24 Star Flag or Old Glory-1822

Tennessee was the only southern state entirely occupied by Union troops before the end of the Civil War. When the Union Army took Nashville on 25 February 1862, an aged sea captain presented a Flag bearing 36 stars to fly over the capital.  This Flag, which originally had 24 stars, was updated by the captain to reflect the number of states in the Union at the end of the war.

The sea captain, Captain William Driver, was a stanch unionist whose family split in two over the war.  He brought the Flag with him when he moved from Massachusetts and prominently displayed from his house.  Knowing the Confederates would come looking for it, he hid the Flag between two quilts. 

The Flag had flown over Capt. Driver’s ship on two voyages around the world.  He referred to it in his journals as “Old Glory”.  His mother and a few female admirers had made the Flag for him.  As it unfurled on the ocean breeze, Capt. Drive was heard to exclaim “Old Glory”. 

Capt. Driver gave Old Glory to his daughter.  She donated the Flag to the Smithsonian Institute in 1922, where it is currently stored.

To read more about Old Glory, please consult the following sources:

Ash, Stephen. “Civil War Occupation” (2017) Tennessee Historical Society. Retrieved 9 September 2024 from https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/civil-war-occupation/

Furlong, William and McCandless, Byron “So Proudly We Hail, The History of the United States Flag” pp. 204-205, (1981) Smithsonian Institution Press

National Museum of American History.  “Old Glory Flag” (1824) Bunting. ID# AF.32605https://www.si.edu/object/old-glory-flag:nmah_463145

Owsley, Harriet and Frazer, Mary “Driver, William Papers 1831-1937” (1970) Tennessee State Library and Archives. https://tsla.tnsosfiles.com/history/manuscripts/findingaids/DRIVER_WILLIAM_PAPERS_1831-1937.pdf

Tappan, Eva “The Little Book of Flags” pp. 68-69, (1917) Houghton Mifflin Company. https://books.google.com/books?id=8ltAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA92#v=onepage&q&f=false

Zaricor Flag Collection. “U.S. 24 Star Flag, 1821 – 1836” Retrieved 9 September 2024 from https://www.flagcollection.com/itemdetails.php?CollectionItem_ID=2995