Edward C. Kuhn

Introduction

Master Gunner and Master Sergeant Edward C. Kuhn was a prolific military artist who designed the first official coats of arms and distinctive unit insignia for the Army, National Guard, Reserves and other branches of the U.S. military.Day, Gene. [http://www.genealogycenter.info/military/spanishamerican/viewpage_edwardkuhn.php?realpage=90&display=bw/ "The Man Who Makes Our National Coats of Arms."] "The Boys World," November 8, 1924, 2.] Countless personnel have worn his works with honor and pride. A talented painter, and expert on embroidery, flags, heraldry, and American military antiquities, Kuhn's paintings have been hung in the White House, and his silk tapestry of the U.S. coat of arms is arguably the greatest ever embroidered. Edward C. Kuhn's contributions to American heraldic tradition and history, make him the father of official U.S. military coats of arms and distinctive unit insignia.

Biography

From sawmill laborer to soldier

Edward Christian Kuhn was born March 29 1872 in Martinsville, New York, a small community founded by Prussian Lutheran immigrants on April 10 1842. Martinsville sits on convert|500|acre|km2 of land on the Tonawanda Creek, near the Erie Canal in North Tonawanda a suburb of Buffalo, New York. The land was purchased for fifteen dollars per acre from William Vandervoort, a founder of the East Boston Timber Company.Smith, David S. [http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/martinsville.html#transcribed/ “Martinsville in the ‘20s – and Earlier.”] "Our German Heritage". North Tonawanda History Museum.] . Established in 1835, the company supplied lumber to the shipbuilding industries of New York and New England.Harvard Business School. [http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/sfa/eastbo.htm/ “East Boston Timber Company Records, 1834-1840.”] Baker Library Historical Collections]

Martinsville’s first and only major businesses were sawmills. As a young man, Kuhn labored in the sawmill ten hours each day. Rushing home from work, Kuhn would eat, change clothes and race to the train station each night to make the fourteen mile (21 km) trip to Buffalo’s Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Walking an additional five miles (8 km) on the return trip due to limited train service to Martinsville, Kuhn rarely got to bed before one o’clock in the morning, and returned to the sawmill at six. He mastered drawing and painting fundamentals in this grueling manner, while dreaming of becoming a professional painter. [http://www.genealogycenter.info/military/spanishamerican/trans_edwardkuhn.php/ "Army Sergeant a Talented Artist and Also an Embroidery Expert."] Sunday Star [Washington, D.C.] , May 11. 1924, Part 5.]

When the Spanish American War broke out in 1898, Kuhn enlisted in the New York State Volunteers, later joined the regular infantry, and eventually transferred to the Coast Artillery Corps (see also Seacoast Defense (US)) in 1902. Kuhn’s company frequently relocated, and he would use his first leave to visit the nearest city and seek out the local art school or leading commercial artists. He studied under George DeForest Brush while stationed near New York City for several years. When his regiment relocated to Massachusetts in 1905, Kuhn studied under Eric Pape, a well-known Boston illustrator. [http://www.genealogycenter.info/military/spanishamerican/viewpage_edwardkuhn.php?realpage=95&display=ns16/ "Soldier Is Expert Embroiderer: Army Sergeant Designs Regimental Insignia."] "The National Spectator", January, 23, 1926, 16-17.] One year later he was sent to Portland, Maine, where he joined the Portland Art Club.

Everywhere he went Kuhn painted. He travelled extensively, stationed in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama, Japan, and the Philippines. These exotic locales provided diverse settings to reproduce on canvas. Not everyone, however, appreciated Kuhn’s unique pastime, and he was often forced to fight those tormenting him about his “doll house paintings.”

