[CIVIL WAR]. 59th Massachusetts Infantry recruitment banner stitched to American flag. Lynn, MA: H.S. Cox, late 1863.

27 x 51 in. double-sided cotton flag with 25 hand-sewn stars that are visible (shows wear, especially along margins, near edges and corners, with some tearing, staining), framed, 39.5 x 60 in. Two cotton banners with printed text are stitched to each side of flag (some splitting to banners, especially in lettering of top banner, staining). The banner at top, 27 x 15 in., reads, "Recruiting Office!"; the second banner, 23 x 36 in., is boldly headed, "$727 Bounty to Veterans! / $627 Bounty to Raw Recruits!...Young Men! Now is the time to fill the quota of Lynn [Massachusetts], and Avoid a Draft! Which is sure to come on the 5th of January, unless you Rally for your Country! / A few more good men are wanted for Company A, 59th Regiment, Veteran Vols." Undersigned in print by Recruiting Officers Captain F.M. Smith, 59th Regiment, and Captain John B. Stickney, 35th Regiment. Provenance: N. Flayderman & Co. (sold Cowan's, 18 November 2016, lot 169).

Lynn, MA resident, Francis M. Smith enlisted in April 1861 as a private and served with the 8th MA through August 1861, and the 48th MA from September 1862 to September 1863. While with the 48th MA, he was promoted to 1st lieutenant (November 1862) and captain (December 1862), and was wounded in action at Port Hudson, LA (May 1863). In October 1863, Smith was commissioned into Co. A of the 59th MA, and was appointed 2nd lieutenant later that month. He was promoted captain in November 1863. John B. Stickney, also of Lynn, MA, was promoted to captain of the 35th MA in June 1863. This banner was likely printed prior to 3 December 1863, when the 59th MA was organized. The regiment engaged in several battles, including Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and more, before consolidating with the 57th MA in May 1865 and mustering out the following July.

A rare survivor from the war.

The Civil War and American Militaria Collection of Bruce B. Hermann