The national color seen here, carried by the Excelsior Brigade during the 1862 Virginia campaigns and reportedly made by Evans & Hassall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, includes 34 gold-painted stars arranged in concentric ovals, a pattern typically found on national colors from Philadelphia’s Schuylkill Arsenal. Brigadier General Joseph Revere, a former Navy midshipman, Mexican War veteran, and grandson of Paul Revere, first took command of the Excelsior Brigade in December 1862 and supposedly inherited the flag from the previous commander, Colonel George Hall. Augustus L. Revere, General Revere’s son, presented the flag to state authorities after the war. (1995.3509)