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.
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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
- artist
- Duncan, Walter Jack
- ID Number
- AF.25691
- catalog number
- 25691
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Dressing Station in Ruined Farm
- Description
- Charcoal with watercolor sketch on white paper. The scene takes place in the region of Ploisy in northern France and depicts two ambulances in front of a large building. Many wounded soldiers are sitting on the ground and receiving treatment. Several soldiers sit under the tree in the right of the sketch.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-07-19
- associated date
- 1917-1918
- referenced
- 1918-06-19
- associated person
- War Department
- artist
- Morgan, Wallace
- ID Number
- AF.25767
- catalog number
- 25767
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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First Aid Station with American Wounded
- Description
- Charcoal and crayon drawing on heavy textured cream wove paper. The work depicts German prisoners of war carrying wounded American soldiers on stretchers at a first aid station. Wounded soldiers - American and German - are shown lying and sitting on the ground in front of a building flying a white flag with a red cross on it. On the far right, in the foreground, a multi-colored camouflaged German helmet hangs on a rifle with its bayonet fixed. A tank, smoke, and fire are visible in the background.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918
- associated date
- 1917-1918
- associated person
- War Department
- artist
- Harding, George Matthews
- ID Number
- AF.25742
- catalog number
- 25742
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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An Advance Dressing Station on the Trail to Belleau Woods
- Description
- Mixed media sketch on paper. This drawing shows a dressing station for the wounded that is close to the fighting of World War I. Two soldiers are in the doorway of a dugout whose entrance is littered with stretchers and other equipment. In the background, above the dugout, are two more soldiers and an ambulance. An inscription on the drawing indicates that this dressing station was operated by the Red Cross and was constantly under shell fire.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-06-28
- associated date
- 1917-1918
- associated person
- War Department
- artist
- Smith, J. Andre
- ID Number
- AF.25948
- catalog number
- 25948
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
