First Medal of Honor, Grant's 4 Star Coat, Eisenhower's Last Uniform | Behind the Glass Part 2 

My college history class: professor brings in a civil war bullet. West Point’s history class: professor brings in Grant’s battle uniform.

That Grant coat looks amazing, you could probably smell the cigar aroma off of it!

Cannot believe those are pieces of flag poles that flew over Mexican forts in the 1840s. Incredible.

The American Battlefield Trust does amazing educational work to help Americans learn about our history and the people who made that history. He was grateful to be allowed to to get a deep dive in the museum but who better than him and his organization to visit and teach thousands via these videos. Thank you.

Just a bit of trivia. Dennis Hart Mahan was the father of Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, the father of much of modern Naval strategy. Middle name is interesting also. Never realized the connection

Kris and Mike thank you very much for the tour on these uniforms and artifacts. Grant and Eisenhower’s Uniforms are just awesome. Loved it ❤️ 💯👍👊

So Cool! love seeing Grant"s uniform! You are the best

Thank you. U.S. Grant and Dwight D Eisenhower are two of my favorite Presidents and Generals. I have read so many books regarding both. To see their actual dress uniforms is amazing. General Schwarzkopf from the Gulf War is another one I hold in high esteem.

18:57 Grant’s mechanical drawings…. Grant was also a very competent sketch artist and painter and it’s worth a moment to see examples on the web.

Ike was my fathers hero, as he thought Ike walked on water. Where would we be without his highway system? Great video.

Fantastic 😊 as a ex Australian Army Veteran l just love your history 💜.

Good lord Eisenhower’s uniform. I idolized him as a kid and still do to this day. All of this is incredible.

as a Canadian this is impressive... some awesome history here,

Beyond impressive - and I learned something. Thanks -

Excellent information on American history. A special thank you to Michael Diaz.

I remember my grandfather used to have a whole plastic bag full of Eisenhower coins. I loved them. Times long gone for sure.

Having seen these pieces in person with your own eyes, is incredible. Saw each of these many times as a cadet…Chokes you up being in the presence of them.

I’m a blood relative of Jacob Parrott. So proud of his service & his award.

The first Army Medal of Honor was awarded to Private Jacob Parrott during the American Civil War for his role in the Great Locomotive Chase. Bernard John Dowling Irwin was the first (chronologically by action) Medal of Honor recipient during the Apache Wars. His actions on February 13, 1861, are the earliest for which the Medal of Honor was awarded.[8]

I’ve been to that museum with my nephew, it was a wonder place for history. Military history is my greatest interest!

Often overlooked about West Point is that it not only produced so many of our legendary officers and fighting Generals, but it is also the birthplace of the Army Corps of Engineers. Their history is utterly fascinating in and of itself.

I’m so glad that you covered this and so glad that I was able to see it. Thanks so much again for telling history facts and not changing anything. Ed from Lynchburg

Thanks for the education guys! Really enjoyed it! 👏👏👏

Thank you for continuing these video tours, great to see these treasures brought to light, if only briefly, which is understandable. The curator needs to brush up on his “medal” identification and work on his delivery.

I need to go and see my 5th great grandfathers grave at West Point. Winfield Scott.

Greetings from south Texas! Awesome upload. Go Army!

Jacob Parrott is from Kenton Ohio and is actually buried there. I regularly drive through Kenton as i only live about 30 minutes away and every once in awhile i will stop and see his grave.

I have been to this museum. WOW, so incredible to be close to this much history. A must go if you love history.

Correct awards shown on Ike’s jacket from left to right are the Army Distinguished Service Medal w/ 3 oak leaf clusters (indicating 4 awards in total), Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and Legion of Merit Medal.

Another great encounter with American Battlefield Trust!!! West Point museum!!! Diaz your an amazing curator, WOW 1840s US Mexican War, ACW, and Amer revolutionary war of independence, !! So cool

this was amazing

Another excellent video. You guys are tremendous.

Great pieces, great commentary. Thank you both.

This is awesome thanks for posting. I may go there soon!

This was amazing there's nothing I love more than the history of our nation heros it's important they get heard and keep getting passed on so our fellow Americans in the future or our allies can see these pieces that mean so much to our nation god bless them and all our veterans thank u for ur service much appreciation and respect

Another video with more WWII uniforms would be great!

Incredible!

Fantastic show. Thanks for sharing.

I grew up just south of West Point and spent a considerable amount of time there. And my cousin is Class of 83!! I can't recommend a visit enough. Besides the remarkable history of West Point, that entire region of upstate New York along the Hudson River, in the summertime, is fantastic.

I never even thought about West Point having a museum. This collection here was awesome. I'm curious if they've treated the fabric of those old uniforms with something, because it seems like the material would be very fragile after so many years.

