of adobe homes.] 2178 Interpositive 1905
- Notes
- Same as RSN 10483. Possibly photographed by either Bert or Elmer Underwood
- Currently stored in box 2.2.5 [120]
- Date
- 1905
- 1900-1910
- publisher
- Underwood & Underwood
- photographer?
- Underwood, Bert 1862-1943
- Underwood, Elmer 1859-1947
- publisher
- American Stereoscopic Co
- Local number
- RSN 11412
- Video number 10683
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
