“Precious Tatters of Silk”

As I’m coming upon my second-year anniversary of working at the State Library, I can’t claim to be new around here; however, there is no shortage of new (to me) special collections items I have the joy of discovering for myself. One of my more recent discoveries is our Civil War regimental battle flag photograph collection.

Regimental battle flags of the 54th and 55th Infantries,
Massachusetts’ first Black regiments to serve in the Civil War.

According to an inscription, the photos were presented to the Commonwealth by the Commandery of the State of Massachusetts Military Order of the Loyal Legion. In 1885, the Loyal Legion was permitted to photograph the many Civil War battle flags borne by Massachusetts’ infantry, cavalry, and artillery units; at the time, the flags were on display in Doric Hall.

I was struck by the number of flags included – more than 160 – and wondered how so many made their way to the State House following the Civil War. I found the answer on the State House Tours website and information published by State House Art Curator Susan Greendyke Lachevre. "The Return of the Colors," shown in Edward Simmons' mural in Memorial Hall, depicts the return of the flags that Governor John A. Andrew presented to the Massachusetts regiments as they departed to fight for the Union. The return ceremony took place on December 22, 1865.

Left: Colors of the 7th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, formed in Taunton.

Center: Flag of the 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, also known as the Harvard Regiment, formed in Readville.

Right: Colors of the 41st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, organized in Lynnfield.

Present day visitors to Memorial Hall can see transparencies of battle flags on display. The original flags are part of the Massachusetts State House Battle Flag Collection, and textile conservators moved them to environmentally controlled archival storage in 1987.

Pictured below are two closeup shots of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry regimental battle flags. Governor Andrew spoke of the regiment, saying, "I know not where, in all of human history, to any given thousand men in arms there has been committed a work at once so proud, so precious, so full of hope and glory." The storied 54th regiment is commemorated with a monument on the Boston Common, and the site is part of Boston’s Black Heritage Trail. You can learn more about the 54th and 55th in our Colonel Alfred Stedman Hartwell Collection.

A news clipping dated October 21, 1885 pasted on the inside of the battle flags’ photo album cover reads,

The Old Bay State’s Tattered Flags

... These precious tatters of silk, stained with smoke and fire, and, in some instances, with the blood of their bearers, continue to be the object of appreciative curiosity to the visitors to the State House. The color which bears the stain of Sergeant Plunkett’s blood, showing where he clasped it with his broken, bleeding arms, is the most admired piece of silk probably in New England. Veterans lead their children up to it to see the stain of the brave Sergeant’s blood, and every day groups of sightseers ask to be shown Sergeant Plunkett’s flag.

There will be more to read on Sergeant Plunkett in a future blog post, as what I found about him while researching necessitates a much deeper dive.


Alyssa Persson
Special Collections Processing Archivist