Our old flag is now here

Rally Once Again

Rededication of Civil War Flag

from

Company C of the Thirty-Seventh

Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment

10:00 a.m. Saturday, August 22, 2009

at Lock One of the

The Miami & Erie Canal

New Bremen, Ohio

The Civil War Flag given to the members of Company C of the 37th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment by the citizens of New Bremen was carried through the war and returned by William Schulenberg at the end of the Civil War. The flag passed through three generations of the Schulenberg family and to Ray Knipple in 1959 for safe-keeping. In 1975, Mr. Knipple donated the flag to the New Bremen Historic Association. The flag has been restored and is on display for all to see at the Bicycle Museum of America.

On Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 10:00 AM, a large crowd gathered to rededicate the flag. The American Legion Post 241 Color Guard was present as well as two men (John Hoffman and Wayne Maurer) dressed as Civil War soldiers. Mayor Jeff Pape addressed the group and said, “This is a lasting impression of what sacrifices were made by those men in the name of freedom.” Author Mark Bernstein talked about his research in the book “Company C: New Bremen and the Civil War.” The AC Swing Band played “Rally Round the Flag”, a very popular song during that time period. Rev. Becky Erb Strang, minister of St. Paul United Church of Christ, delivered a prayer.

Everyone then entered the Bicycle Museum of America to view the flag where it will be permanently on display. All were surprised to see how large the flag is. It measures 6’6” by 13’8” and was carried in the battles. The specialists who restored the flag (the Textile Conservation Laboratory at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City) said they could still smell the gunpowder when they took the flag out of its case. This is truly a piece of our national history and the role that New Bremen played. Be sure to take your family to see the flag.

[Gen Conradi]