This June 14 marks the 100th anniversary of the transfer of the commonwealth’s Civil War flags to the Capitol’s main rotunda.
It was also the last time the aged veteran bearers carried the colors that they had carried during the Civil War. They had been offered an all-expenses-paid trip to Harrisburg to be honored for their service and to transfer their beloved colors to the cases that had been designed specifically for the flags in 1911.
The flag-bearers met outside the old Library and Museum building well before the 1 p.m. assembly time, and each was handed the furled color that they had carried during the war. Many of the men wept openly upon holding the colors again, and the parade was delayed slightly while they regained their composure.
In the end, the parade began nearly on time at 2 p.m. and followed 4th Street to Market then on to Front and up State Street to the Capitol’s steps with the ceremony beginning at 3:15. As the veterans turned up State Street, the six companies of the National Guard formed an honor guard fringing the sides of the street, which were thronged with masses of people eager to see the veterans and their colors.
The ceremony began with a playing of the song “Pennsylvania,” followed by the invocation and the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Gov. John K. Tener made a short welcome speech, followed by Sen. Martin of the Flag Transfer Commission.
Martin stated that the colors needed no eulogy and that their history was written in the blood of thousands of loyal Pennsylvanians who fought and died to preserve the nation. He further asked that they be preserved for all time as a tribute to fallen heroes and an inspiration of loyalty and patriotism. More music followed, as did a keynote address by Maj. Moses Veale of the 109th PA. He recounted how truly young the men were who went off to war and assessed the contributions of the entire generation to the strength of the nation. “America” was then sung, and the benediction ended the ceremony.
As the band played a medley of Civil War tunes, the veterans placed their banners one by one in the Capitol’s main rotunda.
All told, 352 flags representing some 340,000 veterans of the commonwealth were carried and commemorated that day. The parade and ceremony were touted as among the most memorable and emotional events in Harrisburg’s history, not just for the participants but for thousands of residents who watched the procession. It was highly photographed and one of the first events to be filmed by the Harrisburg Telegraph and shown in local theaters.
Within several decades, the veterans who bore the colors would be gone, but the flags that they carried remain and were removed from the rotunda and preserved in 1985. They remain as a lasting testament and tangible connection to the valor of Pennsylvania’s Civil War soldiers and one of the largest single collections of Civil War flags in the nation.
Jason Wilson is an historian with the Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee.
