Lincoln Assassination Flags - Treasury Guard Flags

Treasury Guard Flags

Hours before Lincoln’s arrival at Ford’s Theatre, theater owner, James R. Ford sent workers to find flags for the presidential box. The two Treasury Guard flags are from the United States Department of the Treasury, where they were returned the day after Lincoln’s assassination. (All five flags were removed after the Lincoln was shot to prevent "souvenir hunters" from stealing them.) After their return, the two Treasury Guard flags were displayed in parades honoring Civil War veterans and at the inauguration of President Andrew Johnson.

One of the Treasury Guard flags, which is currently on display at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford, Connecticut, contains thirteen alternating red and white stripes and a blue canton with an oil painted eagle and 35 stars. The canton contains the words "Presented to Treasury Guard Regt. by the Ladies of the Treasury Dept. 1864." Experts agree that this flag was positioned on a pole to the left of Lincoln in the presidential booth. The flag is six-foot-square and made of silk.

The flag was placed in storage at the Treasury Department, until a former captain of the watch took the flag. It eventually ended up in the hands of a Civil War veteran in Hartford who passed it along to his son, Dr. Robert M. Yergason. Yergason donated the flag to the Connecticut Historical Society in 1922. The flag remained in a storage area with other Civil War artifacts for 76 years, until it was rediscovered by a former head librarian in 1998. The flag was then restored at the Textile Conservation Workshop in New York.

After three years of researching, the Treasury Guard flag was deemed authentic by several prominent Civil War experts, including Harold Holzer, a vice president at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and author of 18 books on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War and Howard Michael Madaus, chief curator of the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

This flag is part of the Civil War Treasures exhibit at the Connecticut Historical Society and has been on display since 2001. It is behind glass and under a fine mesh to help preserve it.

While some accounts and period illustrations suggest that Lincoln may have grasped this flag after being shot, or pushed the flag aside to watch the performance, these claims cannot be verified. However the proximity of the flag to Lincoln makes both scenarios possible. An illustration from Currier & Ives depicts the Lincoln assassination, showing Lincoln clutching a flag to his left. This flag, which is shown with red and white stripes and a blue canton with stars could be the Treasury Guard flag or an American flag.

It has also been suggested that Booth may have caught his spur on the Treasury Guard flag while trying to escape after assassinating Lincoln. It is widely debated which flag, if any, Booth tripped over in the escape, breaking his leg.

The second Treasury Guard flag was placed at the front of the presidential box at Ford’s Theatre, the night of Lincoln’s assassination. This flag, which is dark blue, features an eagle, 34 stars and a banner with the words "U.S. Treasury Guards" below the emblem. A shield with vertical red and white stripes and a blue chief covers the eagle’s chest. This flag is silk and measures 71.5" x 77.5". It is displayed at Ford’s Theatre National Historical Site in Washington, D.C. A tear in this flag has led many to believe that it is the flag Booth tripped over in the escape.

This Treasury flag was displayed at the Treasury Building after Lincoln’s assassination. It was placed in a corridor outside the Secretary’s suite. A reproduction of this flag, which even replicates the tear in the original, is still displayed there today.