National Infantry Museum
1775 Legacy Way Ste 210
Columbus, GA
The story of the American foot soldier told through the ground he crossed, from a Revolutionary tree line to the beaches of Normandy.
The National Infantry Museum in Columbus tells the story of the American infantryman, the foot soldier, from the Revolutionary War to the present day. Located just outside Fort Moore, the Army's longtime home of infantry and armor training, it honors the ordinary soldiers who have carried the heaviest burden of the nation's wars.
Its centerpiece is the Last Hundred Yards, a long ramp that walks visitors through a series of pivotal infantry battles, from the Revolution to modern conflicts, with life-size scenes and the sights and sounds of combat all around. It is one of the most immersive military museums in the country, and it welcomes visitors on a donation basis.
What Guests Love
- The Last Hundred Yards, a ramped walk through famous infantry battles you move through on foot
- Rows of tanks, artillery, and aircraft displayed inside and out
- The moving memorials and the parade field where new soldiers graduate
- Immersive galleries that put you in the soldier's boots across two centuries
Worth Knowing
- The museum welcomes visitors and is donation-based, so it is easy to include on any Columbus stop
- Graduation ceremonies on the parade field draw crowds, so check the schedule if you want to attend or avoid one
- There is a good deal of walking through the galleries, so pace yourself
- An attached theater and simulators offer extra experiences beyond the exhibits
Details
Columbus, GA
Learn about National Infantry Museum
The Last Hundred Yards
The heart of the museum is a ramped gallery called the Last Hundred Yards, named for the distance an infantryman must cross to take an objective, the final, most dangerous stretch of a battle. Visitors literally walk up the ramp through a sequence of recreated battle scenes, each frozen at a decisive moment.
The scenes move through American history, from a Revolutionary skirmish to the Civil War, from the trenches of World War One to the beaches of Normandy and the jungles of Vietnam and beyond. Life-size figures, real terrain, and sound and light immerse you in each fight, driving home the experience of the soldier who had to cross that ground.
Two centuries of the foot soldier
Beyond the central ramp, the museum's galleries tell the full history of the U.S. infantry across every era. Uniforms, weapons, personal artifacts, and stories trace how the soldier's life and equipment changed from muskets to modern rifles, from wool coats to body armor, while the fundamentals of courage, discipline, and hardship stayed the same.
Outside and in, the museum displays tanks, artillery pieces, helicopters, and other vehicles, and it houses collections of medals, including many awarded for the highest valor. Together the exhibits honor not generals and strategy so much as the individual soldier and the units in which they served.
Fort Moore and Columbus
The museum sits beside Fort Moore, the Army post at Columbus that has trained infantry and armor soldiers for generations. Renamed in recent years, the post remains one of the Army's largest training installations, and new soldiers graduate on the museum's parade field, a ceremony families travel far to attend.
Columbus itself is a river city on the Chattahoochee, its downtown revived around a long whitewater rafting course carved into the river, riverside dining, and restored mills. The city's identity is closely tied to the Army post, and the museum stands as the public face of that long military history.
Remembrance and reflection
The grounds hold memorials to the fallen and to particular units and campaigns, and the museum treats its subject with gravity as well as pride. It is a place of pilgrimage for veterans and military families, many of whom find their own service reflected in the exhibits.
For other visitors, the museum offers a clear-eyed, human view of what infantry service has meant across American history, the weight of the pack, the fear of the last hundred yards, and the bonds between soldiers. It is both a tribute and an education, and it leaves most visitors quiet and moved.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Columbus
Columbus RiverWalk
About 6 miles north
A long riverside path along the Chattahoochee, linking downtown, parks, and the whitewater course.
Chattahoochee RiverWalk whitewater
In downtown Columbus
One of the longest urban whitewater rafting courses in the world, carved into the river through downtown.
Providence Canyon State Park
About 30 miles south
Georgia's Little Grand Canyon, a maze of colorful eroded gullies near Lumpkin.