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Infantry Flags:
Eighth to Eighteenth Regiments
NOTE: All photographs are by Peter Glendinning. (Dark netting used in
earlier conservation of some flags obscures their detail.) The text and images in this
exhibit may be used by students, teachers and the public for personal and academic
purposes. Any commercial use or publication of them (print or online) is strictly
prohibited. Click on the flag to see a larger image.
 Eighth Michigan Infantry
Regiment
The Eighth was mustered into service in August 1861 with soldiers from Grand Rapids,
Flint, St. Johns, Lansing, Owosso and Jackson. Fighting thirty-seven battles in seven
states earned them the nickname "The Wandering Regiment." This flag was retired
in March 1863 and sent home to Michigan. (87.21.90)
 Eighth Michigan Infantry
Regiment
This flag was carried by the Eighth Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment, known as the
"Wandering Regiment" for their long marches and hard battles in seven states. It
replaced the regiment's first flag, which had become too battle-scarred for further use.
Sent as a gift from the citizens of Detroit in March 1863, the regiment was proud to see
the names of battles they had fought in--called "battle honors"--painted on
their new flag. Over the next two years, they would add new honors, seen on the flag's
bottom red stripe. (87.35.90)
Tenth Michigan Infantry Regiment
The flag you see here hung in the Capitol from a staff surmounted by a gold eagle which
bore an engraved silver plate. Everyone assumed it was the regiment's original flag. But
closer inspection--possible only after the flags were removed from the Capitol--raised
doubts. This flag is not "scorched, tattered and worn" as the regiment's
original flag was described by the Flint Democrat in 1863 .It lacks the
"Tuebor" motto placed on the original flag and the battle damage that would have
forced its retirement. The word "Vet." that appears on the flag designates a
regiment that reenlisted after its original service had expired. The flag is probably the
regiment's last flag, a gift of Colonel Lum after the regiment reenlisted in February
1864. (87.31.90)
 Eleventh Michigan Infantry
Regiment
The Eleventh Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment was recruited primarily from St. Joseph
County and mustered in at White Pigeon in late 1861. In late November, the ladies of St.
Joseph County presented the regiment with a battle flag. The Three Rivers Reporter noted:
"Its entire cost was $78.00. A more tasty stand of colors has not fallen to the hands
of many soldiers in the war." This flag is not the Eleventh's original "tasty
colors" but rather a replacement probably carried through some of regiment's hardest
fighting. (87.59.90)
Twelfth Michigan Infantry Regiment
The Twelfth Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment was organized at Niles and mustered into
service in March 1862. Julie Bretschneider--whose husband Robert fought with the Second
and the Twelfth--sewed the flag by hand and embroidered the motto "Michigan Expects
every Man to do his Duty." This flag was carried by the regiment for two years and
bears the names of the Twelfth's major battles during that time. After the war, the flag
passed through several hands until it reached the regiment's colonel, William Graves, who
directed that when he died the "shot riddled old banner be divided into parts and
each survivor of the regiment should have a portion." This is all that remains of the
souvenired flag. (87.56.90)
Thirteenth Michigan Infantry Regiment
This tattered banner once read, "Presented by the Citizens of Kalamazoo To the
Thirteenth Michigan Infantry." The regiment was mustered in at Kalamazoo in January
1862. So quickly did they leave for the field that the city had no chance to present the
set of colors that had been ordered from New York. Instead the flags--including a national
"stars and strips" and this "regimental" with the Michigan
coat-of-arms--were forwarded to the regiment in Tennessee. This flag was with the regiment
during its fiercest battles--Perrysville, Stone River, Mission Ridge, and Chickamauga,
where three color bearers fell and half the Thirteenth fighting that day were killed,
wounded or missing in action. The flags were returned to Kalamazoo in 1864, when the
regiment went home on veterans furlough. Eventually the flags were "delivered for
deposit with the other war flags in the State Capitol," according to Adjutant General
John Robertson in 1882. (87.44.90)
Fourteenth Michigan Infantry Regiment
The Fourteenth was mustered into service in February 1862 at Ypsilanti with troops from
Grand Rapids, Lansing, Owosso and Detroit. Sent to Tennessee, the regiment was issued
horses and pressed into duty as "mounted infantry" to scout, defend railroads
and chase rebel guerrillas. In 1864, the regiment reenlisted, not as mounted troops,
but--against its will--as foot soldiers. It fought with General William Sherman at Atlanta
and accompanied his "March to the Sea." The word "VETERAN" on this
flag means that it was issued to the regiment after it reenlisted in 1864. (87.54.90)
 Sixteenth Michigan
Infantry Regiment
The Sixteenth Michigan Infantry was mustered into service in Detroit in September 1861.
The history of this regimental color is unknown. This flag may be a special flag
commissioned at the end of the war, perhaps for the Grand Review in Washington, D.C., at
the war's end. (87.60.90)
 Seventeenth Michigan Infantry
Regiment
Mustered into service on 26 August 1862 in Detroit, the Seventeenth earned the name
"Stonewall Regiment" for its bravery when its inexperienced troops drove the
enemy from a stone wall at South Mountain on 14 September 1862. Three soldiers won
Congressional Medals of Honor for bravery with this flag. (87.63.90)
Seventeenth Michigan Infantry Regiment
Mustered into service in Detroit on 26 August 1862, the Seventeenth fought
its first battle at South Mountain, Maryland. There, the untried troops drove the enemy
from a stone wall, earning the nickname of the "Stonewall Regiment." This flag
was a replacement for the regiment's first flag, lost at the Battle of Spottsylvania,
Virginia, in 1864. The regiment probably marched under this flag at the Grand Review in Washington at the end of the war. (87.76.90)
Eighteenth Michigan Infantry Regiment
In July 1862, with the war going badly for the Union, President Abraham Lincoln called for
300,000 more volunteers. The Eighteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment was rapidly
recruited and mustered in at Hillsdale. Pausing briefly in Toledo, Ohio, on the way to the
front they received "an elegant flag of the finest material and workmanship"
ordered from Tiffany and Company of New York, one of the firms supplying special
presentation flags commissioned by wealthy benefactors. This flag with its elegantly
embroidered stars and lettering and gold bullion fringe is typical of the Tiffany flags. (87.74.90)
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