The conservation of an unusual Civil War Battle Record textile

This past autumn, an unusual artifact was delivered to the studio. It is simple in construction, basically a long width of cotton fabric, and on it painted a list of words in basic black paint. So far nothing so amazing, until the words that were so carefully and beautifully written in very different fonts were read.

The banner before treatment.

Each line of text was a separate battle that the 136th New York Volunteer Regiment had been engaged in during the Civil War. In essence, this width of simple cotton fabric was the regiment's war record. Such "battle honors" are more standardly recorded and seen on both National and Regimental flags of a regiment, often recorded on the stripes (see image below). Whereas this type of simple and utilitarian artifact was quite different. Why was such a piece created?

Detail of another NY Regimental Flag. Here the battle honors are recorded onto the stripes, this was a common practice and is the way battle honors are typically recorded.

The regiment was mustered into service in September of 1862 and composed of men from Allegheny, Wyoming and Livingston counties. The banner was clearly locally made. The banner is signed, "Made by the Nunda Sign Co." (Nunda is a town in Livingston County). Interestingly, the war record as written in the memoirs below (see more at NYS Military Museum's webpage), states the battles to be far more than those recorded on the banner, and the battles on the banner do not quite match those in the record, why would that be? (Also of note is that "Kulp's Farm is called "Kolb's Farm in Confederate records).

…"fought its first battle at Chancellorsville, losing a few men killed, wounded and missing; and was heavily engaged at Gettysburg on the first two days of the battle, losing 109 in killed, wounded and missing. In Sept., 1863, it was ordered to Tennessee with the nth and 12th corps and was engaged the following month (November 1863) at the midnight battle of Wauhatchie, Tenn., losing 6 killed and wounded. It was active at Missionary ridge in the Chattanooga-Ringgold campaign, losing 11 killed and wounded. When the 20th corps was formed in April, 1864, it was attached to the 3d brigade, 3d (Butterfield's) division of that corps, moving on the Atlanta campaign early in May (1864). It was active at the battles of Rocky Face ridge, Resaca, Cassville, Dallas, Kennesaw mountain and in the siege of Atlanta. Its heaviest loss was incurred at Resaca, where the casualties amounted to 13 killed, 68 wounded and 1 missing. After the fall of Atlanta it remained there until November (1864), when it marched with Sherman to the sea, engaged in the siege of Savannah, and closed its active service with the campaign through the Carolinas, in which it was engaged at Fayetteville, Averasboro, Bentonville, Raleigh and Bennett's house, losing 45 in killed and wounded in the battles of Averasboro and Bentonville. After the close of the war (April 9, 1865) it marched with its corps to Washington, where it took part in the grand review, and was mustered out on June 13, 1865, under command of Col. Wood, who was later promoted to bvt. brigadier-general and major-general. The regiment lost by death during service, 2 officers and 74 men, killed and mortally wounded; 1 officer and 91 men, died of disease and other causes, a total deaths of 168".

The banner may make mention of just the campaigns (Atlanta for example) rather than naming the individual battles (Resaca for example was a battle within the Atlanta campaign that lasted from May 13-16 of 1864). For a detailed timeline of 1864 (and any other year) go to historyorb.com.

The banner was in brittle condition when it arrived to us, it was mostly intact but very dirty, had several tears, and had a very sticky tape applied to the reverse side. Therefore, the treatment of the banner involved several things: cleaning, repairing the tears, removing the tape (see image directly below) that had been applied to the reverse side hems at both the top and bottom, and mounting the banner along with it's original rod and rings. As mentioned above, the banner was quite dirty when it arrived (see second image below). And amazingly, the banner was still paired with its original rod and brass rings (see third image below).

Detail of the reverse top of the banner showing the tenacious tape that had been secured to the top and bottom hems.

Dirt removed from the banner following the wet cleaning 

Detail of the original rod and one of the brass rings (safety pin not original).

With some some simple searching, it was found that after the war, the Regiment dutifully returned their Regimental, National, and guidon flags back to New York State. The assumption could be made that this banner was created out of a local desire to commemorate the efforts of this regiment in the absence of the flags.

The banner, after treatment, mounted and hung. 

Surprisingly, the exact date this banner was made is not readily known. Perhaps it was made soon after the 136th was mustered out of service, or maybe years later as a commemorative item for an anniversary of the 136th returning home? Perhaps at the close of the war? 

To see more about this banner, visit the website for the Livingston County Historical Society, where the banner is on display as part of their Civil War exhibit.
_____________________________
Gwen Spicer is a textile conservator in private practice.  Spicer Art Conservation specializes in textile conservation, object conservation, and the conservation of works on paper.  Gwen's innovative treatment and mounting of flags and textiles is unrivaled.   To contact her, please visit her website.