Gen. Philip Sheridan's Personal U.S. 35 Star Cavalry Headquarters Flag - 1864 / '65

This small 35 star US National Flag was used by Major General Philip Sheridan during the American Civil War while he was Cavalry Corps Commander of the Army of the Potomac and Commanding Cavalry General of the Army of the Shenandoah, between 1864 and 1865. Surviving army headquarters staff flags are extremely rare and Union cavalry commanders' national flags are unknown. This unique flag has been expertly preserved and framed with modern conservation and restoration techniques. Made of silk, this camp/headquarters flag would also function as a staff flag. It was similar to the U.S. flags displayed by both Generals Grant and Sherman at their headquarters except, in keeping with Sheridan's mounted command, it, like the cavalry's other flags, was smaller than their army infantry counterparts.

During the American Civil War, the U.S. Cavalry used much smaller flags of all designations because they were easier to carry on horseback, the cavalry custom for centuries. Command flags followed the same practice except that a cavalry regimental standard (blue with the eagle as the central device) was the only flag a cavalry regiment was authorized by Congress to carry in the field. The national flag was not carried by the cavalry except when it was displayed in camp or headquarters so that couriers and soldiers could identify the commander and staff officers of the unit.

National Colors were not authorized for the cavalry, even when the cavalry unit used its National Standard at the regimental level. The size of this flag suggests it was used to mark Sherman's location in the camp or headquarters after he was given the rank of a Major General and later Commander of the Cavalry of the Army of Shenandoah. Many commanders reverted to using a personal guidon to locate the commander, even in the field. Sheridan followed this unofficial use as did other notable commanders such as General Wilson, commander of the 3rd Division in the East.(1) Because personal guidons could only be used when the commander was present on the field or at headquarters, using a smaller national flag was believed to be a suitable substitute in the cavalry to mark the command place in a camp and a more permanent headquarters instead of "in the saddle." (2)

This flag is likely the Sheridan flag described on page 582 of History of the Flag of the United States of America by Admiral George Henry Preble, when he described the captured US flags returned to the War department from Richmond after the Confederate surrender in 1865. Writing in the 1870's and 80s he stated:

"I noticed specially General Sheridan's staff flag, and from its torn and shred condition the imagination can readily read its history. This flag was lost in the valley at a time when Sheridan was temporarily absent in Washington. On his return, he found his army had been routed and driven back from its advance position in a demoralized condition. Without stopping to consider a "plan of campaign," he sprang into his saddle and made the ride now famous in "historic verse." He reached his army in time to infuse enthusiasm into his men, and the next day led them to the most brilliant victory of the war. Furled close to this ensign..."

Preble went on to describe the condition of the flags in the War Departments possession perhaps referring to this silk flag:

"It is noticeable in this collection that the silk flags ornamented with embroidery are in the best state of preservation. The silk flags, with painted devices are already burnt through by the paint and oil, and dropping to pieces, and the woolen flags are moth-eaten."

This battle damaged flag remained with Sheridan's personal effects when he was posted to command the Department of the Missouri. General Sheridan relocated the command's headquarters to Chicago, Illinois and during the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871, he responded by coordinating military relief efforts. Although Sheridan's personal residence was spared in the fire, his office was destroyed along with most of his professional and personal papers. Sheridan's Chief Clerk and longtime aide, Daniel O. Drennan, a former army corporal who had remained with Sheridan since the War, was able to pack a large trunk with some of General Sheridan's memorabilia and transport it to safety. In appreciation of Mr. Drennan's actions and in recognition of his work as a valued aide, General Sheridan gifted Drennan some of the rescued mementos, including this flag, which was passed down through Drennan's descendants until it was sold at an estate auction in 2008.

OF SPECIAL NOTE: THE FLAG'S MANY PERILS HAS CONTINUED INTO THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURY. General Philip Sheridan's personal 35 star US Flag was acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection in a box, in deplorable condition. (See pre and post conservation photos of both flags ZFC2576 and ZFC2577.) The red and white stripes of ZFC 2577 were torn, shredded and fractured and the painted star field in the canton had all but disintegrated. The flag was incapable of supporting its own weight and in desperate need of conservation. After receiving an urgent call from Textile Preservation Conservator Cathy Heffner, Ben Zaricor retained her to pick up the flag from the Gettysburg Militaria Auction and to conserve this flag and the General's Battle Flag see ZFC2576. .

The flag was painstakingly conserved, mounted and framed. After a monumental effort, the art of the textile conservator has preserved a priceless and unique Civil War commanding cavalry generals camp/headquarters flag. It is one of the few returned, captured US Civil War flags and it is a relic of the Great American Civil War and Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It is an important silk Civil War National Flag that served the Union's greatest cavalry commander through his most illustrious campaigns in 1864 and 1865.
Endnotes
(1) General Wilson was later transferred to the West theatre after he was replaced by General Grant; this reassignment allowed General Sheridan to assign General Custer to take command of the 3rd Division.
(2) Both the infantry and cavalry developed other functional flags for higher commands. In the Army of the Potomac, an elaborate system of distinguishing flags evolved wherein corps and divisions carried rectangular flags while separate brigades carried triangular pennants.





Exhibition History:

University of California Santa Cruz
Board of Councilors Meeting, Rare Flags Exhibit
Santa Cruz, CA
7 June 2012.

Private showings to private guests by the Collector Ben Zaricor and curator of the Zaricor Flag Collection James Ferrigan.
Santa Cruz, Ca.
November 2012
February 2015

Publication History:
Preble, Admiral George Henry, History of the Flag of the United States of America, Boston, A. Williams & Co., 1880.Pp.582-583.

Provenance:
• Major General Phillip Sheridan, 1864.
• Gifted to military secretary Corporal/clerk Daniel O. Drennan, 1871.
• Retained by Daniel O. Drennan until passing, 1905.
• By descent in the Drennan family to great-great-great grandson William C. Leaman.
• Consigned to auction by Leaman estate in 2008.
• Sold via Heritage Auctions, Dallas TX, to Zaricor Flag Collection in 2008.


Sources