News

�Joe Brown� Pikes from Smithsonian Displayed at Southern Museum

01/16/2007

KENNESAW, GA � Pikes, which were long poles with sharp blades, were imposing weapons during the time of Alexander the Great. Civil War soldiers weren't intimidated by the fearsome-looking weapons because they normally carried rifles, which rendered short-range pikes useless.

Nevertheless, former Georgia Gov. Joe Brown ordered blacksmiths and small weapons manufacturers across the state to make the pikes at the beginning of the Civil War.

Two of these weapons, a "Clover Leaf" pike and a "Hook Billed" pike are now on display at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

"That the governor of Georgia and other military thinkers of the Civil War thought that these weapons would be effective on the battlefield is a perfect example of how little they understood the great and bloody chasm the nation was about to enter in 1861," explained Southern Museum Curator Mike Bearrow.

Civil War pikes were never used in combat, and the ones made in Georgia became known as "Joe Brown" pikes after the governor who had ordered them. Needless to say, Joe Brown sitting in the capitol, was far removed from the realities of the battlefield" commented Bearrow.

The pikes, on display within the Southern Museum's Railroads: Lifelines of the Civil War collection, will be on display through January 2009.

A Smithsonian Institution affiliate, the Southern Museum features collections of rare Civil War weapons, uniforms, and other personal items; an exciting exhibit about The Great Locomotive Chase, including a short movie; and a full-scale replica of a locomotive factory that helped lead the New South into the industrial era. Currently, the Museum is also displaying Union Gen. George Armstrong Custer's coat, on loan from the Smithsonian Institution, as well as Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood's coat, on loan from the Museum of the Confederacy.

A Smithsonian Institution affiliate, the Southern Museum features collections of rare Civil War weapons, uniforms, and other personal items; an exciting exhibit about The Great Locomotive Chase, including a short movie; a full-scale replica of a locomotive factory that helped rebuild the South after the war; and through May, a traveling exhibit featuring photographs of the people who dedicated their lives to the railroad.

The Southern Museum is located 20 miles north of Atlanta, off I-75 at exit 273. Click here for visitor information, or call (770) 427-2117.