Tennessee State Museum searches for Union flags

Tennessee State Museum curators are trying to solve the Civil War mystery of why it’s so easy to find Confederate flags in the state but not Union.

They’re asking Tennesseans to look into their family collections for the flags and pictures of ancestors holding them.

Greg Biggs, a renowned Civil War historian and lead author of the museum’s upcoming book Volunteer Banners: The Civil War Flags of Tennessee, said only eight of 60 or 70 Union regimental flags for Tennessee have been found.

“As there is no known record of Union flags being destroyed by post-war Confederate sympathizers, there is possibility that the flags were hidden,” he said.

While Tennessee seceded from the Union in June 1861, there were Union soldiers from the state. As well, 400 battles and skirmishes were fought here.

The Tennessee State Museum, in downtown Nashville, has more than 500 Civil War artifacts, including the largest collection of Confederate flags in Tennessee.

The museum also has three Union flags used by troops, but one can’t be displayed because it’s in pieces.

“Silk falls apart by itself,” said Candice Adelson, the museum’s senior curator of fashion and textiles. “In the 19th century, silk was treated with metal, and it makes it deteriorate faster. We are trying to raise money to have the flag conserved.”

Proceeds from the sales of Volunteer Banners will go to the flags’ preservation.

“The museum can preserve these flags for posterity and allow many people to see them and benefit from learning about their history,” Adelson said.