The American Civil War was fought primarily by regiments raised by the individual states of the Union and the Confederacy. These large military formations were disbanded after the war, and the United States attempted a return to its pre-war military organizations.
However, the settlement of the West and subsequent Indian Wars as well as the Spanish-American War demonstrated both the need for a professional military and the inadequacies of the state volunteer system.
It was during this period the United States Army began to look at itself as a single entity rather than as a collection of various units and this view was perhaps best exemplified by the creation of a single flag for the Headquarters of the Army of the United States by General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1880.
Presented here are appropriate flags from this era.
Item Ref | Item Name | Sub-Collection | |
ZFC2503 | Massachusetts Volunteer Militia Artillery Guidon. | Crow Art Partnership Collection | |
ZFC2485 | U.S. 46 Star Infantry Flag, 1907. | Crow Art Partnership Collection | |
ZFC2026 | US Army // Photo of military parade / 1890's | PHOTOS | |
ZFC2174 | US // 1914 Mexican Campaign / Souvenir | Artifacts not flags | |
ZFC3422 | Japan // US Friendship Medal / Great White Fleet - | Japan | |
ZFC0517 | Massachusetts Commonwealth Militia Color, 1888. | Flayderman // Early American | |
ZFC0344 | Massachusetts Commonwealth Color Flag Pole 1888. | Flayderman // Early American |