The Quartermaster Museum is currently closed due to the government shutdown.
This ornate M1902 Officers Saber was presented to Brigadier General Albert Owen Seaman of the Quartermaster Corps after his promotion to Assistant to the Quartermaster General in December 1936. The sword is a beautiful work of art, with design elements such as the eagle head pommel featuring ruby eyes, and silver coated feathering running down the top of the hilt. The guard also is silver coated with additional details, and the blade features gold gilded ornamentation on all details. In the middle of the blade “A. Owen Seaman, Brigadier General, Q.M.C., March 24, 1937” marks the date he was presented with the sword.
General Seaman served in the Army for nearly four decades from the Spanish American War until the late 1930s at a wide variety of locations from the Philippines to Brooklyn, New York and many places in between. While he started in the Infantry, most of his career was as a Quartermaster, much of it revolving around the Army Transportation Service, both on land and at sea. He also served with the General Staff during World War I (see ID card). His position as Assistant to the Quartermaster General was his last posting before retirement.
One of the oldest items in the museum archives is this copy of the 1835 Army Regulations. Covering everything from rank structure to how much firewood was authorized for soldiers, the regulations were a crucial codified piece of military order. The first official Army regulations were published in 1821, although early Army procedure can be traced back foundational guidelines first introduced by Baron von Steuben during the American Revolution.
At over 260 pages, the 1835 version was quite thorough and provided information on a wide variety of topics. The museum’s copy is in decent condition for being nearly 200 years old, and for having served as a circulating library book for many of those years. However, the most interesting aspect of the book is the name scrawled at the top of the title page: “H. Wager Halleck”.
A 1839 graduate of U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Henry Wager Halleck served in the Army for most of the next 30+ years, gaining prominence as General-in-Chief during the Civil War before Ulysses S. Grant ultimately replaced him in the role. He likely obtained this copy of the regulations as a cadet at West Point. Known by the nickname “Old Brains” for his studious nature (later derogatory due to his cautious, overanalyzing generalship), Halleck served with the Engineers, which is evidenced by various stamps in the book. It is a mystery how the book ended up in the Quartermaster Museum archives.
This month’s artifact is a camouflaged M-1942 Jump Suit that the Rigger School here on Fort Lee donated to the museum in the 1950s. This month marks the 81st anniversary of Operation DRAGOON, the invasion of southern France, taking place on 15 August 1944. This operation was meant to open up another front against the Germans and secure more ports for the influx of supplies. Like the Normandy invasion two months prior, DRAGOON had seaborne and airborne elements. The airborne element was the First Airborne Task Force, with the American element being made up mostly of independent parachute battalions including the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team, 551st PIB, and the 463d Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, among others.
The jumpsuit is colloquially known as the M42 jump uniform, which is made up of the Coat, Parachute Jumper and Trousers, Parachute Jumper. At the Italian airfields prior to the jump, engineers spray painted the paratroopers’ uniforms and field gear with zinc chromate green (used on aircraft interiors) and matte black. After having applied their camo face paint, Staff Sergeant Charles Fairlamb of the 551st PIB remembered the men as a “frightful looking bunch.” Sewn to the left shoulder is a cut-down oil cloth American Flag brassard. Interestingly the outline of this paratrooper’s web gear can be seen and he appears to have been a Technician fifth grade based on the rank shadow on the sleeves. The Allies were successful with DRAGOON driving the Germans out of southern France and into the Vosges Mountains on the border of Germany where intense fighting took place from September to February 1945.
During the Civil War, the US Army used Jeffersonville, Indiana as a supply center due to its geographic location on the Ohio River across from Louisville, Kentucky. After the war, the Quartermaster Department consolidated these separate entities into one, and from 1871-1874 built what was first called the “Western Arsenal of the Quartermaster’s Department”. Later it would be known simply as the Jeffersonville Quartermaster Depot and would continue operations until after the Korean War.
