The Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History in Kennesaw will unveil an important addition to its permanent collection Monday, a rare 65th Georgia Infantry flag carried during the Atlanta campaign, complete with 41 bullet holes and blood stains.
The 1864 banner had been held by the Davis family of Alabama for nearly a century and a half after Private John Davis of the 65th Georgia Regiment rolled it up, tucked it in his boot and brought it home at the end of the Civil War.
The flag was taken into battle at Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta and, after the city's fall, at Franklin, Tenn. Davis picked it up during the bloody Battle of Franklin, after the first two color bearers were wounded.
Textile Preservation Associates Inc. of West Virginia spent 13 months restoring the flag. It is the only known surviving example of an Army of Tennessee banner — the 65th Georgia was attached to the Army of Tennessee — that boasts unit and state designations sewn onto both sides, according to the Southern Museum.
The centerpiece of a new display on the history and meaning of battle flags, it is being added to the permanent exhibit "Railroads: Lifelines of the Civil War."
"To fully understand the impact of the Civil War," museum executive director Richard Banz said, "it's important to discuss all aspects of this battle flag and others like it."
EXHIBIT PREVIEW
65th Georgia Infantry Flag
On view starting today at the Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History. 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays. $7.50, $6.50 ages 60 and over, $5.50 ages 4-12. 2829 Cherokee St., Kennesaw. 770-427-2117, www.southernmuseum.org.
