Museum Moment: American Flag Flown by Ulysses S. Grant

The VFMAC Museum is a trove of institutional and U.S. history. Among the treasures is a tattered American flag. It bore witness to some of the most dramatic events in U.S. history.

The flag is the one flown by General Ulysses S. Grant in the encampment at Petersburg, Virginia during the Civil War. It was a gift from President Dwight D. Eisenhower to VFMAC founder, Lieutenant General Milton G. Baker with whom he had an enduring friendship.

The Battle of Petersburg was the siege that resulted in the surrender of Confederate troops and ended the Civil War. It was a series of battles lasting 10 months.

While this American flag saw victory as the Union was again reunited, its job was not yet done. General Grant went on to be elected and served two terms as U.S. president from 1869-1877.  The great general died in 1885 in New York City.

It was this flag which draped his coffin as he was interred.