At the center of a new exhibit in the National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir is a wax replica of Revolutionary War soldier William Seymour.
Around Seymour are soldiers charging into battle, including formerly enslaved man Cato Varnum who won a Badge of Military Merit for his actions at Yorktown. Just behind Seymour are Anna and John Lane, a couple who fought together at Germantown.
But while Seymour fought in every major battle of the Southern Theater of the war, the wax figure isn’t fighting. He’s writing in a diary about the miles marched, about daily events, and about how many of his comrades are barefoot and suffered “with the greatest patience imaginable.”
Opened to the public on Saturday (June 7), the new special exhibit — Call to Arms: The Soldier and the Revolutionary War — focuses on the daily lives, the challenges, and the ambitions of soldiers like Seymour, Varnum and the Lanes.
Noted historical figures are represented, with a pistol and sword belonging to George Washington and the sword Cornwallis allegedly surrendered with at Yorktown among the objects on display. But with its newest exhibit, the museum aims to humanize the everyday soldiers who fought in the war.
Paul Morando, chief curator of the National Museum of the United States Army, said that while other parts of the museum offer a general overview of wars involving the U.S. Army, “Call to Arms” focuses on helping visitors understand life for the everyday soldier.
The exhibit is timed to coincide with the Army’s 250th anniversary on June 14, and it joins a plethora of events organized locally and across the country leading up to next year’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
The special exhibit is set to run from June 2025 through June 2027, though some pieces could be rotated out earlier. At 5,000 square feet in size, it includes interactive, 3-D maps depicting the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Yorktown and touch-screen kiosks that break down the war by battle, in addition to the seven life-sized figures.
“People connect with the big names like Hamilton and Washington, but I want visitors to come away with stories of soldiers they’ve never heard about before,” Morando said. “It was the soldiers who had to fight for our independence. It was the common soldier who won the war.”
Morando has spent the last four years working on the exhibit. Much of that has been dealing with the logistics of bringing together a collection of artifacts from not just American donors, but also partnerships with collections in Canada, England and France.
Some objects, like a French soldier’s coat from the Revolutionary War era, were on display at the Army Museum in Paris and have never been displayed in the U.S. before, so Morando and his team had to figure out how to transport the objects. Others have special display requirements, like low light levels to keep the color on textiles from fading.
According to Morando, one of the biggest challenges was that, while the majority of museums were willing to loan objects, they didn’t want to loan them out until close to the exhibit was scheduled to open. As a result, even with years of planning, the exhibit still had to be pulled together in a tight timeframe.
“It was amazing over the past 30 days seeing it come together,” said Tammy Call, director of the National Museum of the United States Army.
Call saw the pieces as they were being assembled as part of the exhibit, but before it opened, she walked through it like someone experiencing it for the first time.
Call said the act of opening the door to the exhibit and having it close behind the visitor helps cement the feeling of immersion in the exhibit.
“It’s so light and airy in the lobby. Then you open and close the door here and you’re almost encased,” said Call. “It’s emotional.”
After four years of work, the exhibit opened this past weekend with living-history reenactments, craft projects, powder horn-carving demonstrations and other activities.
“It’s bittersweet; you have a sense of ownership, but now you have to step back and let visitors appreciate it,” Morando said. “It’s been very fulfilling to see visitors responding in such a positive way; connecting to these stories. It’s very satisfying.”
The free museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It’s not located on the Fort Belvoir base, so a military ID isn’t required to gain access — something staff at the museum says sometimes scares away potential visitors.
Also this past weekend, the Army Museum hosted an inaugural 6.14K Road Race on Sunday (June 8) as part of the Army’s birthday celebration, which will culminate somewhat controversially with a parade in D.C. on June 14.