When first constructed, the depot covered four blocks, with buildings on the outside perimeter and an open space inside. Notably, Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs commissioned famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead to design the grounds of the depot. However, while considering the aesthetics of the facility, General Meigs also wanted it to be defensible due to its crucial role for the Army and so ensured that a watch tower was built onto the central Building 2. This stone marker was originally set into the wall of the guard tower, bearing the date of 1872 with some key figures such as General Meigs and General Sherman showcased along with the apt motto “In peace prepare for war.” The tower would later be torn down around the turn of the century in order to expand Building 2. The stone marker eventually came to Ft. Lee in the late 1950s and has been in the museum’s collection since then.
This month’s artifact is a World War II K-ration crate still containing the waxed cardboard liner. During WWII, the infantryman was issued several different types of rations such as the combat C-ration, the bitter-tasting emergency D-ration, 10-in-1 rations, and the K-ration. The K-ration was meant to have “all-around suitability” and was therefore given the name Field Ration, Type K to represent its universality. The wooden ration crate held 36 individual meals (one day’s worth of meals for 12 soldiers). To protect the contents from moisture, the crate had a waxed cardboard liner. Additionally, the individual ration components were issued in two cardboard boxes, an outer and inner, with the inner box sealed in wax to waterproof and could also be burned to heat the ration.
In 1942, and throughout most of the war the first part of the ration consisted of K-1 or K-2 biscuits, appearing much like a thick saltine cracker. The second part, a can about 1/3 the size of a soup can containing meat or a cheese spread. The third part, depending on the meal, a fruit bar with breakfast; milk dextrose tablets with dinner; and a 2oz D-ration bar with supper. The fourth part was a powdered drink again depending on the meal, coffee with breakfast; lemon with dinner; and bouillon with supper. All meals had chewing gum, a pack of four cigarettes, and sugar tablets.
The men in the field slightly preferred the K-ration to the C-ration for its lightweight portability. The biggest complaint from the men was the monotony of the meals with some men throwing out the portions they did not like, causing a caloric deficit the Army had not anticipated. The men also always wanted more coffee than was supplied in the rations. Denis Huston of the 99th Infantry Division noted some of the undesirable portions of the K-ration, “The L box, the most unpopular of the three, contained a can of rubbery cheese…The D box included a can of hash or some other mixture of foodstuff not always readily identifiable by sight, smell or taste.” In the last months of the war the soldiers in the field noted that their K-rations tasted better as evidently their complaints had been heard by the Army. Max Kocour of the 90th Infantry Division stoically summed up most infantrymen’s feelings about the K-ration, “It was not great, but what the hell.”
Since 1862, the Quartermaster Corps has been responsible for the Mortuary Affairs (previously called Graves Registration) mission. The first mortuary affairs Quartermasters (92Ms) to support Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan were the 54th Quartermaster Company, who worked out of a temporary structure at Bagram Airbase. By the end of 2002, a more permanent building was constructed for their important work.
This sign hung on the morgue at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan from around 2003 until 2006 when the 111th Quartermaster Company replaced it. The weathered metal sign shows hand painted letters, completed by either a member of the 54th QM Co. or the 311th QM Co., a mortuary affairs unit from the Puerto Rico Army Reserve that also served at Bagram. In 2005, the 111th QM Co. was stood up in response to the increased mission requirements in Afghanistan and Iraq.
This sign is a small tangible representation of the important, and often overlooked, mission of the 92Ms. At Bagram, as wherever they are stationed, these Quartermasters handled their duty in accordance with their motto: “Dignity, Reverence, Respect.”
Lt. Theodore O. Hulse used this M1 helmet liner during his time as commander of Company D at the Quartermaster Replacement Training Center at (then) Fort Lee, Virginia in 1952. The Quartermaster Corps developed the M1 helmet liner during World War II in conjunction with the Ordnance Corps designing the outer “steel pot” for the M1 helmet. Based on the maker’s mark, Lt. Hulse’s liner was manufactured by the Westinghouse Electric Company in Pittsburgh, PA, one of the many companies who made these liners during WWII. The OD-3 colored webbing inside also indicates that this liner was from the WWII stock, and was not one of those manufactured during the Korean War. Lt. Hulse’s helmet liner has been hand painted to identify that he was stationed at the Quartermaster RTC and has his rank insignia affixed on the front.
