News Release

To the untrained eye it does not look like much; just some tattered remains of a cloth. But the history the tattered cloth holds is truly significant. The red-and-white stripe cloth is what remains of guidon, a guide flag, that led the Union Army’s 13th Indiana Calvary into battle during the Civil War. The guidon was donated to the museum’s collection by W.D. Brineman of Huntington.

The guidon was once pennant-shaped and adorned stars and stripes. The guidon would be attached to the end of a long pole paraded around by a regiment soldier. The guidon served two purposes: identification of the unit while in battle and to serve as a point of orientation during a battle.

The 13th Calvary was assembled late in the war. Company A formed over seven months, but officially in April 1864. Company A fought as infantry and on horseback. Troops saw battle in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee and Mississippi. The troop was officially disbanded in Indianapolis in November 1865.

The relic can be found on display in the central exhibit area at the Huntington County Historical Museum, 315 Court Street, Huntington.