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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The River Front at Saumur
- Description
- Charcoal and pencil sketch on paper. The sketch shows the buildings that line the waterfront of a city. The river is in the foreground and is bounded by a wall, with steps leading into the water. There are people along the river bank; two of them appear to be fishing. In the background is a large castle that rises above the town; this is the Château de Saumur. An original label on the drawing read, "A view of the city showing the chateau. The city is interesting as the location of an important American artillery school." On the reverse of the paper is a small sketch of an artillery gun.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-07
- artist
- Smith, J. Andre
- ID Number
- AF.26076
- catalog number
- 26076
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
The Luxembourg Frontier
- Description
- Charcoal and watercolor sketch on paper. The sketch shows the Moselle river and a riverside village to its right in the distance. The village has a church and a few large buildings. There are people (possibly soldiers) along the river bank and on the road headed into the village. There are mountains on the left side of the river.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-11
- artist
- Smith, J. Andre
- ID Number
- AF.26065
- catalog number
- 26065
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
The Church at Lucy-le-Bocage
- Description
- Mixed media sketch on paper. In the center of the sketch is a large shell-torn church tower. The church is surrounded by other ruins and there is a denuded tree in front of the church. An American soldier stands in the left foreground and a group of soldiers is marching by the church in the left background.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-08
- artist
- Smith, J. Andre
- ID Number
- AF.26074
- catalog number
- 26074
- accession number
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History