Coats of arms & distinctive unit insignia

The United States military has used heraldic symbols since the Revolutionary War, but it wasn’t until 1920 that the Army officially adopted heraldic coats of arms. This led to the development of distinctive unit insignia, also known as unit crests.Born, K.M. [http://www.qmfound.com/heraldry.htm/ “The Quartermaster Heraldic Section & the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry.”] Quartermaster Foundation.] In 1919, the Army General Staff took over the responsibility for heraldry activity. The designs of the coats of arms and uniform insignia were to be based on the history of the organizations. President Woodrow Wilson sent a letter to Secretary of War Newton D. Baker on June 17 1918 requesting better quality military medals” This became the responsibility of Colonel Robert E. Wyllie, Chief of the equipment branch of the General Staff.Du Bois, Arthur. [http://www.qmfound.com/heraldry1928.htm/ “Heraldry, Flag, and Insignia Work of the Office of the Quartermaster General.”] "Quartermaster Review", (May-Jun. 1928).]

Kuhn was the perfect candidate to design distinctive unit insignia. Stationed at Fort Hamilton after World War I, he received his first assignment to create artwork for the Army. After learning of Kuhn’s artistic proficiencies, his captain commissioned him to design a coat of arms for the company. Kuhn studied the company history and records, as well as reference books on heraldry. The captain was so impressed that he showed them to the colonel of the regiment.” Kuhn was immediately assigned the task of creating an insignia and coat of arms for the regiment.

Army artist

Kuhn was soon reassigned to a post in the Coast Artillery Service in Washington, D.C. where he developed insignia and coats of arms for the cavalry, infantry, artillery, signal corps, and other branches of the U.S. Army.” He created the original coat of arms for every regiment in the National Guard of the United States and Coast Artillery Corps, as well as "the crest of the minuteman of the organized reserves.” An excellent example of Kuhn’s work still in use today, is the unit crest of the "Brave Rifles" or 3d Regiment of cavalry. Today the unit is better known as the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment. Originally approved on November 25 1922, amended on January 5 1923, and redesignated for the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment on December 18 1951, the insignia “consists of a golden trumpet abreast a green enameled field of scroll work, with the words “Brave Rifles on the border.”. The green scroll symbolizes the regiment’s original green facing on the uniform, and the gold trumpet is from the crest of the coat of arms. “Brave Rifles! Veterans! You have been baptized in fire and blood and have come out steel, exclaimed General Winfield Scott, Commanding General of the Army following the battle of Chapultepec and capture of Mexico City during the Mexican-American War. Thus the motto, "Brave Rifles."U.S. Institute of Heraldry. [http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Armored/3d%20Armored%20Cavalry.htm/ "3d Armored Cavalry."] ]

Flag expert

Kuhn was especially interested in the history and evolution of flags, and traced the development and perfection of flags from around the world. He was the foremost expert in the history of flags living in the United States in his day. He continued his research and painting of historical flags at his home in North Tonawanda, NY following his retirement from the Army. Kuhn also published articles on heraldry, such as [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0026-3931(194124)5%3A4%3C263%3AUSACAS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W/ "U. S. Army Colors and Standards of 1808,"] which appeared in "Military Affairs", Vol. 5, No. 4 (Winter, 1941), pp. 263-267.

Retired Major General, US Air Force, Marvin C. Demler was Kuhn’s nephew and frequently visited his home in the 1920’s. Demler became one of two Army Air Corps officers to first visit the secret Los Alamos Laboratories of the Manhattan Project, which resulted in the establishment of the famous “Silver Plate Project” to modify B-29 aircraft for delivery of atomic weapons. His military decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, and the Bronze Star. U.S. Air Force. [http://www.af.mil/bios/bio.asp?bioID=5204/ "Major General Marvin Christian Demler."] "Air Force Link".]

Young Demler accompanied "Uncle Ed" on many trips to the art galleries and libraries of Buffalo, where he explained the research process used to develop insignia, coats of arms, and authentic renditions of flags. In 1966, Demler retrieved some of these unique paintings from discarded household effects, upon the death of his aunt Agnes Krull. Agnes Krull was the sister of Kuhn's wife Julia.(Krull, Memo).

