Description: This photograph shows various military aircraft at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. Two men are standing in the center background of the photograph. Beginning in the 1910s, with World War I's outbreak, the United States government began investigating the use of airplanes in war. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson created the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA). This committee suggested establishing a center to research the use of airplanes in the military and also to seek improvements in airplane technology. Due to the presence of several automobile and aircraft plants in Ohio, the NACA established this center at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio. By 1924 the United States Air Corps had outgrown the facilities at McCook Field. Hoping to keep the Air Corps in Dayton, city officials and residents donated 5,250 acres of land on the city's outskirts. The Air Corps accepted the land and built Wright Field on the site. The base was named Wright Field to honor Orville and Wilbur Wright's contributions to flight. The Wrights had tested many of their early airplanes in the vicinity of Wright Field. Wright Field formally opened in 1927. In 1926 the United States government created the Army Air Corps, replacing the earlier Air Corps. The Army Air Corps stationed its Materiel Division at Wright Field. Here, scientists continued to improve aircraft. The scientists also realized that they had to work together to create the best possible plane. Before creation of the Army Air Corps, researchers studied individual parts of the plane, like engines, armor, wings, and propellers. Now scientists continued to specialize in individual components of planes, but they realized that changes in a plane's armor would affect all other parts of the plane. The same held true for changes in engines, wings, and the other parts of a plane. Under the Army Air Corps, researchers now kept a dialogue open between the various experts. Despite Wright Field's existence, the United States Army Air Corps entered World War II at a severe disadvantage numerically and technologically when compared to the air forces of other nations. To help overcome these weaknesses, the federal government in 1940 designated $300 million to improve Wright Field and to create an Air Corps with at least 5,500 planes. In 1941 only forty buildings existed at Wright Field, but by 1944 the airfield consisted of more than three hundred buildings. During World War II, research continued on airplanes, with much attention focused upon improving the horsepower of plane engines, airplanes' ranges and maneuverability, safety features for crews, and weapons. Workers at Wright Field helped to design and to construct numerous airplanes, such as the C-47 Skytrain, the C-54 Skymaster, the Curtiss C-46 Commando, the Sikorsky XR-4, the Curtiss-Wright P-40 Warhawk, the B-24 Liberator, and the B-29 Superfortress, among many others, during World War II. After World War II, Wright Field continued to play a major role in aircraft research and construction. In 1947 the United States government created the United States Air Force, eliminating the Army Air Forces and establishing a new branch of the United States military. That same year the Air Force combined Wright Field with nearby Patterson Field, creating Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Research continues at the base's facilities today, and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is also home to the National Museum of the United States Air Force. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06663
Subjects: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (Ohio); United States. Army. Air Corps; Aviation--History; Military aircraft; Aeronautics, Military; United States. Air Force--History
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows several mililtary aircraft on display at Wright Field (now Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) in Dayton, Ohio. Four people (two adults and two children) are seen walking through the display. Beginning in the 1910s, with World War I's outbreak, the United States government began investigating the use of airplanes in war. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson created the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA). This committee suggested establishing a center to research the use of airplanes in the military and also to seek improvements in airplane technology. Due to the presence of several automobile and aircraft plants in Ohio, the NACA established this center at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio. By 1924 the United States Air Corps had outgrown the facilities at McCook Field. Hoping to keep the Air Corps in Dayton, city officials and residents donated 5,250 acres of land on the city's outskirts. The Air Corps accepted the land and built Wright Field on the site. The base was named Wright Field to honor Orville and Wilbur Wright's contributions to flight. The Wrights had tested many of their early airplanes in the vicinity of Wright Field. Wright Field formally opened in 1927. In 1926 the United States government created the Army Air Corps, replacing the earlier Air Corps. The Army Air Corps stationed its Materiel Division at Wright Field. Here, scientists continued to improve aircraft. The scientists also realized that they had to work together to create the best possible plane. Before creation of the Army Air Corps, researchers studied individual parts of the plane, like engines, armor, wings, and propellers. Now scientists continued to specialize in individual components of planes, but they realized that changes in a plane's armor would affect all other parts of the plane. The same held true for changes in engines, wings, and the other parts of a plane. Under the Army Air Corps, the researchers now kept a dialog open between the various experts. Despite Wright Field's existence, the United States Army Air Corps entered World War II at a severe disadvantage numerically and technologically when compared to the Air Forces of other nations. To help overcome these weaknesses, the federal government, in 1940, designated $300 million to improve Wright Field and to create an Air Corps with at least 5,500 planes. In 1941 only forty buildings existed at Wright Field, but by 1944 the airfield consisted of more than three hundred buildings. During World War II, research continued on airplanes, with much attention focused upon improving the horsepower of plane engines, airplanes' ranges and maneuverability, safety features for crews, and weapons. Workers at Wright Field helped to design and to construct numerous airplanes, such as the C-47 Skytrain, the C-54 Skymaster, the Curtiss C-46 Commando, the Sikorsky XR-4, the Curtiss-Wright P-40 Warhawk, the B-24 Liberator, and the B-29 Superfortress, among many others, during World War II. After World War II, Wright Field continued to play a major role in aircraft research and construction. In 1947 the United States government created the United States Air Force, eliminating the Army Air Forces and establishing a new branch of the United States military. That same year the Air Force combined Wright Field with nearby Patterson Field, creating Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Research continues at the base's facilities today, and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is also home to the National Museum of the United States Air Force. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06664
Subjects: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (Ohio); United States. Army. Air Corps; Aviation--History; Military aircraft; Aeronautics, Military; United States. Air Force--History
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: "THE UNION NOW AND FOREVER" Broadside for a meeting in Urbana, Ohio, called by Major General E. P. Fyffe. A native of Urbana and former West Point cadet, Fyffe was among the first to offer his services to the Union effort at the start of the Civil War. He took an active part in organizing and forwarding Ohio volunteers to the field. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: OVS4832
Subjects: Unionists (United States Civil War); Ohio History--Military Ohio, United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Advertisements
 

