PHOTOS: THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MUSEUM COLLECTION
RALLY ‘ROUND THE FLAG This is the second in a series of articles that explores the Union stories of selected artifacts. by Catherine M. Wright
T
he Museum is well known for having the largest assemblage of Confederate flags anywhere in the world. Few people, however, know that the collection also contains about a dozen United States flags. The stories of how they came into the Museum’s collection are almost as interesting as the flags themselves. Confederate forces captured some of them and kept them as
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souvenirs or war trophies. A few remained in the hands of U.S. soldiers or their descendants who donated them to the Museum. And, in an unusual twist, some were captured by Confederates then recaptured by U.S. soldiers – who may or may not have recognized them for what they were – and turned them in to the U.S. War Department, which kept and cataloged captured Confederate flags.
