November 2022 • Nebraskaland 39
Much of this 35-star fl ag has disintegrated and is mounted on a black backing for protection. Battle honors were commonly
stitched on regimental colors. This First Nebraska fl ag bears the names of Milford, Donalson (sic), Shiloh, Corinth and Cape
Girardeau. Under the heading "1st Regt. Nebraska Cav." are Chalk Bluff , Sycamore, Red Bank and Jacksonport.
HISTORY NEBRASKA, 7135-389-(1)
Flag of First Nebraska Regiment,
Company A, 1861. States and territories
organized recruits into thousand-man
regiments, and young men from the
same town usually fi lled hundred-man
companies. Company A was organized
in Plattsmouth.
Mrs. O. F. Johnson sewed the
company's fl ag. It was said she had the
only sewing machine in town. Many
years later, the fl ag came to History
Nebraska in fragile condition. Its blue
fi eld is all but gone, and at some point,
its remaining 26 stars were mounted to
a new backing — and not very neatly.
Mrs. Johnson's stripes are a bit uneven,
but we assume she placed her 34
stars with more care. The U.S. had 34
states after Kansas joined the Union
in January 1861. During the war years,
new U.S. fl ags added stars for Kansas,
West Virginia (1863) and Nevada (1864),
but did not — as a matter of principle —
subtract the 11 seceded states from the
Perpetual Union. HISTORY NEBRASKA, 2046
