Scenes from the Rally Round the Flags Exhibit
Between 1861 and 1865, Michigan contributed more than 90,000 men to the Northern forces.
Close to 15,000 Michigan soldiers died in the struggle for the Union and against
slavery. Michigan sent more men per capita to the war than any other northern state. They
served in all theatres of the war, on land and on sea, taking part in more
than 800 battles and
skirmishes. Sixty-nine Michigan men were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The
battle flags of Michigan illustrate the soldiers' stories and sacrifices. Below are some
scenes from the Michigan Historical Museum's 1996-1997 special exhibit of
Michigan battle flags. Click on each picture to see a larger image.
The Home Front
 The battle flags of Michigan bring together
home front and battle front. The parlor scene hints at Civil War home-front activities:
singing and playing music, writing letters and packing barrels to send to soldiers,
rolling bandages and stitching a flag. A child's toy sword and drum on the floor suggests
that someone had been play-acting the role an older brother or father is living.
Most Michigan regiments were recruited locally in the early years of the Civil War.
Most carried battle flags made by commercial manufacturers; although a few flags were
homemade. Women sometimes embellished both purchased and homemade flags with embroidered
mottoes. The families, friends and neighbors of the soldiers who fought under the flags
often raised the money to buy the flags. The tie between flag and home was strengthened as
communities gathered to present troops with their flags and see them off to war.
The Battle Front
 The soldier's tent
echoes the home front: letter writing, sewing, music and amusement. The soldier's
"housewife" with needle and thread is close at hand for mending tasks. Near the
tent is the barrel that arrived from home with clothing, a quilt, apples and homemade
cookies. The rifles, drum, haversack and uniform all indicate the soldier's work.
 This six-pound cannon, cast in 1855,
saw action during the Civil War. It is the same kind of cannon that Michigan's Battery A
of the First Light Artillery—known as the Loomis Battery— used. This cannon, restored to
its original operating condition, is owned by a re-enactment group called the Fifth
Battery, Michigan Light Artillery.
The Battle Flags
 A continuously running video program presented
more than 160 Civil War battle flags, most too fragile for display. Battle flags were
displayed in groups of fourteen in the gallery, each flag on its own storage tray. With
the trays, there is no need to handle the fragile flags. "Rally Round the
Flags," another video program, told the story of the flags and their conservation. (Note:
These videos are not currently available to the public.)
The Roll of Honor
 Resolved by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the State of Michigan, That the Adjutant General of the State be
authorized and instructed to prepare . . . a roll (to be called the Roll of
Honor), upon which shall be inscribed the names of all such citizens of Michigan, not only
as have fallen in battle, or died in consequence of wounds received during the late war of
the rebellion, but also all who died in Southern prisons, hospitals, and all other places.
(Michigan Legislature, 1869)
This resolution resulted in a two-volume "roll" containing 14,855 names. It
took the scribe two years to complete the task. Kept in the Archives of
Michigan—along with a microfilm copy that researchers may use—the Roll of Honor had
never before been displayed. In the photograph, Michigan Secretary of State Candice S. Miller
(foreground) and Michigan Historical Center director Sandra S. Clark look at the Roll of
Honor.
Hands-on Activities
 Children visiting the "Rally Round the
Flags" found things to do in their own tent. They tried Civil War gaming with
miniature soldiers, beat with drumsticks on a reproduction of a Civil War drum, tried on a
uniform, and stuffed a reproduction soldier's haversack. Some designed their own flags by
arranging magnetic, brightly colored stripes, stars and other symbols on metal trays. They
experimented with how flags fly when they turned on the fan and watched miniature
flags—one a standard and the other a swallowtail guidon—flutter in the breeze. Adults
and children made rubbings of tombstones near a cemetery diorama that honored fallen
Michigan soldiers. In another area of the exhibit, visitors tried to lift a U.S. flag on
its staff to learn about the physical demands upon a flag bearer.
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