The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1879-10-23
Reucs OF ove GREAT CIVIL WAN.

REucs OF ovR GREAT CIVIL Wan.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The upper portion of the shabb,
house Is now used by one of the clerk
Of the Adjutant Generals Office, an,
the hrst floor is set aside for the SAT,
keeping and display Of the captures
latte flags Of the late war. The room
present . unique appearance. TIL,
walls are covered with the tatteret
remnants Of the banners. The ceiling,
are hidden BY bunting. The Window
are drsped and nantes festooned anG
door-ways covered under by the flags
while hundreds of them are pigeon
holed and only unrolled to show thu
curious. The front room contains the
flags captured from our army by the
COnfederates, numbering "a. They
are in every degree Of condition, from
the bullet-riddled and moth-eaten t.
the perfect. These colOrs were all re.
captured ut the fallOf Richmond, when
they were found in the war Office OF
that city. The Northern States are
all represented by strips Of bunting, on
which are emblazoned the coats of
arms belonging to each section.
Among other pennants in this room
possessing general interest noticed
specially, General Sheridan's staff flag,
and, from its torn and shred condition,
the imagination can readily read its
history. The flag was lost in the Val
ley at q time when Sheridan was tenn
pOrarily absent in Washington. On
his return he found his army had been
routed and driven back from its ad-
vance position in demOralized condi-
ton. Without stopping to consider a
"Plan Of campaign" he sprang into
his saddle and made the ride now f.
nous in "historic verse" He reached
his army in time to infuse enthusiasm
into his men, and the next day led
them to the most brilliant victory Of
the war. Furied close to this ensign
Is an Ohio banner, the number of its
regiment shot away, but its record Of
f0rty-flve battles il one Of which the
State may be proud. II it could speak
what . story Il would narrate Of vic
tory and defeat, and all the horrors Of
those dreadful times. The flag of Ber-
dams sharp shooters has inscribed ON
the few folds left the fact that It was
carried alOft in twenty-five engage
ments, and they the most important
Of the war. Oar inspection was speci-
ally invited to q square bit of silk.
once Of snowy whiteness, fringed with
rich, deep bullion. The silk Is yellow
and mildewed and frayed. The fringe
Is rusty, and there are but two figures
and letters to tell to which of our heroic
mar, t1,ss corop NJ 1,,cS - npoo holnnOo<l
and these are "Sixty-ninth New York
stain over this Of ownership, but the
Irish legiOns who fought 80 bravely
under the leadership of the gallant
COrcOran are not slow to recognize this
streamer as the one under which they
were led to battle by the man who so
generously gave his life to help save
his adopted country.
In the back room are the COnfeder-
ate flags captured by the boys in blue.
/ marked as q curious fact that there
were few Stars and Bars, which many
suppose to have been the emblem Of
the Southern COnfederacy. l was in
formed by the gentleman in charge
that this insignia was only used dur
ing the first twelve months of the war,
and abandoned because at q distanceit
was difficult to distinguish the Stars
and Bars from the Union Stars and
Stripes, and on the Recommendation of
General Beauregsr,i, the COnfederacy
adopted the Southern Cross as their
ensign. In this room are 534 flags taken
from the secession forces, some from
each State. Most Of them are decOTat-
ed with legends and symbols. A white
silk banner worn and mutilated, be-
to an Alabama regiment, hears
on its face the declaration that I'VE
fight for our homes, our wives and our
An enthusiastic Albanian
has Offered $G0 for the worn silk. The
terse sentence, pregnant with noble
meaning, sets forth emphatically the
under which the men of
the southern country went forth to do
and 10 die.
OF all these pennants in the four cor
ners Of the cross are printed in black
and gold letters the names Of the bat
Ties through which they served to ami
mate and stimulate the soldiers. The
officers were much more
particular in this respect than our own
Something ought to be done to pre-
serve these fia&s, or in fDW years
more of exposure to ''mOth, Mfldew
md rust" they will be reduced to alb
,olute nOthingness.