Description: This flag, the national colors of the 89th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (O.V.I.), bears 34 gold painted stars arranged in a grid pattern on a blue canton. In the middle of the flag, painted in gold, is "89th. Regt. O.V.I. U.S.A." The flag, which measures 62.20 by 101.18 inches (158 by 257 cm), has gold fringe. Attached is a tag that documents the capture of the flag by the Confederates at the battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, in 1863 and its subsequent recovery in 1880 by William Barnes of Williamsburg in Clermont County. Barnes was a member of Company C of the regiment. The 89th O.V.I. formed in 1862 and was made up of men from Clermont, Brown, Ross, and Highland counties. During the battle of Chickamauga, nearly 200 men from the regiment were captured and sent to Libby and Andersonville prison camps, where many died. Ohio battle flags were on display at the Ohio Statehouse until the 1960s, when the state formed a committee to oversee efforts to restore the fragile flags. Some of the battle flags were on display on the plaza level of the Ohio History Center from 1970 until 1989. For conservation reasons, the flags have been in storage since 1989. In the 1960s, the collection was photographed and commercial artist Robert Needham painted illustrations of many Civil War flags. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1330_1607335_004
Subjects: Military Ohio; Civil War; Flags; 89th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (O.V.I.)
Places: Williamsburg (Ohio); Clermont County (Ohio); Brown County (Ohio); Ross County (Ohio); Highland County (Ohio)