Capturing the Flag
Frances J. Crosby and Dan D. Emmett. Dixie for the Union, 1860. Center for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee State University.
Nineteenth-century citizens invested patriotic symbols with great power. As a commemoration of the American Revolution, the flag was often displayed prominently in American homes. With the outbreak of the Civil War, special flags and banners were created by both sides to lead men into battle. Creating flags was one of the ways women contributed directly to the war effort.
Stories
Frequently designed and hand-sewn by ladies' organizations, flags and banners were powerful symbols honored by the women who made them and the men who relayed them.
While brothers John and James were serving in the Union army, Susan was reputed to have barred Confederate troops from removing the Union flag flying over her home at great personal risk.
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