| Men furnished | Aggregate No. | Aggregate
| under Act of | of men | No. of men
| April 15, 1861, | furnish'd under | furnish'd
STATES. | for 75,000 | all calls. | reduced to
| militia for | | the 3 years'
| for 3 months. | | standard.
---------------------+-----------------+-----------------+---------------
Maine | 771 | 71,745 | 56,595
New Hampshire | 779 | 34,605 | 30,827
Vermont | 782 | 35,246 | 29,052
Massachusetts | 3,736 | 151,785 | 123,844
Rhode Island | 3,147 | 23,711 | 17,878
Connecticut | 2,402 | 57,270 | 50,514
New York | 13,906 | 464,156 | 381,696
New Jersey | 3,123 | 79,511 | 55,785
Pennsylvania | 20,175 | 366,326 | 267,558
Delaware | 775 | 13,651 | 10,303
Maryland | ... | 49,731 | 40,692
West Virginia | 900 | 32,003 | 27,653
District of Columbia | 4,720 | 16,872 | 11,506
Ohio | 12,357 | 317,133 | 237,976
Indiana | 4,686 | 195,147 | 152,283
Illinois | 4,820 | 258,217 | 212,694
Michigan | 781 | 90,119 | 80,865
Wisconsin | 817 | 96,118 | 78,985
Minnesota | 930 | 25,034 | 19,675
Iowa | 968 | 75,860 | 68,182
Missouri | 10,501 | 108,773 | 86,192
Kentucky | ... | 78,540 | 70,348
Kansas | 650 | 20,097 | 18,654
Tennessee | ... | 12,077 | 12,077
Arkansas | ... | ... | ...
North Carolina | ... | ... | ...
California | ... | 7,451 | 7,451
Nevada | ... | 216 | 216
Oregon | ... | 617 | 581
Washington Ter'ty | ... | 895 | 895
Nebraska | ... | 1,279 | 380
Colorado | ... | 1,762 | 1,762
Dakota | ... | 181 | 181
New Mexico | 1,510 | 2,395 | 1,011
| ------ | --------- | ---------
Total | 93,326 | 2,688,523 | 2,154,311
---------------------+-----------------+-----------------+---------------
HISTORY OF THE FLAG.
BY A DISTINGUISHED HISTORIAN.
Men, in the aggregate, demand something besides abstract ideas and
principles. Hence the desire for symbols--something visible to the eye
and that appeals to the senses. Every nation has a flag that represents
the country--every army a common banner, which, to the soldier, stands
for that army. It speaks to him in the din of battle, cheers him in the
long and tedious march, and pleads with him on the disastrous retreat.
Standards were originally carried on a pole or lance. It matters little
what they may be, for the symbol is the same.
In ancient times the Hebrew tribes had each its own standard--that of
Ephraim, for instance, was a steer; of Benjamin, a wolf. Among the
Greeks, the Athenians had an owl, and the Thebans a sphynx. The standard
of Romulus was a bundle of hay tied to a pole, afterwards a human hand,
and finally an eagle. Eagles were at first made of wood, then of
silver, with thunderbolts of gold. Under Caesar they were all gold,
without thunderbolts, and were carried on a long pike. The Germans
formerly fastened a streamer to a lance, which the duke carried in front
of the army. Russia and Austria adopted the double headed eagle. The
ancient national flag of England, all know, was the banner of St.
George, a white field with a red cross. This was at first used in the
Colonies, but several changes were afterwards made.
Of course, when they separated from the mother country, it was necessary
to have a distinct flag of their own, and the Continental Congress
appointed Dr. Franklin, Mr. Lynch, and Mr. Harrison, a committee to take
the subject into consideration. They repaired to the American army, a
little over 9,000 strong, then assembled at Cambridge, and after due
consideration, adopted one composed of seven white and seven red
stripes, with the red and white crosses of St. George and St. Andrew,
conjoined on a blue field in the corner, and named it "The Great Union
Flag." The crosses of St. George and St. Andrew were retained to show
the willingness of the colonies to return to their allegiance to the
British crown, if their rights were secured. This flag was first hoisted
on the first day of January, 1776. In the meantime, the various colonies
had adopted distinctive badges, so that the different bodies of troops,
that flocked to the army, had each its own banner. In Connecticut, each
regiment had its own peculiar standard, on which were represented the
arms of the colony, with the motto, "Qui transtulit sustinet"--(he who
transplanted us will sustain us.) The one that Putnam gave to the breeze
on Prospect Hill on the 18th of July, 1775, was a red flag, with this
motto on one side, and on the other, the words inscribed, "An appeal to
Heaven." That of the floating batteries was a white ground with the same
"Appeal to Heaven" upon it. It is supposed that at Bunker Hill our
troops carried a red flag, with a pine tree on a white field in the
corner. The first flag in South Carolina was blue, with a crescent in
the corner, and received its first baptism under Moultrie. In 1776, Col.
Gadsen presented to Congress a flag to be used by the navy, which
consisted of a rattle-snake on a yellow ground, with thirteen rattles,
and coiled to strike. The motto was, "Don't tread on me." "The Great
Union Flag," as described above, without the crosses, and sometimes with
the rattle-snake and motto, "Don't tread on me," was used as a naval
flag, and called the "Continental Flag."
