Exhibits

From the Revolutionary War to Present

When the museum first opened in 1896 at the State House, visitors could see veterans walking through the displays, sharing their own Civil War experiences with children and grandchildren.

More than a century later, that connection across generations continues, but the story has expanded.

Today, the museum is the state’s only nationally accredited institution dedicated to exploring the full scope of South Carolina’s military heritage, from the colonial era to the 21st century.

What began with a single focus gradually grew. As new generations returned home from new conflicts, they brought with them artifacts and experiences that broadened the museum’s mission. Over time, the story evolved to reflect the complete arc of service across centuries.

Current & Upcoming

A Chronological Journey

Permanent

In our main gallery, visitors move through a seamless narrative of South Carolina’s military past, arranged chronologically from the Revolution to today.

Among the hundreds of artifacts on display are:

A War with No Front Lines: South Carolina and the Vietnam War

Friday, Nov 11, 2022 - Wednesday, Dec 30, 2026

Housed in what was once the water cistern of the Columbia Mills Building — the world’s first fully electric textile plant — this dramatic space now features a comprehensive exhibition on South Carolinians who served in Vietnam.

A War With No Front Lines: South Carolina and the Vietnam War, 1965–1973 honors the experiences of a generation whose stories were not always fully heard.

And in a powerful echo of the museum’s earliest days, today’s veterans walk these galleries with their families, sharing their own firsthand stories of service.

From colonial battlefields to modern deployments, the exhibits tell a continuous story of duty, sacrifice, innovation, and resilience.

Here, history isn’t distant. It’s personal.

The Twilight of Revolutionaries and the Dawn of Photography

Friday, Jun 23, 2023 - Saturday, Oct 31, 2026

The Twilight of Revolutionaries and the Dawn of Photography is a traveling exhibit featuring 15 rare daguerreotypes of Revolutionary War veterans. Each portrait is a high-quality scan of the original daguerreotype. Accompanying each portrait is a label detailing the service of the veteran. The service details for most veterans come from their applications for government assistance through the Pension Act of 1832.

This collection is the fruition of a 30-year project begun by W.C. Smith III who meticulously collected each photograph. Few images of Revolutionary veterans remain at all, and this is one of the largest, if not the largest, extant collections of such images.

After an initial display in the Gist Gallery at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum, this exhibit will travel to other interested public institutions. The SC250th Grant supporting this project requires

(Coming Soon) Congaree River Exhibit of Recovered Confederate Munitions

Monday, Mar 1, 2027 - Wednesday, May 31, 2028

What Sherman dumped into the Congaree.

When Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman took Columbia in February 1865, he captured a lot of stored Confederate munitions. Not wanting them to be used against his army as it marched farther north, he had his men dump them all into the Congaree River, near what would later be the Gervais Street Bridge.

It would take 150 years before anyone tackled the tricky task of cleaning up the mess on the river’s bottom. Soon some, of those munitions found in that cleanup will find a home nearby in the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum.

That collection of about 300 Civil War artifacts will include cannonballs, small arms, a saber, a wagon wheel and other items. They will go on display in the Gist Gallery starting in March 2027, and stay until May 2028.