On Mar 09, 1864, MG Grant was promoted to LTG. This was a “regular” promotion, not a brevet promotion like was held by Winfield Scott. Congress enacted legislation to create, or recreate this rank that was last held by LTG George Washington. LTG Grant was simultaneously appointed General-in-Chief of the U.S. Army. He chose to campaign with the Army of the Potomac, which he allowed to remain under the command of MG Meade. Then, as you say, after the war, LTG Grant was promoted to be the first 4-star GEN. The 2022 or 2023 National Defense Authorization Act posthumously promoted GEN Grant to the rank of General-of-the-Armies that is effectively a six-star general, and not to be confused with the 5-star ones. There have been three Generals-of-the-Armies. The first was John Pershing of the First World War. The Second was George Washington, and the third and last was Grant. There is no official rank insignia; Pershing was told he could choose for himself. When representing America in the UK, he once wore 4 gold stars. President Ford, by executive order, made George Washington the most senior member of the armed forces forevermore, regardless of rank, title, insignia, or position.

This video is priceless, thanks so much for sharing this.

Id love to see the captured battle flags collection

Loved this upload tyvm gang

This is so awesome man

Great tour. Enjoyed it!

its wild that we still have the first medal of Honor ever Awarded

This is so cool. Went to the WestPoint Museum during the summer of 2022, saw some rare flags they had off display but not these artifacts. Thank you for showing.

Simply Awesome!

What an honor just to be in the same room as those items !!! Wow

Wow. That "Ike" cap looks like it has bullion insignia directly embroidered into the cap! Rare. Hitler and Goring also had that unique feature on their caps.

I thoroughly enjoyed this presentation guys, great work! 👍

this was so interesting . I loved this... thank you

Very excited to see that MOH. Thank you so much for sharing. By the way, the second ribbon on Eisenhower's chest is a Navy DSM, not a DOD DSM.

Brevet promotions were a means to expand the officer corps temporarily to allow a greatly enlarged wartime army to have the leadership it needed as it was understood the Army could not give permanent commissions (called “Regular Army” Commissions), to all the officers needed at the higher ranks. Many junior Regular Army Officers like Custer had brevet promotions that allowed them to command units such as Regiment,, Brigades and Divisions/. Congress had to approve regular army commissions and were quite stingy about it in the civil war era as they knew the Army would contract in size greatly after the war. A similar system existed during WW1 and WW2 that created thousands of “Reserve Officer” commissions.

Biggest thing I noticed was how small and lean the Jackets are....and they had a shirt underneath. Years ago, I saw Theodore Roosevelt's Tan Rough Rider Jacket in Oyster Bay NY and thought how small, maybe size 38 Regular.

Great video. Thank you for sharing. ♥️🤍💙

I would love to work there at West Point museum. It's an honor to work at the academy where so of many of the figures attend.

Awesome video!!

That’s awesome history

Interesting tidbit Tommy Thayer who is the is the lead guitarist of the rock band KISS for the last 15 years and is the spaceman persona that was originated by Ace frehley. Is a descendant of Sylvanus Thayer.

Anybody remember the Ike jacket? I found boxes of them years ago. Should have held on to them.

Hope you do the same for the Naval Academy.

Army ranks have been revised over time. As commander of all Union troops in the field, Grant wore three stars, the current rank of lieutenant general. He got his fourth star on July 25, 1866, denoting the new rank of General of the Army. The modern four-star rank is that of general. The rank above it, General of the Army, was created during World War II as an equivalent to the European rank of field marshal, which does not exist in the American military. It was conferred upon Douglas McArthur, Henry "Hap" Arnold, George C. Marshall, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, and, later in 1950, upon Omar Bradley, the last individual to hold it to date. Five silver stars, in a circle. Above that is the rank of General of the Armies, plural, permanently reserved for George Washington alone.

The pieces of flagpoles represent a time when our Army sought to completely demoralize our enemies. "We're not just giving your Army a whipping, but we're making trophies of your flagpoles and cannon." The Chapultepec Baton, maintained in the 3rd US Infantry Regiment's "The Old Guard" (TOG), was fashioned from a flagpole. While it's behind protective glass, to this day TOG First Sergeants are presented a reproduction swagger cane upon assumption of responsibility. A further repurposing of captured enemy weapons is the old main gate at Fort McNair. It uses captured cannon from the Civil War and McNair itself is the third oldest military installation behind West Point and Carlisle Barracks. I had the honor of serving in TOG twice, though my second tour was abbreviated when I moved to higher headquarters. So, I spent about eight months total on Fort Myer, and over six years on McNair, the first four of which were with Alpha Company of TOG.

