Flags at the Michigan Historical Museum

Kurt G

2nd Lieutenant
Joined
May 23, 2018
A friend of mine was part of a group that was able to view Civil War flags kept in storage at the Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing , Mi. The first image I believe is the flag of the 1st Michigan ( 90 day regiment). The staffs had been cut down many years ago to fit in displays at the Capital Building .

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I have toured the flag room. As part of the docent guild at the Michigan Histody Museum, we "adopted" one of the flags. Which means we help pay to restore it. Somewhere I have a certificate (they gave us several certificates) thanking us. I should find the certificate as I forget which flag we "adopted".
 
Unfortunately , many decades ago it was decided that the best way to protect the flags was to sew a zig zag pattern to a backing . To restore the flags now would require the thread to be removed and the holes to be repaired . This would cost as much as 10 to $30,000 on some of the flags !

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Is this the 7th MI Cavalry flag, the same one flown on the East cavalry Field at Gettysburg?
 
Is this the 7th MI Cavalry flag, the same one flown on the East cavalry Field at Gettysburg?
I'm guessing not . Unfortunately I wasn't there but I was told that many flags that are in very good condition are replacements of the originals . It looks in too good of a condition to have been in use since Gettysburg , but I just don't know . Maybe Major Bill can help with that question.
 
Unfortunately , many decades ago it was decided that the best way to protect the flags was to sew a zig zag pattern to a backing . To restore the flags now would require the thread to be removed and the holes to be repaired . This would cost as much as 10 to $30,000 on some of the flags !
At least they didn't varnish them as some other states did!
 
Do they have the 25th MI Infantry flag in the collection? I know, the 24th MI is much more famous, but I own a watch that was presented to a sergeant in the 25th MI by his company.
They do have the 25ths Regimental flag and a small portion of the national Flag . Go to capitolmichigan/slideshow3 and you will find all the flags in the collection .
 
I've always wondered what flag Jabez J. Daniels Battery, 9th Michigan, mounted horse artillery would have carried. It was later designated Battery "I" 1rst Mich. Light Artillery. Here's the monument to them at the Gettysburg NPS battlefield....Would they have used a flag such as this???

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I've always wondered what flag Jabez J. Daniels Battery, 9th Michigan, mounted horse artillery would have carried. It was later designated Battery "I" 1rst Mich. Light Artillery. Here's the monument to them at the Gettysburg NPS battlefield....Would they have used a flag such as this???

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That looks like an artillery guidon . The only artillery flag they have at the museum is the 6th Michigan Heavy Artillery . They were originally an infantry regiment .
 
I've always wondered what flag Jabez J. Daniels Battery, 9th Michigan, mounted horse artillery would have carried. It was later designated Battery "I" 1rst Mich. Light Artillery. Here's the monument to them at the Gettysburg NPS battlefield....Would they have used a flag such as this???

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That is a regulation mounted regiment guidon; one to be issued to each company of the regiment per General Orders #4 January 18, 1862.
 
That is a regulation mounted regiment guidon; one to be issued to each company of the regiment per General Orders #4 January 18, 1862.
So, does this mean this guidon would have been used by Daniels battery at Aldie VA, then at Gettysburg PA??? And then
during the entire Atlanta campaign??? Do the search for Daniels battery, it was formed in Detroit August 1862 IIRC, at least that's what my ancestor's enlistment papers say...
 
So, does this mean this guidon would have been used by Daniels battery at Aldie VA, then at Gettysburg PA??? And then
during the entire Atlanta campaign??? Do the search for Daniels battery, it was formed in Detroit August 1862 IIRC, at least that's what my ancestor's enlistment papers say...
It could be a guidon that was carried by the battery, not knowing the history of the guidon, it could also be a cavalry piece. Many units would paint the company or battery letter on the guidon. It may very well be a surplus piece used later during reunions. Where is the piece and what history does it have?
 
Didn't we have a member that was particularly interested in staffs and what happened to them? I also found a couple of collector sites where staffs were sliced into small rounds and distributed to members of regiments as mementos. That might have happened to the end pieces of these staffs that were cut down to fit into the room.
 
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