Military Gallery
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
- Where was the canon at the entrance of this room originally used?
- Why were musical instruments, like the piccolo and bugle, so important to military troops?
- Confederate soldiers carried a wide variety of weapons and equipment, much of it captured from Federal soldiers. Why?
- Most of you are familiar with modern grenades. What do you think is the main disadvantage of the 1860's Ketchum grenade?
- The stoneware dishes used on board the CSS Alabama differed from those used on other Confederate ships in two ways. What were the differences?
- The Nineteenth Century Gallery on the third floor contains silver made by a Mobile jeweler who manufactured swords, buttons and other military goods. One of his swords is exhibited in this room. Can you name him?
- The case displaying the Confederate soldier’s knapsack contains a piece of “hardtack.” Where does it get its name?
- What hobby was taken up by many Civil War soldiers?
- Where did “The Fighting Fourth” regiment from Alabama serve during World War I?
- Three volunteer regiments from Alabama served during the Spanish-American War. Can you name them?
- Where did the United States Marines get the name “Devil Dogs”?
- What famous Tuskegee airman is seen wearing a leather jacket in one photograph?
MILITARY ANSWERS
- The cannon originally guarded Fort Toulouse in the early 1800s.
- Music provided a beat for the marching soldiers to keep time, reminded them of home and better times, and provided a distraction by filling long hours spent waiting.
- There was a shortage of manufactured goods in the South because of its lack of industry and because of the blockades to Southern ports. Most, but not all, equipment had to be imported, smuggled in, or captured.
- This grenade weighs three pounds, but they also came in three and five pound sizes. For an army traveling mainly on foot, they were heavy and bulky.
- They were decorated with blue rather than the red used on the others and contained the motto, in French, “God helps those who help themselves.”
- James Canning, the Mobile jeweler, was just one of the Southern jewelers and silversmiths who helped the war effort by creating military equipment.
- Hardtack is almost indestructible! The piece on display is over 100 years old and still “hard as a tack.” It was suggested that hardtack be soaked in liquid before eating.
- Many soldiers carved wood utensils and figurines as they sat waiting in camps, prisons, or hospitals.
- The Regiment served five months in Nogales, Arizona, in 1916-1917.
- The First and Second Alabama (white) Volunteer Infantry Regiments and the Third Alabama (black) Volunteer Infantry Regiment, all served during the Spanish-American War.
- In World War I, the German soldiers called the United States Marines “Teufelhunden” or “Devil Dogs.”
- Chappie James, later to become a four-star general in the Air Force, is pictured.
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