A Banner Puzzle: Piecing Together a Civil War Artifact
By Katya Zinsli, Nhat Nguyen and Brian McClellan
The regimental flag of the 37th New York Volunteer Infantry, as it appeared when removed from nearly three decades of storage.Credit- Cattaraugus County Museum
In May 2020, in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cattaraugus County Museum and Research Library had, like virtually all such institutions nationwide, closed its doors to the public. Its staff, composed of the museum curator, the Cattaraugus County Historian and one clerk, sought projects to occupy their time, much of it now spent working from home. It was Sharon Fellows, the historian, who first had the idea of looking into the possibility of preserving the flag.
The Cattaraugus County Museum was dedicated in September 1914 as a memorial to the Civil War veterans from the county. A unique situation, because while it was far from unusual for municipalities both north and south to be memorializing their aging veterans at this time, monuments and statues were the more common result. In Cattaraugus County, however, funds were raised, a building was constructed in Little Valley and the veterans themselves donated their personal artifacts to comprise the museum’s earliest collections.
Sadly, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say frustratingly, little apparent thought was given to the documentation of the artifacts. Some items were accompanied by information describing their source and background. Others had a handwritten note with a few details. Many had nothing at all. To compound this, there would not be an official position of curator to oversee and catalog these collections for decades, long after most of the original donors had passed away.
Among the donated items was a regimental flag from the 37th New York Infantry Regiment. The flag formed part of the museum’s early collections and for years was displayed, folded, in a roughly 18- by 20-inch case. The only information accompanying the flag were two note cards, one identifying the regiment and implying that it had been lost at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
Over time, the flag had begun to sag in its case and the painted silk material became increasingly fragile and deteriorated. As a result, it was removed from its case and laid flat in the museum’s storage area to reduce the creasing caused by being folded for so long. After a couple of years, it became apparent that no preservation funds would be immediately available, so the flag was wrapped in acid-free paper and placed in a box, where it remained for the next 30 years.
By the summer of 2020, the flag was fragile and fragmented, and it was clear that it would require skilled textile conservation. After some casting about, it was placed in the hands of the Patricia H. and Richard E. Garman Art Conservation Department at Buffalo State University. While Buffalo State graduate student Katya Zinsli began the laborious task of putting the pieces of the flag back to together, the museum staff attempted to track down the history. Facts, however, were scarce.
The 37th New York Infantry
The 37th New York Infantry, known as the “Irish Rifles,” was recruited in April and May of 1861 and, as the nickname implies, was composed largely of Irish immigrants from New York City. Two companies from the regiment, however, were recruited in Cattaraugus County—Company H, known as the “Chamberlain Guards,” in Allegany, and Company I, known as the “Cattaraugus Guards,” in Ellicottville. Patrick Henry Jones, an Irish immigrant who settled in Ellicottville, served as a major with the 37th before becoming a colonel with the 154th NY. In his diary, he offers a description of the gifting of the flag to the regiment.
“On June 22, 1861,” he wrote, “an immense crowd witnessed friends give Colonel (John H.) McCunn a sword and revolver and city merchants and schoolgirls presented the regiment with flags,” This occurred at Camp Weed near The Battery in Manhattan.
Several regiments mustered in New York early in the war were presented similar flags. They measured roughly five feet by six feet, made of blue-dyed plain weave silk with gold bullion fringe on three sides, and the New York City shield of arms painted in the center. Above the seal was a red scroll with the regiment's name, and below it a light gray-blue banner with the text “Presented by the City of New York.”
The regiment was in Gen. Irvin McDowell’s reserve during the Battle of First Manassas, where it heard the battle but did not take part. Companies H and I, the Cattaraugus County contingent, served detached at Fort Washington, D. C., from August, 1861 to March, 1862, when the regiment embarked for Fortress Monroe.
The 37th then took part in Gen. George B. McClellan’s peninsular campaign in 1862, participating in the battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Charles City Crossroads and Malvern Hill before evacuating back to Alexandria, VA. While at Williamsburg, they received a complimentary mention from General Philip Kearney for gallantry in action. That December, the regiment joined Gen. Ambrose Burnside at Falmouth, VA, and participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg and the subsequent “mud march” back to winter quarters. At the Battle of Chancellorsville (April 30-May 6, 1863), the 37th suffered 235 casualties — roughly one third of its strength at the start of the battle. It was there that the flag was captured. This marked the effective end of the 37th NY. Those who enlisted for three years were transferred to the 40th NY Infantry Regiment while the rest, who had enlisted for two years in 1861, returned to New York and were mustered out of the service on June 22, 1863. The 37th NY was no more.
