U.S. Army Light Artillery Guidon, Sand's 11th Ohio Battery with Battle Honors.
The Howard Michael Madaus sub-collection of Civil War Military Flags was assembled from a variety of sources over a thirty year period of collecting (1970-2000) before being acquired by the Zaricor Collection in 2000. The sub-collection attempts to present an example of each of the major types of depot contractor regulation flags and colors carried by Union forces at the basic unit level, i.e. regiment, battalion, company, and battery, as well as the types of general military flags.

This sub-collection which was added to the Zaricor Civil War collection constitutes the largest and (while not complete) most comprehensive collection of the military flags carried by the Union Army during the Civil War outside of state repositories designated by the War Department for the disposition of these flags after the War, or in public museum collections. In fact this private collection is larger and more comprehensive than many of the public museum collections in the United States.

The silk field is formed in the shape of a swallowtail (25.5 inches from the staff to the cut of the swallowtail) and is composed of two horizontal bars, the top bar red and the bottom bar white, which are joined by hand stitching. Upon the upper, red bar is the inscription: "SANDS' " over "Ohio Battery." in 2 1/2" high upper and lower case gold Roman letters; while on the lower white bar are the battle honors: "NEW MADRID." and " ISLAND 10.", each in 2 1/2" high gold block letters. The flag is attached with a black cotton sleeve, added by the conservator at the time of the flags conservation.

The text on the tag reads: "Light Artillery Battery Guidon Sands' (11th) Ohio Battery". The text on the flag is painted in gold and reads "Battle honors; New Madrid // Island No. 10." This guidon was used by Ohio troops in the western theatre of the American Civil War.

Exhibition History
First Presidio Exhibit, 2003

Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 - Gallery III
(ZFC0411)
United States Army Light Artillery Guidon Sands 11th Ohio Battery


Publication History:
Woodhead, Henry, Editor, Howard Michael Madaus, Civil War Flag Authority Echoes of Glory: Arms and Equipment of The Union - Flags. Alexandria, Time-Life Books, 1998. P.269.

Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 80.



Provenance:
• U.S Army, Sand's Ohio Battery, 1862
• Presumably retained by veterans and descent until guidon surfaced at an Ohio gun show.
• Acquired by Paul H. North, Jr. of Columbus, Ohio, until 1971/72.
• Sold to Howard M. Madaus of Cody, Wyoming, until 2000.
• Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection from the Madaus Flag Collection of Cody, WY, in 2000.

Sources:


Madaus, Howard M.- Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict, VZ Publications, Santa Cruz, 2006.

Woodhead, Henry, ed., Flags, Echoes of Glory: Arms and Equipment of The Union, New York, Time Life Books, 1998.

US Army Quartermaster General, Flags of the Army of the United States carried during the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, to designate the headquarters of the different armies, army corps, divisions and brigades, Washington, D.C., 1887.

Todd, Frederick P., American Military Equipage 1851-1872, Volume 2, Providence, The Company of Military Historians, 1977.

Madaus, Howard M., correspondence to Ben Zaricor, 29 March 2000, Zaricor Flag Collection Archives.

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection