The 58th Ohio Volunteer Infantry assembled for Civil War duty at Columbus's Camp Chase in 1862. They went on to serve in Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri. And they carried with them an American flag. One of their flags - which disappeared in the 1960s - has recently returned home.
Earlier this month a tattered American flag was put on display for only a few hours at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus. Partly damaged by age, partly from the hardships of war, the 6-foot-square flag appears different from the American flag we know it today. The stars, for instance, are arranged in a circular pattern, and they're a different color, according to Cliff Eckle, a curator at the historical society.
"The color of the stars are gold instead of white," Eckle says. "The size of the canton or field is irregular. But at that time there wasn't necessarily a standard."
But the flag was without doubt a rallying point in battle, says Eckle.
"In the din of battle with all the smoke you often couldn't hear the bugle calls or the drum rolls that would tell the soldiers where to go. The colonel could give commands where the regiment should go and people on either side of the line would go wherever the flag went."
Eckle says this flag belonged to the 58th Ohio Volunteer infantry. It was probably made in Philadelphia because of its circular star pattern. It was used late in the war, he says, because it has 35 stars - West Virginia, the 35th state, was admitted to the Union in the summer of 1863. Eckle says the flag was carried toward the front of an advancing column just ahead of the colonel.
"Despite the fact that it was extremely dangerous work, men would vie for the honor to carry the colors," Eckle says, "even knowing you would be a primary target. So in a single battle sometimes a dozen men would be wounded or killed carrying the colors."
The 58th OVI did suffer heavily losses at the battle of Grand Gulf in Mississippi. Those who survived eventually retuned to Camp Chase in early 1865 and were mustered out.
The flag, part of the adjutant general's collection numbering more than 500, disappeared from Ohio sometime during the 1960s. When a man in Maine contacted the state looking for more information, Ohio officials ask for its return. The man complied.
"This is such an important part of Ohio's heritage that it really belongs here with the state of Ohio and the Adjutant General's flag collection," says Cynthia Ghering, an assistant director of collections.
"It's very important because it honors the memory of Ohio's veterans,Ghering says. "We have a long tradition in service and volunteerism in Ohio and it's important for it to be here to preserve that memory."
The Ohio Historical Society has more than 400 Civil War flags. A few sturdier examples are on rotating display in the museum's civil war section.