What, then, of the flag? If it had been captured by the Confederate Army at Chancellorsville, as the museum’s scant documentation indicated, how did it find its way back to Cattaraugus County? The only additional information the museum possessed came in the form of a second handwritten note card tied to the flag’s fringe with the somewhat cryptic words:
Three Battle Flags
for Music Hall Fair
from
W.S. Hubbell
379 Pearl St.
Historian Sharon Fellows began her investigation by sifting through online newspaper indexes. Eventually, it was determined that “W.S. Hubbell” referred to William S. Hubbell, originally from Connecticut. Educated at Yale, Hubbell enlisted in the 25th Connecticut Infantry in 1862 and was quickly promoted to second lieutenant. He was injured twice during the war as he rose to the rank of captain and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1894 for his actions during Gen. Benjamin Butler’s Bermuda Hundred campaign.
Rev. William Stone Hubbell, shown here at the time he ministered at North Presbyterian Church in Buffalo. [Inset] One of the two tags attached to the flag, this one referencing Rev. Hubbell.Credit- North Presbyterian Church & Cattaraugus County Museum
A Presbyterian minister in New England after the war, Hubbell accepted the position of pastor of the North Presbyterian Church in Buffalo in November 1881, a position he held until 1896. His residence during that time was at 379 Pearl Street. The flag’s journey to the collections of the Cattaraugus County Museum and its fascinating history began at last to unravel.
The biggest breakthrough came with the discovery of an article in the Ellicottville Post, dated Sept. 20, 1893, under the title “The Old Camp-Fire,” included here in its entirety:
The hearts of the veterans of the 37th Regiment, New York Volunteers, were made glad Tuesday evening at Salamanca by the sight for the first time after a lapse of 30 years of their old regimental flag, which up to a short time ago they had supposed was forever lost.
The flag was presented to the veterans association of Cattaraugus County by the Rev. W.S. Hubbell of Buffalo, who secured the flag at the taking of Richmond and who has since had it in his possession.
The flag was a beautiful silk one which was presented to the regiment by the ladies of New York City, and was carried in many of the severest battles of the war.
At the battle of Chancellorsville the flag was captured by the rebels and was not recaptured until the fall of Richmond, when it was found by Capt. Hubbell in the rebel senate chamber over the chair of Vice-President Alexander H. Stephens.
In presenting the flag to the Cattaraugus County Veteran’s Association of the 37th Regiment of New York Volunteers, Mr. Hubbell gave a brief history of the flag and many interesting reminiscences in connection with its capture.
The boys are more than glad, to again be in possession of their old flag, and they will cherish it as a sacred relic.”
This astonishing backstory underscored the historic significance of the flag, and cemented the resolve of the museum to complete its preservation in order to make it available once again to the public. Meanwhile, at the Art Conservation Department at Buffalo State, efforts were underway to quite literally piece the flag back together.
Initial Examination
In conservation graduate programs, students learn the basics of documentation, both written and photographic, as well as modes of scientific analysis to better understand objects they may encounter in their careers. Details of manufacture, condition and aging are all examined, as is physical damage associated with light exposure, fire events, pest infestations, vandalism, fluctuating humidity and temperature or water damage.
The flag arrived at the university wrapped in a cotton sheet in a rectangular box about an eighth of the flag’s total size, resembling a pile of paint chips and tatters of silk. Through careful manipulation, the flag was unfurled, revealing a deep blue silk surrounding contorted and fragmented areas of paint. Katya Zinsli began her project by writing an examination report, detailing the flag’s condition upon arrival.
The flag was very fragile and unstable, particularly the painted areas, which were exceedingly brittle and mangled with some areas in hundreds of fragments. Though once supple, they were now crumpled and “frozen” in place, since they could not be laid flat without risk of breakage. The flag was painted on both sides, the designs roughly mirroring each other on either side. A fine layer of efflorescence, which appears as an opaque white haze, most times in the shape of the lettering from the reverse side, covered about a third of the painted surfaces.
