The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1916-06-29

of the United States enlblazoned
thereon, comprising an eagle sur
mounted by number of stars, and
with the designation of the body Of
troops-as infantry, artillery, ETC.
inscribed on a scroll. In 1884 the az
tillery were given the right Of carry
ing the Stars and Stripes as recorded
by the War Department regulations.
the infantry and cavalry still using
the national arms with an added scroll
in the eagles beak bearing the words
"E pluribus unum." These flags re
manned the colors of the infantry until
1841, and the cavalry until as late as
1887, when they were ordered to en-
ploy the Stars and Stripes.
So many styles ard forms of the
Stars and Stripes were in existence in
1887 that certain foreign governments
found it necessary to make inquiry OF
the government just what the ofici:i
flag was, resulting in the publication
in 1852 of a careful study Of the sub
iect by Schuyler Hamilton.
However, it was not until 1912 that
very definite specifications were drawn
up. Under President Taft's admin
stratiOn representative of the various
government departments conferred or
proportions and other details of the
national flag, resulting in an executive
order, dated October %, 1912, which
tended to standardize the Stars and
Stripes, and yet further specifications
were found necessary only recently.
The history of our flag indicates
that the Stars and Stripes was not
carried by troops in battle until the
period of the Mexican War-1S46-47.
Several flags of this period are in the
Museum collections. Among them IS
a flag of thirteen stripes and stars
carried throughout the war by tire bat
talon of volunteers which enlisted
from Maryland and the District Of
Columbia, and the flag Of Company |,
Fourth Regiment of Indiana Infantry
of thirteen stripes, with an eagle in
the field.
Ten flags of the collection pertain
to the Civil War: The garrison flag of
Fort Moultrie. S. c., lowered when the
command evacuated that fort to as
sembe at Fort Sumter, Dec. &c, 1860:
boat flag flown by Commander Char
les S. Boggs, U. S Navy, wien he left
the gunboat Varuna, sunk in an
engagement between a Confederate
fotilla and the Union fleet under Adj
miral Farragut, below New Orleans,
April "a, 1862; a signal flag of white
cloth with painted stars and stripes:
headquarters flag Of Major General
Benjamin F. Butler, L. S. Volunteers.
flown at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, IN
1861; the flag raised nj New Orleans
by its citizens upon the occupation Of
the city by the Union folces under
Major General Butler, May I. 1862;
the remains of the flag carried in the
three days fight, at Salem Heights,
Va, May 3-5, 1863, when three Color
Sergcants were killed, though the
banner never faltered or fell to the
ground; General Hazen's garrison flag
hoisted at Fort McAllistnr, Ga. after
the surrender of the fort 70 the Union
Army, Dec. 13, 1864; the flag flown
on the U. S. S. Kearsarge, when she
sank the Alabama, deposited in the
National Museum by Lieutenant Her
bert Winslow, son of Rear Admiral
Herbert Winslow, commander of the
Kaarsarge during the action; head
quarters flag of Major General f. 0.
Ord, U. S. Army, flown in Richmond,
Va, in 1865, and the flag of the First
Pennsylvania Volunteers, found in the
Capitol at Richmond in 1865 by Major
General Ord.
Other flags include some from the
Spanish-American War, and the fol-
lowing miscellaneous flags: A flag
owned by Admiral Charles Wilkes, L.
S. N; the American colors carried by
Rear Admiral Peary in his arctic ex-
plorations in 1909; the flag carried by
the Smithonian African Expedition
under the command of Col Theodore
Roosevelt in 19O9-1O, and many exam
pies of the national ensign which has
flown in so many notable engagements
and during numerous worthy achieve
mentS.