The Galleries
- Robert E. Petersen Collection
- Ancient Firearms - 1350 to 1700
- Road to American Liberty - 1700 to 1780
- A Prospering New Republic - 1780 to 1860
- A Nation Asunder - 1861 to 1865
- The American West - 1850 to 1900
- Innovation, Oddities and Competition
- Theodore Roosevelt and Elegant Arms - 1880s to 1920s
- World War I and Firearms Innovation
- WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Beyond - 1940 to Present
- For the Fun of It
- Modern Firearms - 1950 to Present
- Hollywood Guns
Brown Bess Charleville Percussion Conversion Musket
Serviceable arms, regardless of age, were vitally needed during the opening months of Civil War. In addition to firearms of modern design, shotguns, fowlers, hunting rifles, and even Revolutionary War-vintage flintlocks and percussion-conversion arms such as the one seen here were carried into battle.