By contrast, the textile portions appeared to be in good to fair condition. Though a few stains were present throughout, the blue-dyed silk of the flag maintained good hand and was not shattering in any way—a common degradation issue of silk. However, the gold-colored silk threads wrapping the cotton core of the fringe appeared to be shattering. A fine dusting of silk resulted with minimal handling, though the fringe maintained a whole appearance at a viewing distance.
An important tenet of conservation is to document the condition of an object at each stage of intervention throughout the treatment process. Zinsli photographed the flag with help from Associate Professor Jiuan Jiuan Chen, using multi-modal imaging (MMI). This involves a series of techniques that capture the response of the materials present while exposed to different ranges of radiation (i.e. light) on the electromagnetic spectrum, including ultraviolet (UVA), visible and infrared (IR).
Using this process revealed much about the flag’s creation. For example, the dye used to color the silk was likely Prussian blue, since it absorbed strongly in the IR range, while the “gold” paint on the lettering and surrounding the central emblem did not fluoresce in the UVA range, having a similar response to metallic surfaces. Pigments containing lead and zinc, however, could be approximated due to their strong fluorescence in this range. After this documentation, cross sections of the painted silk (silk sandwiched between layers of paint on either side) were embedded in resin to view the layering structure from different areas of the composition. These samples aided subsequent testing by isolating small sections of paint for analysis, providing initial indications of materials and which were later tested.
When attempting to identify materials with scientific analysis, the approach is two-fold—elemental analysis, which indicates the elements present, and compositional analysis, which indicates how those elementals relate to one another. Elemental analysis was conducted using techniques such as x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Compositional analysis was conducted with techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry (py-GC-MS). Material identification requires both techniques, as either conducted alone would not paint the full picture.
Utilizing multi-modal imaging as a road map and tiny fragments of the flag as test samples, pigments such as lead white, barium sulfate and mercury-containing vermillion were found. Additionally, an incredibly thin application of real gold was confirmed. Aside from elements, compounds indicating oils, be it linseed or others, were confirmed, meaning that the silk was painted with oils as the primary binder. The efflorescence obscuring some of the paint was identified as fatty acid soaps, likely the result of heavy metals interacting with the oil binder and migrating to the surface of the paint.
This material analysis aided treatment preparation in a number of ways. The identification of heavy metals such as lead and mercury, meant personal protective equipment would be needed, as well as special attention to avoid cross-contaminating tools and surfaces. Similarly, knowing the fatty acid efflorescence was a phenomenon occurring atop the surface and not with the paint layer meant that it could be potentially removed. The use of oils as the primary binder made sense because fatty acids cross-link and harden as they dry over time. In a typical oil painting on canvas tacked to a strainer, this is natural and even intended. But on an unrestrained silk flag, this spells rigid, random contortions, brittle (and breakable) layers and instability. Luckily, conservators have some tools in their belt when dealing with aged oil paint and silk.
The Conservation Plan
The first step of the actual conservation process evaluates the needs of an object in order to plan out a logical course of treatment. Since this would be a large project, Zinsli determined treatment protocols through careful testing so future students could continue the treatment beyond her remaining time at school. Major components of the treatment plan included surface cleaning, solubility testing, humidification, flattening, fatty acid efflorescence removal and consolidation.
Once the flag had been unfurled to its safest capacity, treatment began with vacuuming the surface through a fine mesh screen on low suction. This removed surface dirt while ensuring no fragments were lost in the vacuum. Next, the pigments and silk underwent solubility testing to determine what solvents were safe to use in treatment. A small amount of a solvent was applied to the surface, then the area was immediately dried with an absorbent paper. If no color transferred, the solvent was safe to use. Fortunately, water, our main ally in the next step, was safe to use!
The painted areas of the flag were illegible due to their distortion and they were at risk of detaching further, so they needed to be relaxed using humidification. Water aids in swelling both oil paint and silk, making them flexible enough to manipulate and lay flat, but the paint required significantly more exposure to moisture. After testing several methods, contact humidification was deemed the most successful. This involved applying Gore-tex (a semipermeable membrane) and a moistened fabric over the painted areas selectively, allowing only water vapor to relax the surface over time, ranging from half an hour to several hours. After the painted areas were subtle enough to manipulate, they were weighted under sheets of plexiglass or glass until fully dry.
