‘Military Through the Ages’ Returns to Jamestown Settlement – Saturday & Sunday, March 15-16
Military through the Ages – centuries of military history – all in one weekend at the Jamestown Settlement – March 15 – 16, 2025
Centuries of Military History Unfold in One Weekend at Jamestown Settlement from 500 B.C.E. to Present Day with Re-enactments, Music and Special Demonstrations of Artillery and Military Equipment
For four decades, military powers across time have descended on Jamestown Settlement to present an unequaled and unique chronological display of military history. Make ready to witness centuries of military history – all in one weekend – at our time-honored Military Through the Ages event on Saturday and Sunday, March 15 and 16.
Bring the family to see hundreds of re-enactors depicting armed forces from 500 B.C.E. all the way to modern-day soldiers with the Virginia Army National Guard.
Hoplites, Vikings, knights. Privateers, sailors, soldiers. Hundreds of re-enactors from 39 distinct military units will muster on museum grounds depicting armed forces from 500 B.C.E. all the way to modern-day soldiers with the Virginia Army National Guard. At Military Through the Ages, visitors will become entrenched in the past and present day in military encampments and get hands-on with re-enactors to experience how military uniforms, weapons and tactics evolved through the centuries.
Virginia Army National Guard fires a 105mm howitzer.
Photo by Bob Ruegsegger
Timeline from 500 B.C.E. to the Present Day
Thirty-nine re-enactment units at this year’s Military Through the Ages event originate from eight states, including Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia. Units will portray soldiers and military encounters across the globe from Greek times, the medieval period, Hundred Years’ War, War of the Roses, American Revolution, War of 1812, Napoleonic Wars and American Civil War. Re-enactors depicting World Wars I and II, the Vietnam War, and Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada will take visitors through the 20th century. The Virginia Army National Guard 111th Field Artillery and Virginia Defense Force will represent present day.
Pick up a full-sized shield and fall in with The Greek Phalanx to experience how the hoplite functioned in combat. Engage with an ever-popular bayonet dummy with the 3rd U.S. Regular Infantry Regiment – also offering a Civil War hairstyle station where young ladies, and young at heart, can have their hair done up in the fashions of 1861. Discuss military and non-traditional military assignments with the 9th & 10th (HORSE) Cavalry Association Buffalo Soldiers and see a 7/8 scale plane with the Old Dominion Air Squadron showcasing an airworthy replica of a SP AD XIII fighter wearing the markings of the 13th AS.
Visitors can view a narrated military pass-in-review at 3 p.m. on Sunday. View the full list of re-enactment units scheduled to participate in this year’s event at jyfmuseums.org/mta-units.
Artillery Firings, Military Music and Civilian Sutlers
The two-day event will feature special demonstrations of military equipment used in the air, on land and at sea, accompanied by a variety of military musical performances from the Revolutionary War, World War I and II eras to present day. On Saturday and Sunday at 12 noon, comparative artillery-firing demonstrations will showcase cold steel, black powder and modern weapons ranging from a 17th-century artillery piece to a 105mm howitzer.
Three musical groups are scheduled to perform throughout the weekend event: Field Musick Virginia featuring the sounds of Fifes and Drums of the USRC/USN Virginia (1798), the 12-piece brass AEF Headquarters Band representing the one formed at the American Expeditionary Forces Headquarters in Chaumont, France in 1918 at the request of General John Joseph Pershing; “The Governor’s Own” 29th Infantry Division Band from the Virginia Army National Guard comprised of enlisted soldiers and a chief warrant officer.
Sutlers will set up shop to sell supplies, from reproduction and historically inspired jewelry to colonial-era reproduction pewter and blacksmithing, 18th-century reproduction leather work and gunsmithing of the past, in the present. Visitors can purchase wares from Clay Smith Guns, Georgia Colony Smiths, Fort Vause Outfitters, K. Walters at the Sign of the Gray Horse, MMM Fab & Forge, Phil the Glassblower and White Historic Art.
Mobile Vet Center
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will display its Mobile Vet Center near the museum’s main entrance during the two-day event. An “office on wheels,” the Mobile Vet provides readjustment counseling, information and resources to veterans. With confidential counseling space and a state-of-the-art communication package, the Mobile Vet travels to extend services to reach to rural areas for veterans, service members and families.
Military History at Jamestown Settlement
Arms, armor and military equipment of 17th-century Virginia can be seen year-round inside Jamestown Settlement’s extensive galleries where permanent exhibits feature artifacts, films and interactives that tell the story of America’s first permanent English colony and of the convergence of the Powhatan Indian, English and West Central African cultures in early Virginia. Outdoors, visitors can immerse themselves in life of early Virginia in outdoor re-creations of a 1610-14 English fort, Paspahegh Town and three re-created ships that brought English colonists to Virginia in 1607.
The following units participated in the 40th anniversary in 2024.
How to Attend Military Through the Ages
Jamestown Settlement is located on State Route 31 near the Colonial Parkway in James City County, just southwest of Williamsburg and adjacent to Historic Jamestowne. For information, call (757) 253-4838 or visit jyfmuseums.org/military-
Admission to Jamestown Settlement, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily year-round, is $20.00 for adults and $10.00 for ages 6-12. Children ages 5 and under are free. A value-priced combination ticket with the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown is $34.00 for adults and $17.00 for ages 6-12. Parking is free.
An Annual Pass, $54.00 for adults and $27.00 for ages 6-12, offers year-round access to Jamestown Settlement and American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, including daytime special events such as Military Through the Ages. Virginia residents can purchase an Annual Pass for $34.00 for adults and $17.00 for ages 6-12, the cost of a single-day combination ticket.
Residents of James City County, York County and the City of Williamsburg, including William & Mary students, receive free admission to both museums with proof of residency.
Military Through the Ages is presented with support by James City County and through generous contributions to the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Inc. Annual Fund.
For more information, call (757) 253-4838 or visit 
jyfmuseums.org/militarythroughtheages.
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