Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1905-06-03
TATTEREO BATTLE FLAGS.
Will be Removed from Old to New
Capt. toll on Flag Day.

Capitol on Flag Day.
minneapolis Journal.
In massive glass case in the very
center of the first floor of the old
capitol in st Paul reposes collection
OF old, battered flags.
So dilapidated are some that
little remains but the stats. In not
one of them can be found square
foot of perfect cloth. Yet to the
Minnesota veteran of the civil war;
these flags and their honorable pre-
servation are hardly less dear than
life itself. They are the regimental
flags which the Minnesota boys in
blue carried with such bravery
thruout that great strife. They are
the colors which appeared in the fore
on many a battlefield.
To the gizzled veteran these flags
bring back animated scenes thou
sand times more vivid than can
ever be pictured by the most eloquent
and elaborate historians. To the
old soldier bent with the weight OF
years, these flags have but increased
in priceless value as time has rolled
on.
It is proper, then, that the now
great and wealthy state of Minnesota
should cause the occasion of the
removal of these flags to magnii-
cent bronze cases IN the new marbel
capitol, to be an affair of state.
June IA, flag day. has been selected
AS the most appropriate date for
this ceremony. and elaborate arrange
ments are now being made. The
parade from the old to the new
capitol will be participated in by
companies of the national guard, by
the regulars from Fort Smelling,
and by such civil war veterans as
are still able to hold their place in
the line of march.
Flag of the Old First.
Of all the flags in question, one in
particular of the gallant old First
Minnesota is prehaps deserving of
the most honor, for it was borne by
the First regiment offered IN the civil
war This flag led it's regiment on to
eternal fame thru frlghtful losses.
It inspired AZ men, the sole able
bodied survivors of the 1852 who
made that great charge at Gettys |
burg, to hold an entire opposing
army temporarily in check. And at
the same time, it wrote prophecy
into history which was fulfilled forty
three years later.
The famous charge had been made,
and the remnant of the martyred
First, joining some reserves who
were charging Cushing's battery on
a hill which h-d been taken by the
.sJohnnies." dashed forward to retake
the guns. Corporal Dehn, the last
of the color guard of the regiment,
was shot thru the hand. The same
shot cut the flag staff in two. Henry
D. O'Brien of Company b sliced the
flag by the remnant of staff and
rushed with it up the hill to the
enemy's lines, keeping it in advance
of all other colors. The effect was
electrical. Every man of the First
Minnesota sprang to protect his flag,
and the rest rushed with them upon
the enemy. In the final melee.
Corporal OBrien received two
wounds, and Corporal W. N. irvine
seized the flag and advanced it to
final victory.
When the staff had been shot in
two during the charge on the battery,
the color bearer, looking about,
found the remnant of another flag
staff. This he lashed to the portion
of the old staff, holding the flag,
using drum strap. So the flag was
carried to the end of the war. and so
It now rests at the old capitol. The
staff which was dashed to the piece
holding the flag, proved to be the
staff of rebel flag. It was believed
at the time that this was a prophecy;|
that the boys of the gray and the !
boys of the blue would some day
unite under one flag at Gettysburg
In 1898 this prophecy came true
The veterans of south and those Of
the north united that year in re-