The results were tremendous. The central emblem became fully visible and the extent of loss could be determined. However, the treatment was only beginning. Further testing was conducted to remove the fatty acid efflorescence and reattach hundreds of fragments.
Following the suggestion of Nancy Pollak, a paintings conservator experienced with these flags, mechanical removal of the efflorescence was achieved with a white Staedler eraser because it is composed of very fine abrasives in a soft matrix, which work to roll off the efflorescence without damaging the paint surface. For reattaching the fragments, another of Pollak’s suggestions was tested involving thin polyester organza fabric coated with BEVA, a heat-activated adhesive specifically formulated for the conservation of paint films. Small, thin patches of the prepared organza were cut out and applied to bridge two fragments together. It was then activated using a heated spatula. Several colors of the organza were selected to best match different areas of the paint fragments.
Passing the Baton
Testing and establishing the proper conservation protocols is a time-consuming process, not to mention the actual treatment using the established protocols. But Zinsli’s time at the department had concluded by May 2021. Luckily, in August 2022, Nhat Quyen Nguyen, a current second-year fellow in the Garman Art Conservation program, picked up the project so the flag could be further repaired and mounted for exhibition at the Cattaraugus County Museum.
Nguyen relied on Zinsli’s detailed reports and photo documentation of the research, analysis, and treatment of the flag to understand the scope of the project and the remaining treatment steps. Working alongside Deborah Trupin, a conservator of textile and upholstery, she revisited the treatment proposal, creating a plan for the flag to be completed by the beginning of 2023.
Nguyen began by turning the flag to the other side for visual examination, then followed the same steps as were applied to the first side. The flag was vacuumed to remove dirt and soil, since this side was not previously accessible. Then further contact humidification flattened and reduced creases that were only accessible from this side of the flag. Afterwards, the fatty acid efflorescence on the painted areas of the flag was reduced. This task was completed with the help of Nguyen’s fellow classmates. With the efflorescence removed, the flag was flipped to its original side. Since most of the cleaning and humidification had been completed by Zinsli, Nguyen focused on humidifying and flattening the fragments to prepare them for the next step of the treatment: reintegration.
The painted fragments required multiple hours of humidification before the creases were softened and the fragment could be kept under weight to dry. Once dry, they were organized by color in individual boxes and Nguyen began to incorporate them into the flag. Since the flag was painted on both sides, it was not always easy to determine where fragments should be placed based on the design. Nguyen started with fragments along the top red banner, since they contained recognizable elements from the gold lettering. Even when the gold lettering seemed to match the surrounding area, however, she had to make sure that the fragment edges were lined up with the break edges to ensure that the fragment belonged there. Once the correct placement was confirmed, the fragment was reattached to the surrounding area using the organza fabric infused with BEVA. Small strips of the fabric were cut and placed on the break edges. The number of mends placed on a fragment depended on their size and how they connected with their surrounding areas. Generally, one mend connected fragments smaller than one inch to the flag. With larger fragments, or fragments that were placed in fragile areas, mends would be placed on each side of the fragment and the surrounding breaks to ensure provide support to the fragment and the fragile areas. This was carried out in all the painted areas, including ones with cracks and splits that needed to be reinforced.
At time of press, the conservation effort continues. Once the integration step is completed, the flag will be press mounted. This process is recommended for fragile textiles such as the flag and involves ordering a custom panel and frame from SmallCorp, a company that specializes in museum exhibition cases and displays. The flag will be laid on the panel and secured under an acrylic glazing which applies pressure to hold the flag in place. Once finished, a frame will be attached to the panel and the flag can be displayed and stored in its frame without the need to fold, roll, or handle the flag, which could cause further damage.
Thanks to this incredible team effort, the flag will soon be returned to the Cattaraugus County Museum, where it will be placed on permanent display. The historical research conducted by the museum was critical to understanding the object ahead of treatment, while the analysis and testing by the students of the Garman Art Conservation Department will aid in the flag’s stewardship. Thanks to the skill, technical expertise and amazing efforts of Zinsli and Nguyen, future generations will be able to view this artifact and learn of its remarkable history unearthed by Fellows. Together, this partnership finally solved the puzzle.
AccentOverall view of the 37th NYVI flag following the completion of the conservation treatment, pieced together from four separate photos.Credit- Cattaraugus County Museum