As the war progressed, different regiments and corps adopted peculiar
flags, by which they were designated. The troops which Patrick Henry
raised and called the "Culpepper Minute Men," had a banner with a
rattle-snake on it, and the mottoes, "Don't tread on me," and "Liberty
or death," together with their name. Morgan's celebrated riflemen,
called the "Morgan Rifles," not only had a peculiar uniform, but a flag
of their own, on which was inscribed, "XI. Virginia Regiment," and the
words, "Morgan's Rifle Corps." On it was also the date, 1776, surrounded
by a wreath of laurel. Wherever this banner floated, the soldiers knew
that deadly work was being done.
When the gallant Pulaski was raising a body of cavalry, in Baltimore,
the nuns of Bethlehem sent him a banner of crimson silk, with emblems on
it, wrought by their own hands. That of Washington's Life Guard was made
of white silk, with various devices upon it, and the motto, "Conquer or
die."
It doubtless always will be customary in this country, during a war, for
different regiments to have flags presented to them with various devices
upon them. It was so during the recent war, but as the stars and stripes
supplant them all, so in our revolutionary struggle, the "Great Union
Flag," which was raised in Cambridge, took the place of all others and
became the flag of the American army.
But in 1777, Congress, on the 19th day of June, passed the following
resolution: "_Resolved_, That the flag of the thirteen United States be
thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, that the union be thirteen
stars, white, in a blue field, representing a new constellation." A
constellation, however, could not well be represented on a flag, and so
it was changed into a circle of stars, to represent harmony and union.
Red is supposed to represent courage, white, integrity of purpose, and
blue, steadfastness, love, and faith. This flag, however, was not used
till the following autumn, and waved first over the memorable battle
field of Saratoga.
Thus our flag was born, which to-day is known, respected, and feared
round the entire globe. In 1794 it received a slight modification,
evidently growing out of the intention at that time of Congress to add a
new stripe with every additional State that came into the Union, for it
passed that year the following resolution: "_Resolved_, That from and
after the 1st day of May, Anno Domini 1795, the flag of the United
States be fifteen stripes, alternate red and white. That the union be
fifteen stars, white, in a blue field." In 1818, it was by another
resolution of Congress, changed back into thirteen stripes, with
twenty-one stars, in which it was provided that a new star should be
added to the union on the admission of each new State. That resolution
has never been rescinded, till now thirty-six stars blaze on our
banner. The symbol of our nationality, the record of our glory, it has
become dear to the heart of the people. On the sea and on the land its
history has been one to swell the heart with pride. The most beautiful
flag in the world in its appearance, it is stained by no disgrace, for
it has triumphed in every struggle. Through three wars it bore us on to
victory, and in this last terrible struggle against treason, though
baptized in the blood of its own children, not a star has been effaced,
and it still waves over a united nation.
Whenever the "Star-Spangled Banner" is sung, the spontaneous outburst of
the vast masses, as the chorus is reached, shows what a hold that flag
has on the popular heart. It not only represents our nationality, but it
is the _people's_ flag. It led them on to freedom--it does something
more than appeal to their pride as a symbol of national greatness--it
appeals to their affections as a friend of their dearest rights. We
cannot better close this short history of our flag than by appending the
following stirring poem of Drake:
WHEN freedom from her mountain height
Unfurled her standard to the air,
She tore the azure robes of night,
And set the stars of glory there!
She mingled with its gorgeous dyes
The milky baldric of the skies,
And striped its pure celestial white
With streakings of the morning light;
Then, from his mansion in the sun,
She called her eagle-bearer down,
And gave into his mighty hand
The symbol of her chosen land!
Majestic monarch of the cloud
Who rear'st aloft thy regal form,
To hear the tempest trumping loud
And see the lightning lances driven,
When strive the warriors of the storm,
And rolls the thunder drum of heaven,
Child of the sun! to thee 'tis given
To guard the banner of the free;
To hover in the sulphur smoke,
To ward away the battle stroke;
And bid its blendings shine afar,
Like rainbows on the cloud of war--
The harbinger of victory!
Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly,
The sign of hope and triumph high,
When speaks the signal trumpet tone,
And the long line comes gleaming on,
(Ere yet the life-blood, warm and wet,
Hath dimmed the glittering bayonet,)
Each soldier's eye shall brightly turn
To where thy sky-born glories burn,
And, as his springing steps advance,
Catch war and vengeance from the glance;
And when the cannon's mouthings loud
Heave in wild wreaths the battle shroud,
And gory sabres rise and fall,
Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall;
Then shall thy meteor glances glow,
And cowering foes shall shrink beneath
Each gallant arm that strikes below
That lovely messenger of death.
Flag of the seas! on ocean wave
Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave,
When death, careering on the gale,
Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail,
And frightened waves rush wildly back,
Before the broadside's reeling rack,
Each dying wanderer of the sea,
Shall look at once to heaven and thee,
And smile to see thy splendor fly,
In triumph o'er his closing eye.
Flag of the free, heart's hope and home!
By angel hands to valor given;
Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
And all thy hues were born in heaven!
Forever float that standard sheet!
Where breathes the foe but falls before us?
With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,
And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us?
End of Project Gutenberg's Key-Notes of American Liberty, by Various