Engineering school means a heavy emphasis on mathematics. If I recall correctly from Omar N. Bradley's autobiography " A Generals Life", he made application for West Point with his Congressman, but being from a humble background he was designated an alternative candidate in favor of a local rich kid from a politically connected family. When the rich kid failed the entrance math exam at West Point, the Congressman urgently contacted Bradley, who was working in a locomotive shop, to make haste to West Point in order to save the slot for that class. Omar hadn't picked up his math text books for months but brushed up on the train and passed the exam and joined the class. General Bradley had a very high aptitude for mathematics and analytical thinking, his mastery of logistics and organizational skills placed him in high command in Europe, and when asked to organize the modern Veterans Administration that we know today, instead of insisting on a further high command in the Pacific Theater, a grateful President Truman installed him as the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in the post WWII reorganized US Military. True service to his country and fellow soldiers.

What does "payed a song for" mean? Tia This was an outstanding video. It's so nice to see these artifacts.

Thank you very cool

This was a great presentation. I always thought it strange that Eisenhower didn’t wear many of his decorations in most photos. You had one here that he’s wearing the most I’ve seen him wear in period photos. Is this just Ike’s modestly. That’s how I interpreted it.

Colonel Thayer. Awesome

But if you get a chance to visit General Eisenhower's home in Abilene, KS, you should visit it. He was buried there as well. My mother and us kids were living in Salina, KS when President Eisenhower died and was buried there.

Field trip to Fort Arnold. Go Navy!!

M.O.H #3 issued 2nd LT, Robert Buffen. "The Great Train Raid" not buried in Chattanooga. He rests in Auburn NY.

The middle ribbon on Ike’s uniform is the Navy DSM, not the DoD equivalent as mentioned by the museum expert.

unless i misread things, brevet was the same as a theater promotions for officers and was last seen in the Korean War. it was not really honorary, it just wasn’t permanent. Colonel Thayer was in all ways a brigadier general, but reverted back to his official rank when his duties were done if you looked at the service records of many officers from WWI and WWII you see that same reverting back to prewar ranks when they returned home

Do they have flags from the revolutionary war and the continuation war of 1812? (heard some stats that it was a global war)

Curious if there were any writtings from West Point Cadets during the Civil War commiting on wearing grey uniforms.

Could we get a transcript of the brass plates on the flag poles? Is one of them from Monterrey Mexico?

Dennis Hart Mahan might not be well remembered outside of West Point but his Son was Alfred Thayer Mahan was the man whose ideas drove the naval arms race of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries

16:18 in the photo of Grant, a grouping of 3 buttons, the one on display a grouping of 4. But still a good visual.

Wow, so how are the cloth items dusted? I know they would beat wool jackets which I think will not work on these artifacts

That’s a great story about Eisenhower and his son. Hilarious

Please turn up the volume of video!

Excellent video as always! Please forgive me if you’ve touched on this already, but what is the right phrasing, “Congressional Medal of Honor “ or simply “Medal of Honor?” During my years in the military it was always drilled to us that it was simply The Medal of Honor, can you clarify? Again, thank you for another great video!

How did you guys get your videos on tubi ? I have a show I’m looking to get on tubi

1952 Was the last time Eisenhower was in uniform as NATO Supreme Commander.

Minor correction: the Legion of Merit award on Eisenhower’s uniform was erroneously described by the curator as the “Legion of Honor”, a French award or medal. Easy mistake to make.

Question all the general,s you are mentioning. Are those general,s accurately buried at West Point?

Just out of curiosity....Grant's coat looks kind of small. Is that an optical illusion?

Gary, move over a little bit so we don’t see that red fire bell constantly in the background. Thank you sir

Tell us about "Eggnog" rebellion.

the hat is floating in the thumbnail.

Not to quibble but the Medal of Honor on left, 13:08 is a cheap replica for display purposes.

1:30 West Point was owned, ran, and the site of the betrayal of Benedict Arnold as well right?

Imagine how much more we’d know if we didn’t spend a month talking about the Industrial Revolution every year in school. I mean, I get how important the IR was, but how many times do I need to hear about the cotton gin and Eli Whitney before you realize I understand?

16:14 similar coat, not the same coat.

Why are sleeves so long. Granted the jacket was short to the waist.

I am disappointed that the uniform curator doesnt know his medals. On Ike's uniform the center ribbon is the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. The third ribbon is the Legion of Merit not the Legion of Honor. Please do your homework. The patch is that of SHAEF not SHAPE.

What gets me is the size of these uniforms. The host here looks like a pretty average sized guy. Standing next to the old uniforms, he looks like Swarzeneggar. I mean, look at the size of the shoulders. People back then were REALLY small!

"Medals Of Honor" is the correct plural, NOT "Medal Of Honors" !