Demler framed some of the paintings for his home, and donated others for public display in appropriate American governmental buildings. Seven of these paintings were donated to the United States Naval Academy for display and preservation of Naval history. He also donated a series of six watercolor paintings tracing the development and history of the President’s Flag and Standard to the White House. They were hung in the Military Aide’s room in 1975. (Demler, Krull letter).

Embroidery

Kuhn’s patriotism and passion for heraldry, is most evident in his greatest artistic achievement: a massive silk embroidery of the coat of arms of the United States. He became proficient with a needle and thread and simple sewing, as did most soldiers of the day. Kuhn became interested in the “intricacies of the embroidery art” when he was a corporal and soon resolved to create a large embroidery of the American coat of arms. He began by embroidering an immense silk field of different shades of white, four and one half feet by five feet. It took him over four fast-paced hours of embroidery to finish a quarter-inch wide strip across the length of the field.

Every evening for the next fourteen years, he would sit cross-legged on a couch, with an electric lamp for lighting. When the field of white was complete, Kuhn sketched the American coat of arms, using a “warlike, aggressive eagle from a famous Austrian statue" as his model. The eagle clutches thirteen arrows in its left claw, and an olive branch in the right. A purple banner bearing the motto “E Pluribus Unum” unfurls behind it, as a cloudburst of thirteen stars explodes overhead.

Conclusion

Edward C. Kuhn's coats of arms and distinctive unit insignia have inspired countless American military personnel. He died September 4, 1948, and is buried in Martinsville, New York beside his wife Julia. To see more of his artwork and read articles about him, please visit his [http://picasaweb.google.com/robkrull/ web album.]

References

Bibliography

[http://www.genealogycenter.info/military/spanishamerican/trans_edwardkuhn.php/ "Army Sergeant a Talented Artist and Also an Embroidery Expert."] Sunday Star [Washington, D.C.] , May 11. 1924, Part 5.

Born, K.M. [http://www.qmfound.com/heraldry.htm/ “The Quartermaster Heraldic Section & the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry.”] Quartermaster Foundation.

Coast Defense Study Group. [http://www.cdsg.org/reprint%20PDFs/CACHeraldry.pdf/ "Coast Artillery Heraldry and Unit Insignia."] "CDSG Monograph", June 2006.

Day, Gene. [http://www.genealogycenter.info/military/spanishamerican/viewpage_edwardkuhn.php?realpage=90&display=bw/ "The Man Who Makes Our National Coats of Arms."] "The Boys World," November 8, 1924, 2.

Du Bois, Arthur. [http://www.qmfound.com/heraldry1928.htm/ “Heraldry, Flag, and Insignia Work of the Office of the Quartermaster General.”] "Quartermaster Review", (May-Jun. 1928).

Harvard Business School. [http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/sfa/eastbo.htm/ “East Boston Timber Company Records, 1834-1840.”] Baker Library Historical Collections.

Kuhn, Edward C. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0026-3931%28194124%295%3A4%3C263%3AUSACAS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W/ "U.S. Army Colors and Standards of 1808."] Military Affairs 5, no. 4 (1941), 263-267. Smith, David S. [http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/martinsville.html#transcribed/ “Martinsville in the ‘20s – and Earlier.”] "Our German Heritage". North Tonawanda History Museum.

[http://www.genealogycenter.info/military/spanishamerican/viewpage_edwardkuhn.php?realpage=95&display=ns16/ "Soldier Is Expert Embroiderer: Army Sergeant Designs Regimental Insignia."] "The National Spectator", January, 23, 1926, 16-17.

Stein, Barry J. "U.S. Army Heraldic Crests: A Complete Illustrated History of Authorized Distinctive Unit Insignia". Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1993.

U.S. Air Force. [http://www.af.mil/bios/bio.asp?bioID=5204/ "Major General Marvin Christian Demler."] "Air Force Link".

U.S. Institute of Heraldry. [http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Armored/3d%20Armored%20Cavalry.htm/ "3d Armored Cavalry."]

Wyllie, Robert E. "Coats of Arms and Badges of The Coast Artillery Corps." "Coast Artillery Journal" 87, (Aug. 1923), 123-142.