Description: Photographic reproduction of a drawing showing Ulysses S. Grant, captioned "The March from the Wilderness. Scene on the road to Spotsylvania C. H. May 9th 1864." Ulysses S. Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant in Point Pleasant, Ohio. Upon entering the United States Military Academy at West Point, he attempted to change his name from Hiram Ulysses to Ulysses Hiram but found that his name had already been mistakenly recorded at West Point as Ulysses Simpson Grant, which he never corrected. During the U. S. Civil War, Grant was promoted to the rank of General and granted command of the Union Army by President Abraham Lincoln. After the victory of the Union over the Confederacy, Grant's popularity led to his election as the 18th President of the United States in 1868. This drawing was incorrectly attributed to Ulysses Grant as the artist, but appears to be the work of Edwin Forbes (1839-1895). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04526
Subjects: Grant, Ulysses S., 1822-1885; Ohio History--Military Ohio, United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Ohio--History, Military; Presidents--United States; Artists
Places: Spotsylvania (Virginia)
 

Description: Illustration of a meeting between General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union and General John C. Pemberton of the Confederacy published in "The American Soldier in the Civil War" by Frank Leslie. Caption reads: "Siege of Vicksburg. - General Grant Meets General Pemberton at the Stone House, Inside of the Confederate Works on the Morning of July 4, 1863. - From a Sketch by F. B. Schell." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04615
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Grant, Ulysses S., 1822-1885; Ohio--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Ohio--History, Military; Presidents--United States; Generals--United States; Confederate States of America; Ohio History--Military Ohio
Places: Vicksburg (Mississippi)
 

Description: Carte de visite photograph of Major General Edward Otho Cresap Ord, from the William T. Sherman Photograph Album, ca. 1865-1880. Edward Ord was born in Cumberland, Maryland, on October 18, 1818. He graduated from West Point in 1839 and served in the Seminole War, the Indian Wars and the American Civil War. He reached the rank of Major General. He died in Havana, Cuba, on July 22, 1883 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04344
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Military officers; Ohio History--Military Ohio; Generals--United States
 

Description: Carte de visite photograph of General Peter Joseph Osterhaus, from the William T. Sherman Photograph Album, ca. 1865-1880. Peter Osterhaus was born in Prussia on January 4, 1823. He attended Berlin Military Academy and later emigrated to the United States, settling in St Louis. He served in the Union Army in the American Civil War, where he advanced to the rank of Major General. After he was mustered out on January 15, 1866, he was appointed United States Counsel in Lyons, France. Later he made his home in Duisburg, Germany. He died in Duisburg on January 2, 1917, and was buried in Koblenz, Prussia. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04345
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Military officers; Ohio History--Military Ohio; Generals--United States
Places: St. Louis (Missouri)
 

Description: Carte de visite photograph of General James Brewerton Ricketts, from the William T. Sherman Photograph Album, ca. 1865-1880. James Brewerton Ricketts was born on June 21, 1817, in New York, New York. He attended the United States Military Academy and graduated 16 of 31 in 1839. He served in the Mexican-American War, the Seminole Wars and the American Civil War, where he reached the rank of Major General. He died in Washington D. C., on September 22, 1887, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04347
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Military officers; Ohio History--Military Ohio; Generals--United States
 

Description: Carte de visite photograph of Major General Lovell Harrison Rousseau, from the William T. Sherman Photograph Album, ca. 1865-1880. Lovell Harrison Rousseau was born on August 4, 1818, near Stanford, Kentucky. He served in the Union Army in the American Civil War. Later, he served in the U. S. House of Representatives from Kentucky. He died in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 7, 1869, and was buried in Cave Hill National Cemetery near Louisville, Kentucky. Later, his wife had his body removed to Arlington National Cemetery. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04348
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Military officers; Ohio History--Military Ohio; Generals--United States
 

Description: Carte de visite photograph of Winfield Scott, from the William T. Sherman Photograph Album, ca. 1865-1880. Winfield Scott was born in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, on August 4, 1786. He briefly attended the College of William and Mary. He served in the United States military from 1808 to 1861. He served under every President from Jefferson to Lincoln. He served in the War of 1812, the Seminole Wars, the Black Hawk War, the Mexican-American War and in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He died on May 29, 1866, in West Point, New York, where he was buried in West Point Cemetery. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04349
Subjects: United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Military officers; Ohio History--Military Ohio; Generals--United States
 

Description: Photographic reproduction of a daguerreotype portrait depicting Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant at the time of his marriage to Julia Boggs Dent in 1848. Grant rose to the rank of General in Chief of the Union Army during the Civil War and later became the eighteenth President of the United States, serving two terms from 1869 to 1877. Below Image: Lieut. U.S. Grant at time of his marriage from an old Daguerreotype View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02922
Subjects: Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885; Ohio--History, Military--19th century; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
 

Description: General Jacob D. Cox served as governor of Ohio from 1866 to 1868. From "Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio" by Henry Howe, 1907. Cox also served with the Union Army during the Civil War. Originally from Montreal, Canada, Cox emigrated to the United States, and attended Oberlin College. After several pre-war political positions in Ohio, he joined the Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Cox fought at Antietam, South Mountain, and Atlanta, and eventually became military supervisor for the District of Ohio and the District of Michigan. He went on to become the 28th Governor of Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04231
Subjects: Governors--Ohio; Ohio History--State and Local Government; Ohio History--Military Ohio, United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)