Lt. Hulse’s scrapbook from this time (in the Quartermaster Museum archives) showcases the wide range of activities that soldiers would have trained in during the Korean War era. The RTC was active from WWII through the Vietnam War, and was a combination of boot camp and preparing soldiers for their Quartermaster duties. From a few selected photos, one can also see other cadre wearing similar helmet liners.
This is a regulation Army Green shade 44 (AG-44) woman’s service hat manufactured circa 1983. Head gear of this color had been approved for women as far back as 1959. This hat would have been worn by a company grade officer (someone holding the rank of Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, or Captain).
By the time this hat was issued, the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) no longer existed, and women were serving in nearly every type of position in the army.
Distinctive Unit Insignias (DUI) have a long history in the Army. Beginning in the early 1900s, distinctive unit decorations were authorized in the US Army, with the modern form of a coat of arms appearing after World War I. The example here is the insignia used by the 758th Tank Battalion and later the 64th Armor Regiment. It depicts a black African elephant with white tusks accompanied by the motto “We Pierce”. This crest was designed by a soldier of the 758th and standardized by the Heraldic Section of the Office of the Quartermaster General. From 1924 until 1962, this section of the Quartermaster Corps had the mission to research, design, and standardize the symbols, DUI’s, flags, patches, medals, seals, coats of arms, and other heraldic items for the Army. Following an Army reorganization in 1962, the Institute of Heraldry continued under the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army.
Originally formed as the 78th Tank Battalion in January 1941, the 758th Tank Battalion was the first black armored unit in the U.S. Army. The battalion was permanently attached to the 92nd Infantry Division and served in the Italian Campaign in World War II. In 1949, the 758th Tank Battalion was redesignated the 64th Heavy Tank Battalion and was assigned to the 2nd Armored Division. In 1950, it would be assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division and was deployed to combat operations during the Korean War where it participated in 8 separate campaigns, from the intervention of the Chinese Communist Forces to the ceasefire. It would later become the 64th Armor Regiment, keeping the same insignia, assigned to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division. In this role the 64th Armor Regiment would serve with distinction in several conflicts including Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Fox, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom.
The insignia itself has great significance to the unit as well. Being the first black armored unit, the African elephant symbolized the soldier’s pride in their heritage and their unit’s mission of mobile armored warfare. This insignia also garnered them with the nickname “Tuskers” during the Second World War, which a battalion of the 64th Tank Regiment carries to this day.
While a bit unusual looking for American weaponry, the Foot Artillery Sword was used from 1832 through the Civil War. These two examples from the collection are a standard M1832 model issued to U.S. Army soldiers as well as a rough Confederate copy. While called a sword, these typically would not have been used in any type of combat, but instead were used more in the manner of a modern machete for such tasks as clearing brush. The M1832 was based heavily on the 1816 French artillery sword which in turn was inspired in its design from the ancient Roman gladius short sword. Owing to its non-combat reputation, the French nickname for the sword was the “cabbage cutter”.
The M1832 foot artillery sword is 25 inches long, with a 19 inch blade. The brass hilt is solid brass, and has a unique fish scale grip based on the original French design. The museum’s sword is stamped 1834, and was produced by the Ames Manufacturing Company from Springfield, Massachusetts. An eagle is visible above the manufacturing stamp as well as on the pommel. The Confederate copy of this sword has the same basic dimensions but has no ornamentation or marks. It also features a ringed grip as common in French versions after 1831, but the blade is much more basic than the M1832, with only a hint of a fuller (groove) on the side of the blade. Unfortunately the museum does not have records tying either of these two swords to any particular person, unit, or campaign but showing them side to side illustrates some of the differences between Union and Confederate manufacturing during the Civil War.
